Autumn roses wet with dew

October is going to be over.

Throughout October, daytime has been sunny and warm like early summer 

while I've turned on heater mornings and evenings.

Tiny drops of water form on cool surfaces of roses at night.

One morning I enjoyed quiet time photographing roses wet with dew.

Dew disappeared as the sun moved higher.

Also on the leaves of roses, there were glinting dew. 

These are close-ups through my lens.

I showed a tiny leaf perfectly fringed by waterdrops in my garden

in the last post, Raindrops.

This time, rose leaves covered with droplets of dew.

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time

like dew on the tip of a leaf."

(Rabindranath Tagore)

In the Rose Garden of Ryosenji Temple, autumn roses are flowering fragrantly

though not so spectacular as the spring bloom due to the small number.

 

Happy Halloween!

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Roses and reflections

When I visit a park at this time of year, without a visit to a rose garden is not perfect.

- A rose garden of Tottori Hana-kairo Flower Park -
Part of my trip to Tottori prefecture, end of May, 2019
Therapeutic time at the mountain stream of Oku-Daisen

I was 19 when Lynn Anderson’s I Never Promised You a Rose Garden was released.

It was constantly on at my favorite radio program featuring Western pop songs.
I enjoyed listening to it though I couldn't hear full lyrics back then.

“Along with the sunshine, there's got to be a little rain sometimes.....”

As a naive, happy student, I didn’t think about future rain when the sun was shining.

I thought my generation in Japan were so blessed without wars or destructive disasters.

1995 Hanshin Great Earthquake which hit my loved home town Kobe and its vicinity
 was a stark realization to me that my country is prone to massive earthquakes.

- My garden -

My concern about natural disasters are not only earthquakes 

but also typhoons or torrential rains which has gotten much more powerful in a decade.

 I think that always normal is abnormal, but can't I say

 "more windy days due to the violent collision of warm and cold air during the warm winter

or cold April with sleet or hails or occasional summer days" abnormal?

The talks of abnormal weather has been overshadowed by the overwhelming news about COVID-19.

Along with the sunshine, rainfall is also a blessing to roses.

Why don't people see the same direction regarding the climate change?

When imminent danger of COVID-19 was informed and then perceived,
so many people could imagine and understand of the full consequences of our actions.
Majority of people changed their behavior to slow down the spread of infections.

Without that attitude and respect to nature, what would happen near future,

whatever the reason, anthropocentric, natural cyclical change, or combination of the both.

Reflection on the wood-deck mirror on a rainy day

BTW, the plant below is not a rose but called “California Rose” in my country. 

It is double petaled impatiens, Impatiens wallerana. 

The rose-like flowers bloom profusely May through mid-summer. 

State of emergency for COVID-19 was lifted across the nation a week ago.
But our battle against the virus still continues with utmost cares.
Rainy season is coming soon followed by top summer's unbearable heat wave.

I hope high humidity and temperature decrease the force of the virus
so that we can prepare enough to stop or face efficiently the second big wave 
which is supposed to come, probably autumn to winter at latest.

The kind, cheerful, playful, and curious boy Y turned 7 the first of May.
I hope bright future for him but no one is promised a rose garden.
At only 7, he seems to be coming to know things sometimes don't go his way
and has to accept it, which is surely part of his growth.
I hope he'll enjoy his first school life started today.

Wish him grow healthy and develop personality with love, wisdom, and courage
so that he can rise to the future challenge of life.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Linked to Mosaic Monday
Thank you, Angie, for hosting.

Roses and May weather

The Rose Garden of Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park

I wrote about the sweeter and fresher air of May in “Wind fragrant May, 2018”.

It is the wind blowing though the exuberance of young foliage.

Roses give forth scents to the air.

May is the time of sunshine.

Roses are sparkling under the bright blue skies.

Warm sunlight showers on the roses.

May is also the time of refreshing showers.

From the Rose Garden of Ryosen-ji Temple

On a rainy day in my garden…

.... a rose was captured in the water mirror on the deck.

Roses in my garden are mostly climbing or small flower type 
which are easier to take care of.

The former half of May was blessed with such a typical lovely weather.
The latter half, however, we have experienced unseasonal too high temperatures.
In northern part, Hokkaido, it recorded 39 degrees C (about 102 F) yesterday,
the highest on record in about 120 years, much hotter than real summer.
Here in Nara, it was 32.
Fortunately mornings and evenings have felt cool due to the dry air,
 which makes difference from Japan's notorious muggy summer.

Roses are not likely to last long due to surging temperatures.

Roses in my garden

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Our World Tuesday

Reds in the landscape of early January

In the pale wintry landscape, something red is especially eye-catching.
The red things below is some of them which captured my heart
when I took walks during the New Year.

At the Umami Hills Park, trees around the pond were bare.

The lingering red berries of "Sanshuyu", Japanese cornel, were adding colors
to the bleak landscape.

The cherry-red color of the oblong Sanshuyu fruits will be changed 

to the bright yellow of flowers in spring

as is seen in Early spring changes at Umami Hills Park.

The berries were shining red against the blue sky in the bracing air.

The withering roses were still shining red, too, 

though weathered, dried, and darkened,
posing a question what beauty is and how to pass away gracefully.

Carried by the wind, some of them might have been rested in eternity by now.

Sasanqua Camellia blooms from late autumn into winter.

One of the most popular plants for its winter flowers of lovely, tender color and graceful form,
and evergreen leaves.

Most of the Shinto shrines are vermilion-colored.

Many people pay a visit to a shrine customarily during the New Year

wishing their well-being throughout the year.

One of the shrines in the precinct of Todaiji Temple

Last but not least, 

hope you had a joyous start to the year 2019.

Wish you a healthy and prosperous year.

Linked to Mosaic Monday
Our World Tuesday

English Gardens by the Lake Biwa

Hello, Friends!

How have you been?

Today, I'd like to share the English Gardens of Yanagasaki Lakeside Park

on a bright summer-like day in late May.

On entering the park, an English garden unfolds before your eyes.
Poppies, cornflowers, delphiniums, lavenders, daisies, geraniums....., 
there is a whole spectrum of colors.
The palette is soft.

The mud or gravel paths are edged with a wide variety of plants that serve as a border.

The other side of the brick wall is a rose garden.
So exciting to imagine what can be seen.

Roses are rambling on the trellises, arches, or fences.

Facing right on the lake, the landscape looks open and airy.

A small water lily pond with an arched bridge.

The view of and the breeze from the lake make this English garden so special.

A paddle-wheel boat Michigan is cruising the south part of the lake.

 Michigan is docked over the hedge, where you can start cruising.

Yanagasaki Lakeside Park located on the south-eastern shore of the Lake Biwa features about 5900 meters square English Gardens and the municipal cultural property Biwako-otsu Kan (former Biwako Hotel).

Linked to Our World Tuesday