Memories from Japan. 天龍寺

天龍寺  was Elsa's favourite temple in Kyoto. She took there a lot of photos. 

Last photo by Elsa.

Snow petals

Last year, spring was in the air and Elsa a spring flower... today, Carnival was wintry and Elsa a ballerina, bouncy little snowflake.

Memories from Japan. Gold and silver 金と銀

My winter baby. Seven

 

Today, Elsa is seven. Happy birthday, my dear.

WHERE have I come from, where did you pick me up?" the baby asked its mother.
She answered half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast, "You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling.
You were in the dolls of my childhood's games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made and unmade you then.
You were enshrined with our household deity, in his worship I worshipped you.
In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother you have lived.
In the lap of the deathless Spirit who rules our home you have been nursed for ages.
When in girlhood my heart was opening its petals, you hovered as a fragrance about it.
Your tender softness bloomed in my youthful limbs, like a glow in the sky before the sunrise.
Heaven's first darling, twin-born with the morning light, you have floated down the stream of the world's life, and at last you have stranded on my heart.
As I gaze on your face, mystery overwhelms me; you who belong to all have become mine.
For fear of losing you I hold you tight to my breast. What magic has snared the world's treasure in these slender arms of mine?"

Rabindranath Tagore.
The beginning in The crescent moon

Memories from Japan. Inari 稲荷

Memories from Japan. Ueno park 上野

The afternoon Elsa and I spent at Ueno park is a precious memory of peace and beauty. We discovered the small peony garden with its open air tea room where we enjoyed warm green tea. 

We were accompagnied by this black bird, flying from hut to hut and pecking the top straws. After a while,the gardener in charge came to the bird, bowed low and started speaking to the bird. From his movements, we could understand he was asking the bird to leave the straw huts and flowers alone and fly away. Then, the gardener politely noded and bowed again before withdrawing. As we witnessed the scene, I thought that it surely couldn't take place anywhere but in Japan. 

Memories from Japan. 東京

Our first day in Tokyo. Elsa spent most of the morning running around this fountain, nearby the imperial palace gardens. It kept changing shapes and the sun was playing rainbows in its sparkling waters. At first, I felt a bit impatient, longing for discovering, well, other wealths of the city... But her joy was so communicative that I sat there and enjoyed with her this idle and happy moment.