Joetsu in Bloom

On our quest to show my dear mother why we have moved to the other side of the globe, we visited many beautiful places. But despite the beauty of the flowers, and the different interesting things we saw, my favorite part was seeing my mother fall in love with my son all over again. The two of them played for hours on end. But each time she played itsy-bitsy spider with him, he never failed to giggle and squeel with delight. It was a special time for all of us.One place we visited was Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture. It is a small port city, and has the closest beach to Nagano City. While here, besides visiting their fantastic aquarium, we had a picnic in a beautiful area of town where there are a lot of temples and shrines. We could not help posing for a few pictures.

Feeding the Ancients

According to legend, my mother and I may have thrown crumbs to creatures over twice the age of the pyramids. This happened when walking along the heavily traveled coblestone way approaching the first gate at Zenkoji Temple, the same little road pilgrims have traversed as they approached their destination for over half a millenia. This day happened to be a day many pilgrims came to the temple, some, probably members of a woman's club, stopped for ice cream. We noticed the reflection off the water first, then the bridge, and then the ornate garden. Only when looking at the ripples moving through the water did we see them – turtles – symbols of longevity, said to live up to 10,000 years.
A strange sight indeed, turtles acting much like the ducks that swarmed around me when I went to the pond with my grandpa. Poking their heads up at us from under the bridge, the turtles begged for leftovers from our lunches, and even outswam the carp with whom they competed.
I later found out that this building is a seminary of sorts, dedicated to teaching a certain ancient sect of Buddhism called Tendai-shuu, and the water those turtles called home was the remnance of a once larger moat.

Garyu Koen 臥竜公園

I never knew it would be so beautiful. Though some of the petals had fallen, the trees looked as full of blossoms as I could have immagined. The gentle wind was floating the falling pettals from the branches of the trees which adorn the lake, to the well walked paths lined with matsuri style vender stands. Some petals found themselves resting atop the heads of those passing by, often looking to satisfy their appetites with O-den on a stick, or their children with high priced carnival toys. However, a great number of the petals, some after having carpeted the fenced-off shores, were blown upon the water. The result was a lake of petals, a heaven on earth, and a scene I will never forget.

The beauty of a lake of petals, however, is not best enjoyed from the shore. For a few hundred yen I rented a rowboat and with my akward stroke, gave our friends a tour of the lake. We passed under the red Japanese style foot bridge, and enjoyed the warm spring sun, leaving a wake vacant of petals as the boat moved through the water. Then taking my sweet wife and dear mother, we passed under overhanging branches weighed down with blossoms, and reaching up, Monica plucked a bundle of blossoms and put them in her hair above her ear. We stopped at a certain point where the petals seemed to gather, near the small waterfall coming from the spring a small ways off. I hardly took my eyes off Monica, for the lake of petals only enhanced the charm of her smile. Oh, if I was not already married to my wife, I think I would have proposed.
Little Ammon found his pleasure as well, sitting in the lap of his grandma in the shade of the trees filled with popcorn, he ate his O-nigiri with delite, and then learned to ride a wooden horse on springs. Certainly, this was a day in the park much like a day in paradise, in a place called Garyu ( 臥竜 ), or "Reclining Dragon" which will not soon be forgotten.