The start of 梅雨 (Apricot Rains),
the rainy season, was officially announced at the end of May much earlier than usual. It is supposed to last about a month but it has been a dry rainy season. I use parasol instead of umbrella under the sun peeping through overcast. I am concerned about water shortage when high-summer comes with intense heat and little rain. Various effects have started to emerge and farmers already have difficulty with rice cultivation in some regions. I expected an approaching typhoon No. 3 would bring in rain while hoping no floods caused by torrential rain, but it is not likely to rain so far in my region, Nara. So, I will make a love call post to rain with last year's photos, praying for heaven and admiring the nice things during the rainy season.
Life is vibrant at the swamp.
Softly falling rain is healing like a muffling gift from heaven. But rain does not fall softly always. This flower reminds me of “resilience”. She refused to give up and continued to please me after facing difficulties with courage and patience.
My favorite color is blue. Hydrangeas of any color is beautiful, but blue ones look most refreshing to my eyes when weather is warm and damp. They all need rain.
There are gems all around.
The earth wears shades of green color.
The smell of the wet grass and wet soil is refreshing to the soul.
Life is vibrant at the swamp.
Softly falling rain is healing like a muffling gift from heaven. But rain does not fall softly always. This flower reminds me of “resilience”. She refused to give up and continued to please me after facing difficulties with courage and patience.
Rain makes a heart go romantic?
Threads of weeping willows are like green curtain getting longer and
longer.
Viewing pretty flowers like water lilies, irises, or hydrangeas of this season
make me feel relaxed.
They look more lovely under the leaden skies rather than the dazzling sunshine.
Will it rain tomorrow?
Please have a visit to Nice things during the rainy season, 2011.
Ty pragniesz żeby zaczął padać deszcz, bo jest potrzebny. Ja pragnę, żeby u nas przestal padać, bo wody już za dużo. Śliczne zdjęcia dodałaś do tego postu. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteYou want to begin to rain, because you need it. I want to with us stopped raining because the water was too much. Cute photos with the addition of water. Yours.
What a nice idea causing us to see such beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteAnd please Yoko, if your prayers are answered and your love call works and the rain comes, could you send some here too? :-)
The rain refreshers the earth and provides natures nourishment - often then followed by sunshine. We need them both, and how lovely to sometimes be rewarded with a magical rainbow after the rain. Your photos are always a pleasure to see Yoko.
ReplyDeleteI'll perform a rain dance for you and for those of you who urgently need the water coming from the sky. After a very wet springtime - normally we don't have much rain in May in Central Europe - the weather gets "better" step by step. Better means warmer, less rain, more sunshine.
ReplyDeleteNormally many people leave their camera at home when it rains outside, so it was my pleasue and a variation in photo routine to have a look on your pictures, dear Yoko. :-)
Regards from Germany,
Uwe.
Lovely post...
ReplyDeleteHave a great day ! With rain or not...
Hug
Anna
Dear Yoko,
ReplyDeleteYou pictures bring me peace. Thank you so much for sharing your impressions and landscapes of Japan.
I hope the rainy season streches till the end of summer so that Japan won't face water scarcity.
Cheers
Márcia
こんばんは
ReplyDeleteやっと梅雨らしくなってきましたね。空梅雨かとみんな心配していて、もっとたくさんこれから降ってほしいですね。農作物への影響もあるし。アジサイ、本当にきれいに撮れていますね。こちらでは、アジサイさんも雨が少なくて元気がありません。
それからお嬢様、赤ちゃんお生まれになったんですね。おめでとうございます。目に入れても痛くないほど可愛いでしょう？ ご多幸をお祈り申し上げます。
ありがとうございます。娘と赤ちゃんは自宅に戻りました。息子の方の孫の時は楽をしましたが、今回は結構忙しかったですよ。５月はどこへも遊びに行きませんでした。でも、新生児の可愛さは格別ですね。天気予報は関東の方は雨マークがありますが、関西はお日様と雲マークです。明日未明にかけてのにわか雨に期待しているのですが・・・
DeleteI like that shiny big drop at the tip of the leaf you photographed! I hope your appreciation for rain, so well expressed, does bring about some drizzles. In my part of the world when we have periods of dryness things soon feel uncomfortably parched. We need balance in weather as in all things it seems. :)
ReplyDeleteYou turn rain into poetry! Magical shots as usual... And that first shot is especially gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI hope it will!! If I were responsible for rain I would send some to you after seeing such a beautiful "love call post to rain", Yoko. I agree with ladyfi above, you do turn rain intro poetry!
ReplyDeleteI always feel bad to see flowers and all things craving for water. I know they say it's the survival of the fittest but somehow it feels unfair... Especially when I know we're pretty much to blame for this change of climate.
I'll try and sing a Paparuda song for you to call down the rain, or at least send some of the rains here to your part of the world. After quite a hot spring we are now stricken by heavy rains, thundering storms and hailstones.
I was very happy to hear your family got bigger and you have recently welcomed a new grandchild in your lives! I wish you all good health, to enjoy each other for many years to come, and I look forward seeing pictures with him growing up.
Have good, refreshing days ahead my dear friend!
i hope you do not suffer too much of a drought. parts of the US have been hit the past few years and it is terrible for crops and farmers as well as wildfires.
ReplyDeleteU love your photos of the weeping willow and the irises reflected in the waters. You have a very good eye for aesthetics and possess of good techniques to come out with such beautiful compositions.
ReplyDeleteこんばんは。こちらは今日も雨でしたが、関西は酷暑になったとかニュースで報じていました。暑かったですか。枝垂れ柳のカーテンは涼しそうですね。
ReplyDeleteLovely wet serie...
ReplyDeleteBest regards from France,
Pierre
My favourite weather - I adore rain! Actually, am reading your post to thunderstorm music, it's raining again. Great pics! You are a genius in photography, Yoko. Have an enjoable week end! I guess, your little one will soon greet you with a smile. :)
ReplyDeleteなんとも毎日味気ない梅雨のシーズンですね。Ｙｏｋｏさんの写真を見せて頂き、昨年はこんなにしっとりした６月だったのだと思いました。そう、明日は雨が少し降るらしいですよ。ようやく！！
ReplyDelete良い週末をお過ごしくださいね。また！
Ｔｏｍｏｋｏ
ReplyDeleteHello, stardust.
It is my joy to share your wonderful work.
And sweet message charms my heart.
I pray for your happiness and world peace.
Have a good weekend. From Japan, ruma ❃
本当に雨が待たれますね。昨日一昨日と気温も奈良でもこの時期の過去最高温度だったとか。その最中、歌の発表会があり、戸外の暑さも知らず歌ってました。勿論ホール内は冷房がよく効いてましたが。昔の水争いもわかる気がします。今日は雨らしいから、みんな潤いますね。
ReplyDeleteLovely photos Yoko,especially the first.These weather changes are causing concern for everyone.Northern Europe has been colder than usual this Spring and this will no doubt have an effect on grain production.I hope your wished for rain arrives.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend,
Ruby
Yoko, if your Apricot Rains have begun and you get enough, please do send some to us in CO. We are getting drier by the day. Love all your wet/green shots but I'm sighing at those Irises.
ReplyDeleteHi Yoko,
ReplyDeleteLove all your photos and as always you capture nature so beautifully. The rain is here too, in the Uk. Far too much of it at the moment!
I see a Weeping Willow in one of your images, it has to be one of my favourite trees next to the red maple.
Stunning gardens near where you live and the black ravens are wonderful too with there blue/black feathers. Lovely!
Best wishes,
Jo. x
Has it started raining in Kansai yet? We've been having non-stop rain in Tokyo for the past few days. I love it! Everybody complains about the rain, but I tell them all that moisture does wonders for an older woman's skin! ;)
ReplyDeleteIt rained at last yesterday and occasional rain is forecasted on Wednesday and Thursday. I’d like to have a few days of nonstop raining, too. It has been too hot for the middle of June and I’d like to feel rested on cooler days. I really need moisture on my skin all the year round.
DeleteWith such a beautiful and heartfelt prayer, I am sure it will rain Yoko. Meanwhile, it's raining cats and dogs in Mumbai and I will request them to travel over to you in Nara. Your pictures are stunning as always and the words turn the post into a lovely poetry. Here's to many fresh rain pictures in the next post,
ReplyDeleteWish you a super happy week, ahead :)
Arti
It was raining on Saturday. A group of us were going out to lunch, and when someone complained about the rain, another person said, "Megumi no ame".
ReplyDeleteWhen I got home, I asked my better half, "So, is this start of the rainy season?" :-)
How happy I was with Saturday rain! It was really “Megumi no ame” which made both people and nature get refreshed. Though Sunday and Monday were sunny and too hot again, rain is forecasted for three consecutive days ahead. I had thought the official announcement of the start of rainy season was mistake, but the seasonal rain front did exist much southern than usual, which caused no rain in our region. Now that the rain front is moving stimulated by the newly born typhoon No. 4, I hope we’ll have enough rain to sustain our life in mid-summer. At the same time I hope no landslides or floods due to torrential rain.
DeleteThere has been no shortage of rain here. A series of sunny days is supposed to start tomorrow. It will be most welcome. I hope you get the rain you need. While sunny days are lovely, they are even nicer when the rain has made everything lush.
ReplyDeleteAnother delightful and soothing post. We've been fortunate to have had quite a bit of rain of late and thus all the flora is quite green and lush, much like the photos you have pictured here.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment on Creative Confections. I tried to express the idea that you cannot go back to your childhood; that things change and nothing is ever the same while at the same time it was in those years that we were molded and developed our values and thus is important to revisit those times if only in memory. You are fortunate to still have your mother and she is fortunate to have you. I'd guess you are the same kind of mother to your daughter that your mother was to you and that you have been able to pass on meaningful values and traditions.
Best wishes and one of those wishes is for you to experience lots of rain falling softly from the sky like the sound of wind chimes blowing gently in the breeze.
関東は様子が違うようですが、ようやくここ関西圏でも雨が続くようになりました。
ReplyDelete空梅雨で農作物に影響がでることを思えばうっとおしいなんて言えませんね。雨の日には雨の日の恩恵があります。
╮✿ °•.¸
ReplyDeleteComo precisamos de chuva!
Eu também gosto de fotografar após a chuva.
A natureza fica mais bonita em agradecimento.
Bom domingo!
Boa semana!
°º✿♫ Beijinhos.
°º✿
Sometimes rain is a big problem in countries. Like also now in Europe ! what a beautiful pictures from you!!far away from us..... Japan?? kind regards Mieke
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful, thoughtful and poetic. In England we don't have a rainy season, as rain falls all the year round, and summers are not always hot. I don't like it when there is no sunshine in the summer, but the colours seem to emerge more beautifully when the sky is cloudy but fairly bright. Your pictures and words, though, are enough to make me appreciate the rain.
ReplyDeleteOne question - why is the start of the rainy season announced early, when in fact there is no rain? I'm puzzled!
Good question, Jenny! When it was officially announced at the end of May, the weather looked like rainy or cloudy ahead, but it just lasted a few days followed by too hot sunny days like mid-summer. I thought it was premature announcement. The seasonal rain front did exist but much southern than usual and didn’t affect my region at all until it started moving north stimulated by the approaching typhoon and other factors. To think about the unusually long winter and floods in Europe, June snow in Switzerland, unusual dry season in the land of rice farming since ancient times, it seems to me that the world is getting crazy with weather.
DeleteI keep come rain, come shine attitude in my life but wish nature doesn’t go to extremes as both drought and storms and floods are matter of life and death.