Honeysuckle vines remind me of childhood path, the scent of summer

スイカズラは子供ときに歩いた道を思い出します。生まれ育った街の夏の香りです。

Honeysuckle is such a sweet, if sometimes rampant vine. It’s not so common in Tokyo. When I smelled this one, I stopped my bike for a few minutes along the Kanda river.

Pink and white azaleas shine in spring rainfall

雨で、歩道のツツジがキラキラと輝いています。ツツジはアメリカの東海岸の子供時代を思い出します。東高円寺のメトロの前で。

Azaleas bring back memories of the East Coast in the US, particularly the mid-Atlantic region where I grew up.

Plum blossoms on pedestrian street on cold February night

東京に四季に慣れてきました。カリフォルニア州には乾季と雨季があります。不思議なことに、サンフランシスコの乾燥した冬の日はたまに霧でいっぱいの夏の日のより暖かいです。日本の四季は米国の東海岸のと似ています。子供時代を過ごした場所です。

最近、東京は寒すぎるので、冬眠しています。毎年の二月にこの梅の木が咲くのを楽しみにしています。中野駅の途中の歩行者道で見ることができます。

In Tokyo I am getting re-adjusted to four seasons. In California there’s a wet and dry season. Oddly, in San Francisco, many dry winter days are warmer than the fog-bound summer. Tokyo’s four seasons are like the Atlantic Coast of the US. I have childhood memories of this area.

It’s been so cold in Tokyo recently that I am hibernating. Each year I look forward to seeing this plum blossom in February. You can find this tree along a pedestrian path leading to Nakano station.

Dahlia reminds me of San Francisco

植物や花も記憶を呼び起こします。ダリアはサンフランシスコ市の花です。

Plants and especially flowers trigger memories. Recently lilacs were blooming in Tokyo, and it reminded me of childhood and my grandmother who was a garden hobbyist in Maryland. I tweeted about it, and heard from a friend about the memories she has of a lilac bush by a childhood bedroom. Seeing hostas in my in-laws’ garden reminds me of the suburban neighborhood of my childhood. Japanese maples, azaleas, rhododendrons, and anemone evoke a Tea Trade era of Anglophilic commerce and class in the United States’ Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

Dahlias remind me of San Francisco, where it is the city flower. I love the huge variety and outrageous colors. And its interesting history of being first discovered in Mexico and then bred in the Netherlands. This red and white specimen was exquisite when I bought it and for another week. The number of blooms and buds was astounding. Not surprisingly, two weeks after buying this dahlia, the remaining buds refuse to open and I wonder if the plant will live even one more month.

I bought this plant at Shimachu, a large home center. Their plants always seems pumped up for sale. Unfortunately because of the proximity to my apartment (very bike-able) and low prices, I often buy from there. It’s a guilty pleasure similar to eating fast food.

Historic buildings waiting for demolition

I do not imagine these six old shop buildings in Shibuya will remain much longer: they are shuttered and covered in nets, undoubtedly waiting for demolition. It is sad that there is so little historic memory in Shibuya.

Frugality, Anticipation, Memory

On the way to the JR station, I passed a neighbor who was descending from her second story apartment and greeted her. Seemingly about 80 years old, she was carrying the bowl from her rice cooker. She showed surprised that this “foreigner” could speak (some) Japanese, and then proceeded to empty the water that had rinsed the rice onto her potted rose.

She was very proud of this blue-purple rose, which she told me her mother had given her. She also pointed out the potted loquat tree which would soon fruit and also an old grape vine tied up against the building. I admired her frugality in re-using water, her energy in traveling up and down the stairs, and her friendliness to this foreign neighbor.

This story  highlights how gardening is enmeshed with frugality, anticipation and memory. Frugality includes the water-reuse and also on-going maintenance of the plants over many years. Anticipation for what is emergent and what will soon be. And memory sparked by plants about who gifted them and what life was like back when they were planted.