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Monday, June 6, 2011

Nice things during the rainy season

The rainy season set in about two weeks ago.  Though it will last till the middle of July, the rainy season is not depressing to me at all.  I’d rather say I like this  period before the summer comes with its full force. 



First of all, Japanese rainy season has a poetic name “梅雨" or "apricot rains."  Our rainy season coincides with the season when ume, or Japanese apricots, ripen, so it is written 梅雨 which literally means apricot rains.   



Soon Irises (hanashobu in Japanese) will be flowering gregariously.   We can see them along the edges of ponds in almost all the Japanese gardens as seasonal plants have been planted to signify the passing of seasons.  Wet irises look more attractive with their purple glow.

Japanese “ayame”, “kakitsubata”, and “shobu”, all are called irises in English.    “The hardest choice to make is whether to pick ayame or kakitsubata” is Japanese phrase to show difficulty to distinguish.   This site (in Japanese) explains how to tell apart them:  the center of "hanashobu" is yellow, "kakitsubata" white, and "ayame" a mesh design.  Ayame bloom on the wet grasslad earlier in May.






Water lilies also bloom during wet season and often make good collaboration with irises in the water garden.  The scene reminds me of Monet's painting.






Hydrangeas are beautiful under the leaden skies or in the softly falling rain.  These soft pink hydrangeas are new variety in my garden.  The young plants were passed along by my friend with a green thumb two year ago.  Don't they bloom nicely this year? 




Another exciting thing during the rains is newly born fawns in Nara Park.  Deer childbirth period is from May to mid-July.  This year's first baby was born on May 12th. There are about 60 fawns so far and totally 200 fawns will be till mid-July.  While about 1100 deer freely roam in Nara Park and surrounding areas, babies, their mothers, and pregnant deer are protected at deer pen together with the injured by Deer Protection Organization. 


A baby is suckling.



The rains is indispensable for rice cultivation and I like to see rice paddies filled with water.  If we don't have enough rain this season, we will be troubled with water shortage in August.   With each rainfall, green color becomes deeper and brighter.  Smell of falling rain mixed with soil and leaves, pattering sound, occasional drumming sound accompanied by thunder and lightening,  pretty flowers like irises, hydrangeas, and water lilies, and new life of bambis..., Apricot Rains is such a nice season. 





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51 comments:

  1. はじめまして。Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love you photos - very green and lush. The hydrangeas remind me of my trip to Japan last year - during the rainy season :). Great shots of the little bambis :)

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  2. Thanks for your comment on my blog.
    Nara Park is a very interesting place,full of visual treats.
    How lovely to find the baby deer in hiding!

    Best wishes!

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  3. Hi,Stardust.
    Stardustの沢山の写真を見てると雨のシーズンに入っても、日本では沢山の美しい花が咲くのだなあと改めて思いますね。
    雨の時期うっとおしいと思わず、ゆっくりと楽しむ事にしましょう!小鹿が可愛く撮れています!

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  4. Great photos, as usual. Are they all yours? If so, I'd like to ask your permission to use them for an English quiz at my university. And can I ask you where the various flower photos were taken? Part of the purpose of the quiz is to introduce interesting/traditional places in Nara to the students. Thanks in advance. (Click here to see what it will look like).

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  5. Hi, Marc! Yes, all the photos are mine. I'll email you.

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  6. I also love rain, stardust, and live in an area that some people say has too much. The Japanese have poetry in their speech and a gift of naming things beautifully. You have turned the mind to positive thoughts about rainfall. This is exactly the way I see it, especially in a world where many places have a desperate need for water. I, too, see Monet’s painting in the water lily photo, by the way. And the two little deer hiding in a barrel would make a wonderful art card to send to your friends. Thanks as always for sharing your world!

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  7. hello, Stardust

    Your post very interesting and the photos are wonderful.
    A splendid week and ability to work. good job!
    All the best.

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  8. You convinced me that rainy season was not so bad. However, I crave for patches of blue sky sometime during a long spell of rainy weather. I wonder what rainy season of this year will be like.
    So far,so good.
    The pictures are all mesmerizingly beautiful. How did you take photos of fawns? It seems they didn't notice you and look quite relaxed and extremely cute.

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  9. i love the 1st macro shot, it's lovely. ^0^
    i have seen deers when i was in Nara, and they're really adorable,
    except for the deer dungs, i enjoy looking at them while feeding them biscuits.

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  10. every flower (and each fawn) is so lovely...infused with life!

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  11. I too, like the rain--so peaceful and refreshing, and the world is newly washed and clean when it is over. Wonderful photos of the flowers and, of course, those cute fawns. What a treat to be able to see them at this stage. Lovely post. Have a nice week. Mickie :)

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  12. What a poetic name (apricot rains) for these beautiful photos.

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  13. Maybe it is ayame that I am showing today? You'll have to tell me.

    Lovely post with so much variety.
    1jo.co

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  14. Beautiful post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  15. Beautiful! How cute the bambis are, hiding in the drum :) And your first photo of the flowers was amazing!

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  16. This is an absolutely beautiful post. I love learning about your world. I shall follow you.

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  17. Oh, what a lovely post for the day!! I love the beautiful flowers and colors and, of course, I lost my heart to those precious "Bambies"! I also love the name "apricot rain"! Perfect! Thanks for sharing the beauty! Have a lovely week!

    Sylvia

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  18. Thank you, cosmos, for the comment. I’ll answer your question. People can see a part of protected babies, their mothers, and the pregnant deer at 角きり場(deer enclosure) from 1 to 2 p.m. till July 1st. This is a new trial this year. Members of Deer Protection Organization made small drums for bambis as their hiding places like in nature because there's no place to hide in the enclosure. In natural setting, of course we can’t get close to babies and their mothers. On this special occasion, I took pictures from a stand. Why not going to deer pen to watch over adorable bambis and deer between the rains? I hear childbirth sometimes takes place in front of the people. It must be one of the precious moments to feel wonder of life and living.

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  19. Nara is beautiful even in the rain. All the moisture is greening your landscape and encouraging blooming. I love the idea of "apricot rains!" The twin fawns seem to be talking to each other.

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  20. Breathtaking photos! I remember I haven't posted flowers for a long time in my blog. Your photos reminds me of my passion towards flowers. Thank you for sharing.
    Have a nice day!

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  21. apricot rains sound so romantic. here, we associate rainy season with flooding, and although we also need rain for rice production, city dwellers often wish that it'd be a shortened season.:p

    the fawns and the water lilies are beautiful.

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  22. I too love the rainy season, it gives such joy...
    Beautiful pics, so much color...
    Lovely landscape, have a great day:)

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  23. Your posts are always so beautiful and elegant! Love the flowers, especially hydrangeas - they are, along with peonies, my fvourite flowers!
    I also love the cut 'Bammbi!:)
    Have a nice day!
    Joo

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  24. I am not fond of the rainy season but I do enjoy having opportunities in seeing variety of flowers during the period!
    These bambis are just adorable!
    Thanks for sharing and have a beautiful rainy (?) day!

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  25. Mickie, thank you for your continual visit and comments. I’ve enjoyed your nice posts but I’m still unable to post a comment to you. I’ve been waiting the recovery of comment posting trouble impatiently.

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  26. How nice because you think that rainy season isn't bad.I have to learn your positive attitude. Great and clear photos.

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  27. Rainy season is real fun. One get to see these gorgeous flowers.

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  28. What a beautiful post! I love your photos and your description..so poetic! I can imagine how the wet grassland will look with all those irises blooming...

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  29. Apricot rains sounds so romantic. Your photos are splendid. The irises are so delicate looking. I think the rainy season in Nara is quite beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

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  30. beautiful, beautiful photo's!!!

    it is wonderful that you can enjoy such a long rainy season and find the positive in it!!

    i so enjoy your posts and blog, very uplifting!!!

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  31. My beloved friend
    I love so much the rain!!!
    Your photos are fantastic!!!
    The Nara Park is so lovely!!!
    Warm regards

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  32. Great photos, with frames very good and excellent colors. Full of beauty. Love those deer. Greetings.

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  33. WOW! Your photos are all so lovely The first photo is beautiful beyond words!! The colors are fascinating. Just like you, I prefer the rainy season to hot summer days. I wish I could see the baby deer in person.

    前のコメントのさい、猿沢の池について懇切なご説明を本当にありがとうございました。とても参考になりました。春日龍神については以前、他に書いたことがあり、言及していただき嬉しかったです。なんせ明恵上人の大ファンで・・(笑)

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  34. Of the floral photos - the first one is absolutely gorgeous and should be framed and hanged! I love the color and the sharpness of it...but all of the photos are great and the deer shots are just priceless - especially the ones of the deer in the pipe and the mothers and fawns...

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  35. How beautiful the rains make the world you are surrounded by. The birth of the fawns are always so joyful...their innocence is beautiful. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if EVERYONE could just see its beauty for what it is worth? Thank you for sharing once again.

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  36. Your description of the rainy season is just as poetic as it's name, Apricot Rains. Our rainy season was wetter than usual here in Ohio, but spring is one of my favorite times. Love the small fawns, we both have them in our posts this time!

    Your pink Hydrangeas are lovely...enjoy your Apricot Rains!

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  37. Lovely shots of the fawns.
    The moments they try to stand up by themselves remind me of little dancers who are trying to stand on their tiptoes.

    The pond is the one of in front of Himuro shrine?

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  38. Magda, I’ve been unable to post a comment to some people who use “embedded comment form”. I can’s send a comment to you, but I‘ve enjoyed your blog posts so much.

    Haricot, the pond is one of two ponds in Japanese Gardens of Heian Jingu, Kyoto.

    Many thanks to each and every one for your kind words and nice comment.

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  39. Hello!
    Beautiful pink water lilies and Hydrangeas ! Lovely little deers.
    The pictures are delightful.

    Thanks for your comment on my blog.

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  40. what beautiful flowers,
    all surrounded by green.

    My soul rests in these images,
    thanks

    Greetings from Barcelona, Spain

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  41. Rainy season is a real blessing!
    It's much better than 2 months of ubearable heat and fires that we had last summer in the central Russia.
    The place you live in is full of poetical
    beauty.
    Thank you for the wonderful fotos, stardust!

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  42. My beloved friend
    Many thanks so for kind words !!!
    I wish you a wonderful weekend!
    Many greetings and kisses
    With love

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  43. such beauty you have there. the lilies and blooms are spectacular. and i love the fawns. :)

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  44. The iris and water lilies must be very happy about the rain! The deer have found a great place to hide.

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  45. HELO RUMA. QUE PENA QUE EU FUI UMA PÉSSIMA ALUNA EM INGLÊS. MEU TRADUTOR NEM SEMPRE FUNCIONA.
    QUERO DAR-LHE OS PARABÉNS PELA QUALIDADE DE SUAS FOTOS.
    QUE O PODER SUPERIOR SEJA A SUA GRANDE REFERÊNCIA.

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  46. I love your photographs - especially the deer. The babies are so sweet.

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  47. Why..I didn't know that the meaning of "Tsuyu" was...apricot rain!!! How sweet! And thinking about the recent news on TV, with people selling and buying ume, of course...I understanbd the meaning now!(I once had the opportunity of tasting umeshu made by a Japanese housewife..it was VERY GOOD! I never bought the umeshu sold in shops!)
    Beautiful photos, especially the one with the fawns inside the drum! Very thoughtful decision to provide them with a place "to play hide-and-seek"....so to say!
    I enjoyed the deer at Nara, but one naughty deer bit my hip! It hurt...ouch!

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  48. I'm a year late, but I'm so glad there's another rainy season fan! ^^ Rainy season is my favourite time in Japan, but people think I'm joking when I say that. No! It's gorgeous! If you ask me, ajisai in the rain is even more beautiful than cherry blossoms ...

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  49. Hi, Yoko
    that big rock ... is a dragon! fantastic! Bambi and his mom!
    that tenderness!

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