Pages

Monday, May 20, 2013

A walk through roses - Amagasaki City Agricultural Park

Roses appear in numerous different varieties with different colors and forms and in fact it is difficult for me to tell which is my favorite among all the beauties.  




Yellow Roses bring sunny feelings of joy, warmth, and welcom.  




White Roses are associated with new beginnings and are indicative of purity, innocence, and spirituality. 





Pink Roses convey elegance, grace, sweetness, and gentle emotions.






Red Roses symbolize deep emotions, deep love.




These photos were taken at Amagasaki Agricultural Park in the middle of May last year.  Amagasaki city is an industrial city, a major part of the Hanshin Industrial Region.  Factories of heavy industries are located along the sea coast, while mountain side has a different atmosphere as academic, residential, and small-sized agricultural  area.   







Amagasaki Agricultural Park is an oasis for the local people where they spend leisurely, appreciating flowers, playing with pets, having lunch, doing some hobbies on the grass, or taking photos.

 





There is a path leading up to the road on the bank of the Inagawa River (猪名川) from one corner of the park. 


 The park is open 24 hours and is admission free. (Homepage in Japanese,  here)



I've had a fortune to live with a newborn baby and his mother.  Daughters customarily stay with their parents about a month after her baby is born.  Not being alone without any assist while her husband is for work, the new mother feels safer and more secure when she’s with her family.  I’ve enjoyed watching the baby boy growing little by little, and assisting my daughter who gently, affectionately, and patiently mothers him including incessant breast-feeding and diaper changing. The baby is my daughter’s world, and ours as well.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Pond reflections with floating baby leaves




The color of the pond changes fantastically from second to second.  It is the color of the surface-covering aqua plants, reflected nature of the season, and the sky.  On a sunny day, sunlight sparkles on the pond. 


At the end of April, the water of the Hase-ike Pond at Kobe Municipal Arboretum looked lavendar to pink color.




There were numerous soft purple lily pads in the pond.

The tiny red things on the branch are maple flowers.

Then, I spotted glinting pink things in the water which looked like fallen cherry blossoms, but I knew there were no cherry trees around the pond. 




When I saw them through my telephoto lens, I found they were tiny delicate floating leaves.








I was captivated by the magical world of the glinting baby pads.






According to the staff of the forest, newly born floating leaves of the aqua plants of the pond are tinted with red or purple color and becomes green till June. 



Baby pads of these colors are so special to this season. So was the clarinet live I happened to enjoy.  The tune mingled with the breeze over the pond....


... and maybe soaked into the pond?



There are so many things I love and want to share with you at the Rokko Mountains but I wouldn't like to make the post very long, so I’ll add one more special to this season – flowers of maple trees.  Maple trees flower in early spring with or just after the appearance of the leaves. 



Though maple flowers are small individually, the effect of an entire tree in flower can be striking in several species.   See the photos below. 



オオモミジ, Acer palmatum var. amoenum

Wish you a wonderful May!
Enjoy beauty and wonder that is all around.


My daughter and her baby boy born on May 1st are leaving hospital
and staying with us for a while.  I'll visit you slowly.