Apricot Rains is over!
Blistering sunny days have come after the sweltering rainy season.
I've stayed home mostly except for the evening walk as I feel like that I'm being choked
in sauna in the daytime.
While I spend idly and casually, I've created a post about my town from spring to summer.
My town is a nice and quiet residential area, a bedroom town of
Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara, lying on the rolling hills overlooking four directions.
I like walking around my town, neighboring towns, and the surrounding area.
Townspeople take care of their gardens earnestly, and the public planting space, too.
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Flowers on fences or gates.
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Sakura (Cherry blossoms) are beautiful in every park.
I like the stillness of the parks after children go back home.
Sakura bloomed late this year but Dogwood, Wisteria, Geraniums, Roses, Hydrangeas ....
come to bloom earlier and earlier every year.
I'm always marveled at how many people love to grow plants with green thumbs.
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In the nearest park, the Liriodendron tulipifera bloom in mid-May.
Few people notice the orange and green, tulip-shaped flowers on the upper part of a quite tall tree.
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Flowers under our feet, either.
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In a couple of minutes from the park, I'm home!
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Rainy season set in significantly late and ended almost the same as usual.
It was sweltering hot when the sun appeared.
Raindrops on the morning glory; short-lived respite.
By the way, the west side of the town is a countryside with history longer than 1300 years.
Chinese milk vetches dot the off-season paddies in April.
When Emperor Shomu (the period of reign 724-749) passed by the area, Ono Fukumaro,
who ruled the area, was using a "三 three-pitted 碓 stone mortar" to grind grains.
Emperor Shomu saw it and called the area 三碓 Mitsu-garasu.
It is thought to be the origin of the name of this area.
The stone mortar is kept at the Konsho-in Temple next to the Mitsugarasu Shrine
which enshrines tutelary "kami" who protects the area .
I'll be on summer break in blogging as usual.
Wish you a pleasant season wherever you are.
Stay safe from any disasters.
See you in two months!
Linked to Mosaic Monday
...thanks for taking me along on this beautiful tour. Liriodendron tulipifera is a favorite of mine, here the flowers are often so high in the tree that they are hard to see. Stay well and cool this summer.
ReplyDeleteHello, Yoko
ReplyDeleteYou live in a beautiful place. It is lovely to see all the flowers, beautiful gardens and blooming trees.
Lovely post and photos. Take care, stay well. Have a great summer!
Your town is very pretty, and it is obvious that the residents all love their gardens - through the pretty gates were lots of lovely pots of flowers attractively arranged.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very large beautiful Tulip Tree near my home, but sadly these attractive trees are not commonly seen here.
Enjoy your summer break Yoko.
Have a wonderful vacation. Your town is lovely with all those flowers.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful neighborhood...Pictures and nature...
ReplyDeleteYou have a eye for the details Yoko...They are gorgeous...
Have a lovely week !
Anna
This is such a delightfully cozy neighborhood in which to live, rich in history and beauty. The gardens and gates are inspiring. In my neighborhood, I've noticed more people replacing plain grassy yards for flower gardens and it is such a pleasure to walk by them. Thanks as always for sharing you world, stardust. Wishing you a wonderful and safe summer holiday with your family. :))
ReplyDeleteThe gardens are so beautiful and make for a lovely place to walk. I know summers are getting hotter. They are here in Australia too. Enjoy your week and stay cool. I am joining you at Mosaic Monday
ReplyDeleteGreat blog
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I enjoyed especially the historical details... and of course your captures again very much fine.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little short of energy at the moment, I admit openly. We're just getting from one day to the next... Comforting words definitely help.
I am very happy about the contribution to MosaicMonday again.
Kind regards from Heidrun
Nara is beautiful, I testify as an eye witness. And Nara park is not the only treasure. It is enjoyable to follow you in your walks, Yoko, in blogosphere and even more, in reality. Imagination pictures your busy days, relaxing evenings and starry nights in this summer break. Have a perfect time, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Few people notice the flowers, like dandelions under our feet or stars in the sky, true. Well, lucky are those who do. I know for sure two lucky people.
P.P.S. We’ve come back from our trip, I’m planning to write about it soon. Will come back to read rainy July post as well. Stay safe and serene.
With best wishes,
Irina
Bellos cerezos. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteThe city you live in is wonderful, Yoko. I wish you a wonderful and successful holiday. Be happy. Hugs and greetings!
ReplyDeleteYoko - thank you so much for visiting my blog and your kind comments! I am sorry to hear that the summer has been so hot and humid for you. We had a very hot spell here in July, but since then temperatures have been moderate, and generally, we do not have humidity.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the views of your "neighborhood" since we usually see other areas in your post. I find that flowers in any area make everything look brighter. We had tulip trees in our yard when we lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and I was fascinated by such large blooms in a tree.
Hi Yoko,
ReplyDeleteThe city where you live is so wonderful, surrounded by nature.
Flowers always delight our eyes.
Magnificent photos ❤️
Gretings and enjoy the summer.
Maria
The rolling hills and the well-tended gardens must add a lot of charm to the area. Cherry blossoms in parks are always a highlight, and it's nice that you find joy in their stillness after the day’s activity. The photos of flowers on fences and gates must add a lovely, personal touch to the town’s appearance.
ReplyDeleteHow are you finding the transition from spring to summer? Are there any particular spots or flowers that stand out to you more now that the weather has changed?
Read my new blog post: www.melodyjacob.com
The big transition is air; the intensely hot and stifling air is so uncomfortable and dangerous. However, summer is as vibrant as spring in its appearance; sunflowers and morning glories color my garden, and red Crape Myrtle flowers are eye-catching here and there.
DeleteSuch lovely photographs.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are enjoying your summer blogging break.
Stay safe and well.
All the best Jan
Konnichiwa Yoko san, hajimemashite 😃 Watashi wa Porando nisundeimasu. Yes, Im learning japanese about 2 years. Your post is so beautiful. Im very happy Im here. Your country is really wonderful. I Hope one dsy I will visit Japan. Take care Dear 😀
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely array of flowers - and that was an exquisite gate shown in a couple of pictures. I love both the cultivated flowers which are planted for artistic effect, and the wild flowers which appear seemingly at random, but really in accordance to strict rules of nature. Personally I always feel that natural scenes can be studied for hours because there is so much detail at every level ..... tiny lichens or different types of moss, and many different varieties of grass, each with its own purpose - or, alternatively huge trees which we pass under daily while forgetting to notice what enormous plants they are! Once, I spent half a day lying down on a grassy common in England, photographing nothing but tiny plants which people could tread upon and never notice. It was a wonderland! Yet, I also love to see the human soul when a gardener creates a living scene that is made to appear either naturally or formally beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful summer break, Stardust. We've been to Kyoto/Nara area several times and have always loved it. We plan to be at the Ashikaga wisteria park in Spring next year. I hope we hit it right. We do love traveling to Japan. There's always so much to see. Your photos are so beautiful, it makes me look forward to our trip next year. I haven't told relatives we're coming because I don't want to put them through any trouble.
ReplyDeleteYour town is a beautiful place! The flowers are very pretty.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm glad I didn't miss this post full of blooms! You're lucky to live in such close proximity to all this beauty and tranquility.
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic to live in a city where attention is paid to gardens and green spaces. The samples you offer us, in addition to beautiful photographs, give an idea of how pleasant it must be to come across them on a walk. Your photographs of spheres are also pure enjoyment. There is something powerfully attractive to us in polished surfaces that shine, especially if they are spherical in shape, and capturing that attraction in a two-dimensional image does not seem like an easy task. Your return home after that walk looks very good. It's a pleasure to return like this ;-) In the West there has also been a tradition that in some way mythologized if not sanctified the boundaries of towns, the space where the city ends and where nature begins to take over. However, it is something that has practically been lost. It is also a pleasure to come across that here and to return to that idea in which we try to give meaning to spaces and they help us in the search for our own meaning.
ReplyDelete