A Japanese moss garden. Formal gardens in Japan have a simplicity about them but they are sculptured into a final form of beauty. Think of the 'cloud' trees manicured to perfection. So it is not my kind of garden, but this moss garden with its islands of greenery standing out from the moss is peaceful. Nature in Japan is more recognised in a ritual or religious sense. And yes I haven't been to Japan but for a time I have been watching and learning about the culture.
So today I shall write about how our thoughts are always hijacked by current news when in all truth that wretched news has been on the history pages for most of man kinds stay upon this Earth. But when all is said and done humans can still be kind.
To start with the following little ivory carving of 13,000 years ago of two deer swimming. Someone had recognised their beauty and I think their vulnerability and patiently carved this little token.
Swimming Reindeer. Wiki Johnbod
The Swimming Reindeer is a 13,000-year-old Magdalenien sculpture of two swimming reindeer conserved in the British Museum. The sculpture was made in what is now modern-day France by an unknown sculptor who carved the artwork from the tip of a mammoth tusk. The sculpture was found in two pieces in 1866, but it was not until 1904 that Abbe Henri Breuil realised that the two pieces fit together to form a single artwork of two reindeer swimming nose-to-tail. Wiki entry
In an attempt to slow the melting of ice in the Artic, artificial floes have been made, presumably to back bounce the sun warming the ice. But these can also be used for the polar bears as well who rely on ice floes to hunt and move around.
And lastly there is the Japanese story of a monk who sacrificed himself to feed a hungry tiger and her family. The story is here. The Asuka Temple
