Had lived in an old town

I visited Tobihino field in Nara Park last weekend.
Many visitors were in the park, but on the field there were few.

This man was focusing his camera on a tall wax tree on the field.

飛火野をひとりゆくときしむしむと草食む音と鹿と近づく　haricot

I saw a deer approaching me

with some grazing sound,

"shim shim shim ...."

Walking along on the Tobihino field

all alone

This stag is maybe still young, but I can't speculate his age by his antlers because they were cut in early autumn for security and protection of woods.



This hut is on the next field of Tobihino, and surrounded many Japanese apricot trees.

 I started to live in Nara, central quarter in the city of the oldest capital,when I got married. The residence was about 20mitunes on foot far from the park.
And then I heard such story that the earlier we rise in the morning the more convenient.


Because when we would find any dead deer we can let it move to the next door.



This round window is for viewing Japanese apricot flowers,but no bad to see the wax tree.



 Deer are messengers of God by Legend, so it was thought that to kill some deer ( even let them die accidentally) was not only evil omen but culpable act here.

 "The early bird catches the worm", but what a worm!


 I think that it was an old story. But I was young enough to be frightened to hear that and other experiences regarding to traditional or conservative customs of the old town made me almost neighbour phobic.

                                                                         

After ten years later I moved to a new town in the same prefecture, and many many years have passed.




The atmosphere and circumstance are different from those of central old town; I think that blend of privacy and community is better balanced and much less conservative here in new town.

Strolling in the park I saw many people who enjoy making some sketch.




When I took a photo of a couple of them, the man said to me "Hey, my face is so funny?" Sorry for surprising you.





This road that leads to the North octagonal hall　called Hokuen-do(北円堂）
is quite close to my family's old residence.

My husband sometimes says, looking back his childhood, that this area was wild without fence and good playground for kids.

On this day I strolled about the park with a tourist's eye.
It made me amuse a lot and I looked across the sweep of the town one more time.

It was a warm day. Autumn that seemed to approach at a gallop is supposed to be run in place.

Pond for migrant birds

I noticed some starlings on an electric wire this evening. It is said that they prefer winter in a warm climate, so I wonder that they came from colder districts even in the same country.


I had a sudden notion to go to a pond for migrant birds before very long.

The weather report said it was going to be cloudy today, but luckily it is fine.

Elementary school kids are taking their field trip to this place.
This pond is surrounded by a path and many trees.

Many foliage have not yet turned yellow nor red, but some started to change their colour.

This is the pond that I posted before (here), which is called Koya(昆陽）pond in Itami city.

In fact the pond, that was formed more than 1,200 years ago,have been a famous place sung in Waka(old tanka poem), as a place for maple leaves being blown from a mountain in Minou city.

Minou city is next to Itami city, but how they could imagine the maple leaves travelled more than 10km?
I'm amazed by the imagination of ancient people.

This year I came here three month earlier than I did at the previous time.

I see fewer sort of ducks, fewer number of cormorants, and no gulls.

These three swans,

moved onto the bank one after another,

and they got in a line.

はばたきて降（お）り来しは壁のモザイクの鳩なりしかば愕きて醒む

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　大西　民子

What got down from heaven

fluttering its wings

is a mosaic dove in a wall,

and I came back to life

being astonished

Tamiko Ohnishi(1924～1994)

Maybe I almost fell asleep on a bench.


Phoenix like cloud is floating across a blue autumn sky.

Some pieces of memory

Recent warm autumn days are better suited for going out for walking or doing some sports. In fact when I'm passing by some schools I can see exercise for athletics meets by students.

Besides autumn makes me feel tempted to make some small thing sitting alone in my room thinking of something or nothing.

Of course making or reading tanka poem makes my day, but today the pieces of some old cloth which I found at a corner of my drawer gave me a hint.

They were given by my husband's mother ( I don't like so much the word, mother-in-law), and have been forgotten.

The pieces of cloth are of indigo dyeing and the patterns of the cloths are chrysanthemums and tiny butterflies.

I tried to do patchwork simply by hand.

And I added some tapes and spangles which are not so standing out.

Maybe it is simple crazy patch if I can name



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing this, my memory traced back the days where I had lived with  my husbands mother.

They were not always bright days, and sometimes rainy, but all peaces of the memory are so tender.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 窓の外にくだるは露か夜しぐれ
                         ひそやかにして何か近づく


　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　斎藤　史（１９０９～２００２）

Is it dewfall or

night's passing autumn shower

on the windowpane?

Stealthily, without a sound,

something is approaching here
(translated by James Kirkup and Makoto Tamaki)

Like dewfall in the tanka by Fumi Saito, tenderness of the memory came stealthily to me.

While I am unaware some autumnal insects started to be chirping.

I made this cushion last autumn listening to some sings of insects.



By the way the mother leaf that I posted here had four children.

And they are growing like this.

Tea Ceremomy in a temple

On Oct. 1. tea ceremony by many schools was held  in a temple, Manpuku-ji(萬福寺）.
 A friend of mine got the tickets and invited me to attend there.
 Tasting tea in this good season and that the event is for viewing moon with a cup of tea if we would be lucky were too attractive to resist.

 

This temple is located in Uji-city in Kyoto prefecture where green tea is special product, and was built about 350years ago.The main hall has not been rebuilt since then.

Main hall

from one of the other smaller halls

The scale of the temple precincts is vast , though I did not see so many priests nor monks there. He is one of them whom I saw a few and his youth reminds me of a sensational tanka of the following by Akiko Yosano ( 与謝野　晶子１８７８～１９４２).

やは肌のあつき血汐にふれも見でさびしからずや道を説く君

Rather than trying

to touch the burning passion

pulsing beneath my soft

pale skin, you preach morality.

Aren't you awfully lonely?

I found this translation by Sam Hanill and Keiko Matsui Gibson in a book "RIVER OF STARS" that GABRIELA told me in her comment on this blog.


I'm enjoying this book. Thank you GABRIELA.



Serving green tea called sencha started at 15:30.
We arrived at the temple around 16:00
Sencha(煎茶）, a sort of green tea (茶＝tea),  improved its manner for service in each of several  sencha schools after the original one came from China.


Some schools set up tables on the ground here and there and some do inside of the halls for serving green tea.

Guests and visitors come one after another and wait until the previous series of service will have finished.

The circuit was continued until 20:00, and we stayed there until 18:30.
We enjoyed tea of three schools, though I couldn't distinguished the difference of the subtle taste.
I need to learn more.



in front of the main hall, ritual-like tea ceremony is ongoing




hanging lanterns on the ceiling of the cloister

 

Can you see the letters sencha (煎茶）on the hanging lantern?
Actually it is written that the letters sencha-dou
(煎茶道）.
道 means way, and it suggests that  to learn something is like a long way.

Seeing and tasting is learning,

I will try to make better tea from now on.

my mother-in-law's heirloom