Monday, May 12, 2008

Sakura Evening

Gazing up at
The cherry blossoms in spring
My mind is refreshed.
I can even forget
The ups and downs of life.
Otaki Rengetsu

There was a beautiful quarter moon riding the skies last evening, and as is my custom, I went outside into the garden with a mug of tea after nightfall to greet that luminous orb and bow to its glowing springtime magnificence.

It was a magical evening, and if I had closed my eyes for just a moment as I stood there in the darkness under the trees, I would have thought I was in Kyoto again. The air in the village was filled with the fragrance of blooming cherry, plum, crabapple and almond trees and the hum of a hundred thousand bees, the gentle sighing of a puckish wind that went dancing through the branches and sent drifts of snowy petals floating like confetti into the garden and along the street.

On such evenings, one feels young again and ready for adventures, ready to tackle anything at all that comes her way.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

How beautiful - again both words and images.
Warm regards
Karen

Anonymous said...

Your photos just get more and more amazing. Thank you for sharing them.

Tsutsu said...

The quater moon didn't rise over my garden yesterday evening. It was a stormy night with a cold rain and a typhoon wind. It was as if the nature had decided to take us back to one of those long and dark winter nights again. I now know where the moon was last night, how it greeted you as you walked into your garden, how it shined on falling petals of apple blossoms, on vibrating wings of bees.

Val said...

We have had such quiet warm luminous evenings just recently in Dorset. And the blossom this year is amazingly beautiful.

Ah Kyoto....delicate cherry blossom...green willows waving....

Ahhhhhh

Anonymous said...

oh cate i share your love of the cherry tree and her shawl of bodacious blossoms! we have one in our front and back yard and she casts tints of red and pink into our bedroom that i wish i could stay there all day! tom has taken some breathtaking photos of her in the past, and he's just mentioned how's he's heading outside again to capture her in all her glory...

peace,
lil

Shelli said...

Oh how I have good memories of the sakura in Japan. Beautiful photo.

(Though I'm leaving less comments, I do continue to gaze upon your beautiful images.)