It was only a couple of weeks ago that I pulled on my winter coat, gloves and scarf every time I left the house. Today I only had one layer on even when I went out and the windows open during the middle of the day. It got quite warm upstairs - 27 degrees Celcius in our bedroom at 2pm. Heat coming on that fast makes me nervous. I don't like fast transition very much. My birthday, two weeks ago tomorrow, was 8 minimum and 10 maximum. Today was probably about 24 degrees and will only drop to about 12 overnight.
Spring in Japan is usually known for the cherry blossoms, but many other flowers grace this season. As I've mentioned before, I didn't grow up with this sudden change from almost no green and colour to so much.
My favourite flower of the season is the tulip because it reminds me of our very first spring in Japan ten years ago. We arrived in Sapporo in mid-December, after the snow-which-stays had arrived. We didn't even know that the streets around us had footpaths (sidewalks for the US folk and pavements for the UK folk). We also didn't imagine that soon after the snow melted we'd see amazing colour, such as a tulip forcefully, yet gracefully reveals.
These yellow tulips have come up in our backyard.
What's more, I didn't plant them. They just came up spontaneously. I like spontaneous gardens, I've decided. Decidedly less work!
I've also been watching this tree in our yard (it is the window we look out of most - being next to the dining room and my "office" corner. Just look at how this tree has changed in the last week or two. Gorgeous.
So, I'm not going to think about the awful heat that is coming in only three months. And the fact that with reduced number of power plants, Tokyo will probably be facing rolling blackouts - i.e. no electric fans or air con.
Instead I'm going to enjoy the beauty bursting forth around me. And pray that God makes this a short, mild summer!
3 comments:
Hey Wendy, the littel blue flowers look like a bulb that I used to grow in Toowoomba quite successfully. I think one name for them was star flowers, due to their shape. For much of the year they were just leafy green or but in spring they burst out with masses of these delightful little flowers. Enjoy! It was 30 degrees in my kitchen at about 5pm, and it was definitely hotter than that in my classroom at school today. Hope you have a long, but mild summer (long because I think the people will need it to rebuild after the events of March 11, but mild so you don't suffer too much with the heat). Thanks for sharing the beauty in your life!
Cool, tulips!! They remind me of Toowoomba too....
It is strange that, despite having grown up in Toowoomba "The Garden City", tulips had little significance to me before coming to Japan!
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