The changing seasons

Soap bubbles in light and shadow.  Thank you, little ones, for assisting me to photograph.

The ephemeral iridescence of soap bubbles capture the essence of childlike wonder.

In changing seasons, summer things don’t pop out like bubbles

but gradually disappear from sight and memory.

Till mid-September, some summer flowers and insects were hanging in there.

Longhorn Beetle

As autumn draws in, there are some changes under way in the natural world

like falling temperatures, berries, seeds, yellowish grasses, autumn flowers, etc.

Red Berries of Cornus officinalis, or Japanese cornel

Hagi, or Japanese Bush Clover

Having good appetite would be one of the signs of autumn, too.
Would you like to have Chinese course dishes?

Or, how about French cuisine at a little homey restaurant?

Duckling aiguillette on potatoes, Spanish mackerel and vegetables,

petite pieces of sweets, chestnut icecream on chestnut pancake, etc.

In the cool and crisp air, cosmoses have come to bloom one after another.

Hannya-ji Temple

The fresh air is for sports.

F enjoyed her first Field Day (Undo-kai in Japanese) at the elementary school.

Pupils are divided to two teams, Red and White, 
to compete in relays, ball-toss game, the mock cavalry battle, to name a few.

They also perform dances or coordinated group gymnastics.

Daytime is getting shorter.

The golden sphere sinks into the burnt-orange clouds over the Ikoma mountains.

The contrast of light and darkness is moving,

which somehow reminded me of Halloween about one month later.

Wish you peace and happiness!

Linked to Mosaic Monday
Our World Tuesday

Between summer and autumn, 2016

Small red berries of Cornus officinalis, or Japanese cornel

September is going to be over.

In my part of the world, September has been almost rainy or cloudy.
The photo below was taken one of the few opportunities when blue sky appeared
with autumn clouds in the beginning of September.

Though summer lasts long this year,
the change of light and colors and the cooler temperature in mornings and evenings
have made me feel that season is moving forward.

Till around the Autumn Equinox Day, morning glories were still lingering in my neighborhood,

.....and in my garden, too.

When I walked around the precinct of Gango-ji Temple in Nara-machi,

it was raining on and off.

Between the Buddhist stone images, flowers play around.
The blooming of Japanese bell-flowers lasted from mid-summer.

Coreopsis tinctoria, or Golden tickseeds, too.

Hagi, or Japanese Bush Clover, is the first bloomer among the seven wild flowers of autumn.

There are about 2500 stone statues and stone towers of Buddhism
date back to 16th to 18th century.

At the end of the gravel path (photo above), there is a candle hold made of metal
which I've been attracted but almost no people pay attention as far as I have seen
as it is mostly hidden by the tree.

I guess these animals, people, and birds symbolize all creation
though I'm not sure.

Needless to say that the Buddhist stone statues have a soul,
I feel inanimate objects like these metal creatures have their own life.

These flowers are Anemone hypnosis's var. japonica, or Japanese anemone.

Yellowish green tells us the changing seasons in the summer-like weather.

At home, my husband and I let the most of the bell crickets free 

into our garden from the insect rearing cages as we do every year.

Some were left in a cage for the breeding next year.

A site about bell crickets, here.

The male (left) is singing, rubbing the wings together.

Another day, I saw bursting out of a Cosmos,

pristine white surrounded in pale yellow.

Today I can feel cool, crisp air I've been anxiously waited for.
As to the bursting out of vivid colors, it will take more time.
.
Linked to Friday Photo Journal 

Autumn in progress - some photos from September

Autumn has progressed slow but steady since early visit of cool and crisp air at the late August, 

unfolding its beauty one after another.

What gave me joy in September are .....

A lovely round hearts,
the first red leaves I saw this season

丸葉の木, Disanthus cercidifolius (Sept. 19)

The delicate small rosy purple flowers of 萩 Hagi, or Japanese Bush Clovers

The profusion of Hagi flowers on the vigorous shrubs

 A camouflaged praying mantis among the white-flowered variety of Hagi

A critical moment?

 Y's  first stay with us in the early September

The aura of mystery in the light and shadow at the pond in the Metasequoia wood

彼岸花 Higan-bana, or Lycoris radiata, quietly blooming at the edge of the pond

The colorful flowers with the exotic look of the long petals and stamens,
sitting tall upon a single stem

Occasional visits by 28-month Y living nearby

Purple display of fruits of 紫式部 Callicarpa jpoonica, or Japanese beauty berry

Bell Crickets and their lovely chirping in my garden

How about you?
Enjoy each moment of your progressing autumn
(or spring depending on where you are)
like a butterfly "dancing on the edges of time."

Thank you, Mersad, for hosting Through My Lens.

The hue of autumn at Gango-ji Temple

September is going to end. Gradual cooling, cool and crisp air, sound of wind, blooms of autumn flowers, turning colors of grasses and leaves make me realize autumn is come.  At Gango-ji Temple in Nara City, The flower of Japanese bush clover is a sign of autumn together with the blooms of Chinese bellflowers and Japanese cluster-amaryllis.

Japanese bush clover, “萩, Hagi" meaning literally “grass on top of 秋, autumn", would be the first autumn flower because they start flowering when summer heat still lingers.  Tiny reddish purple or pink flowers and dainty leaves sway in breeze on arching stems. They were the most loved autumn flowers since the ancient times.  In the Manyoshu Anthology compiled in the 8th century, hagi flower is the most written flower, 142 out of 4500 poems.

There is also a white-flowered variety.

They play around some of the rocks with another autumn flowers, bluish purple bellflowers. 

This another stone was a foundation stone to the Lecture Hall.

 
In the precinct, there are about 2500 pagodas and statues made of stone or engraved on stone. They were donated by the people to wish for peaceful death to go to the Pure Land of Buddha in the medieval period.

Higanbana, or Japanese cluster amaryllis, starts blooming around the autumn equinox.





Asuka Temple built in Asuka in 596 is Japan's oldest Buddhist Temple. When the capital was transferred to Nara, the temple was moved to the current site (Nara City) and renamed Gango-ji in 718. Traits from the ancient times you can see from outside is the beautiful roof tiles and the design of roofing.

West roof of the Main Hall

Japan's oldest tile roofing called "Gyoki-buki" is constructed by partially overwrapping roof tiles of folding-fan shape.  "Gyoki-buki" is seen on the west roof of the Main Hall (Gokuraku-bo or Paradise Hall) and 16 rows of the roof of Zen Meditation Hall back to the Main Hall.  The roofing design is unique to Tempyo period (710-784).  Can you see color difference of the tiles on the roof of long rectangular building in the photo below? 

Main Hall and Zen Meditation Hall, both are national treasures.

Left side was roofed in Kamakura period (1192-1333); right side is "Gyoki-buki" in Nara period (710-794).

A few of the remaining tiles, which are brownish color, are from the Asuka period (593-670).  They were made by Korean craftsman and are the very first tiles produced in Japan.  In the ancient times, building materials were often collected from dismantled buildings, then carried to new sites and reused to make new buildings. 

Ancient tiles made in the 6th century have gone through more than 1400 times of seasonal change from summer to autumn at this temple. 

Seasonal flower is often arranged at the tsukubai basin at this temple.

Gango-ji Temple is registered as World Heritage Site as part of Historic Monuments of the Ancient Nara together with Todai-ji Temple, Kofuku-ji Temple, Kasuga Shrine, Yakushi-ji Temple, Toshoda-ji Temple, Kasuga Primitive Forest, and Heyjyo Palace Site.

This post is linked to Our World.