Photo quote de jour


The mini heat wave last week brought a sudden, uneven blossoming the cherry blossoms. A heavy rain and boom, I'd missed the boat. The series below marks the beginning,near peak and post peak, all with two weeks. It's a row of trees I photograph throughout the year, so why did I feel disappointed? The Japanese revere the cherry blossom as a symbol of the transitory nature of life. It's common to see families in Japan picnicking under flowering cherry trees and I was delighted to capture (from a long, discreet distance) this local Japanese family doing the same.  Everything passes in faster and faster blinks of time. What did I really want to hold on to? And then, I found the answer from the Essays in Idleness by Kenko, a 14th Century Japanese poet and essayist.



Should we only appreciate flowers at their peak,
and the Moon when it is full? Nay.
To yearn for the Moon through the rain,
or fail to observe the Spring’s passing from being shut indoors,
arouses even deeper feelings.
Budding boughs just before they burst into blossom,
and gardens strewn with wilted flowers,
are by far more worthy of notice.

It easy to give advice, it's not so easy to take it. Today, I'll take my own counsel and enjoy the fading glory now, the falling petals tomorrow and ...