Prayer

My husband , my second son and I visited our family's grave on March 20Th,one day earlier of the spring equinox day, as one of family events, as weather forecast said it was going to rain on the following day.

According to Buddhism, it is said that on the spring equinox day people pray praising nature and for living people, besides on the autumnal one they pray for ancestors and the deads' souls.

I don't think so many Japanese are serious believers of Buddhism,including my family, though there are many who visit their family graves on the day of both of equinox.

This time I also couldn't help praying for numerous disaster victims by the biggest recorded earthquake and Tsunami unleashed by it on March 11Th in northen area in Japan.

There are often snow damage in some parts of the area, and they got hit by the devastating disaster when the long winder is at last going to over.

Our grave yard is located to near a temple, Byakugou-ji(白毫寺）, where we dropped in.
This small mountain temple is famous for a camellia tree that has five different coloured flowers, red, white, pink, white with red stains and red with white stains, as a result of graft in the tree.

Unfortunately the buds of it are not yet loosen, though some other sorts of camellia blossomed out in various ways.

And a sort of cherry tree, Kan-zakura, which flourishes in a cold season"Kan", had some white serene flowers.

雪消（け）ぬとう訳にはゆかぬ北方の被災思えり寒桜咲き

A cherry tree has its flowers like some snow flakes

in a cloudy morning

that let me think about the sufferers in the boreal

whose untold disasters are like huge icy rocks

It is my sincere wish that a speedy restoration and support will bring back the victims their peace and normal days sooner.

Nocturnes

The vernal equinox is getting nearer and the day has lengthened cock-stride day by day.

隣家との境に草の花あおく　きのうより少し長い夕暮れ

Some growth of weed
has its tiny sky blue flowers,
They are still clear
as dusk is a little longer today
than it was yesterday

(haricot)

Recently I reread a story in "Nocturnes",published 2009, which I read just in this season of last year. It is written by Kazuo Ishiguro(1954 ～), consisting of five short stories, regarding music, love, and the passing time, as though they are packed in a music album.



The story which I reread is the second, "Come Rain or Come Shine".
This one is like a light music, a little up-tempo, compared to the tune of other four stories.


Charlie, Emily, and the narrator Raymond are life-long friends since they were university students in London, mainly had shared their time on talking about music.
Charlie and Emily got married and stay in London. Besides Raymond is a sort of nowhere man who is teaching English in Spain as of now.


One day Raymond was invited by Charlie and was asked something about a favour for him, for passing time with Emily while Charlie's absence for a couple of days on his business. Raymond, hesitating to do the offer, admits the reason that he is the oldest friend for them.

Some fiddle things gradually tell that something wrong with Charlie and Emily, then Raymond starts to have knot on his stomach. He struggles to solve something invisible, though his clumsiness seems to make things worsen and tighten the knot. And then...




I will watch the dance of tea leaves for a couple of minutes, remembering the last scene of this story.

Dusky light is getting to ebb.






P.S.
Emily and Raymond had been preoccupied by their own matters ,then suddenly she noticed that theirs were somehow overlapped.

She invited him to dance with her on the balcony of nightfall and they did dance as though it would win back their mutual subtle misunderstanding, and even would make up for the lost time.

"Come Rain or Come Shine" You Tube