Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Yesterday was one of the mildest days this year.
Later, on the news, they said it was a record set for the warmest day in
February...
I was taking it all in,
walking slowly along the "Green Road";
A lovely tree-lined residential street
that leads the way back to the train station
from my dentist's office.
The sun was so warm, and there was a fragrance of flowers in the air.
Then, I saw it.
The first plum blossom, or ume, in Japanese, this year.
But this one was reddish-pink,
not off-white,
like the ones in my neighborhood.
Coincidentally, I was also listening
to the soundtrack from Memoirs of a Geisha on my iPod,
as | often do when walking.
I was listening to track #5, Chiyo’s Prayer,
( the music that plays in the scene when the Geisha was still Chiyo, a young girl, running along the shrine path)
when I saw these blossoms.
I heard the schoolgirls giggling, walking behind me.
In the corner of my eye I saw them walk past in their plaid skirts...
How strange I must’ve appeared to them:
A tall blonde woman in a long black coat
standing transfixed, staring at these blossoms,
wiping back tears.
My mind drifted back to my childhood.
To a little house in Pine Bush, New York,
where I grew up.
On the front lawn of this house
were two red-pink plum blossomed trees.
The same color as the ones I saw yesterday.
I remember thinking back then, when those trees bore fruit,
“These are odd plums...”
How could I have known that they were Japanese ume,
and one day I would be living in the place where they came from.
Although I became nostalgic for a moment,
this event made me feel bolstered, somehow...
Like I’m in the right place, at the right time;
where I’m supposed to be.
I don’ t pray for miracles anymore,
just for signs...
Till next time... 'Mela
8:06 PM
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Photo: Michio Yves Ueda
