An open (love) letter to Kyoto

Oh, Kyoto, we still have so much to learn of one another. I find myself lost at times, a stranger in your well-trodden lands with no map and a raw bleeding heart. I find myself found at other, embraced like never before by your terrific magic.

As the Siberian air pours down from the north and your trees light up in fancy once more before retreating to winter's beckon, all of your city is bundling up and preparing for a bitter spell. But I've seen your true warmth and it knows no seasons. New though I may be to your enchanting and enigmatic ways, I know now forever that I could never tire of…

Your sunsets through the windy streets, sometimes a peak here and there - medicine for the lonesome heart - but others a full on view of sheer majesty…always refreshing, illuminating, healing.

Your smells of freshly baked bread, roasting tea, aging wooden structures, temple incense, burning stoves, family meals.

Your sounds of trains, bicycles, cars, chatter, construction, bells, gongs, the wind.

The feeling of freedom you give me riding a bicycle through ancient streets, weaving with the beat of people and lights and wires. Sometimes we bike together although we are alone and the company is much appreciated, dear stranger bikers.

Your people. Well-wishing friendly faces on the streets, popping out of doorways, alleyways, archways…everyone seems to be in the business of saying hello to friends and at the very least offering a sincere bow to even the strangest of strangers.

Your waterways, great and small. The romantic Kamo, tree-lined and shouting LOVE IS REAL, NOW from the top of its watery lungs. The hidden waterways atop which this city lives and breathes. The fresh springs we drink from, pure and sweet.

Your magnificent structures, temples, shrines, castles, homes…they tell a grand and mysterious history. From the most senior monk to the greenest tourist. All are in awe.

Your ghosts. Your ghosts are teaching me many lessons about my own, about the spirit of life (and death), about too many things that have no words.