It is coming to that time of year again, Spring blossom, and the cherry tree is amongst the first. There was a stand of wild cherry trees in the village of Normanby, which should blossom soon, small bitter fruit that the birds gobbled up in quick time.
But in our Chelmsford garden, Paul had planted two Japanese cherry trees and each year we would have a little ceremony of drinking hot Saki wine from little cups. You must first pour your companion's cup and then your own, a shared experience. And as of course he was a conservator of Japanese scrolls he knew what scroll to display in each season.
The following he must have said, though I think his beverage would be a beer but somehow Japanese tea houses is not something the English psyche is capable of.
"Therefore you would never hang up a chrysanthemum scroll in spring, it would always be cherry blossom. So in a typical teahouse or room, the scroll would hang maybe just for the afternoon tea ceremony and then rolled and put away for years, so different to our Western culture of hanging pictures on the wall for years and years. I wouldn't mind a teahouse in the garden, utter simplicity, no furniture, a mat on the floor and peace and quiet bliss."
It's good that Paul helped you to tune in with some of Japan's ancient customs and in small ways to see the world a little differently.
ReplyDeleteSome of the things in the Japanese world are a bit scary, hungry ghosts for one, but there is a deep love of nature and religious feeling.
Delete"Quiet bliss". That alone seems wonderous in this clanging, banging, angry world we live in.
ReplyDeletePaul was very happy in his last years with me and would often go round saying 'I never expected to end up in Yorkshire'. To be honest neither did I! All the fault of my daughter whose Mother Day's present is a big box of Tapas ingredients from Spain, for me to cook of course.
DeleteBlossom like that in your picture seems a long way off today up here in a damp, cold North Yorkshire Thelma.
ReplyDeleteWell it is warmer down South Pat, I think that Yorkshire just likes rotten weather.
ReplyDelete