Hasu Transitoire (The Transient Lotus)

I woke today and rode my bicycle through winding alley streets across Kyoto to her northeast edge. There I met a friend from Africa who's been eager for me to 'share my mountains, even just a little' with him. We hopped an almost empty northbound bus.  One and a half hours later it dropped us at the entrance of Daihizan 大悲山 (Great Compassion Mountain), and drove away with a cheery mechanical song. From there we walked just over two kilometers into the dripping green along a milky green river, cicadas promenading us in song, until the road ended, at the entrance of Bujōji 峰定時, a hidden gem among Japan's sacred mountain temples. Mrs. Nakamura, the sweet older lady who managed the temple, smiled widely when we met, eager to converse and share stories of the mountains and their glory. I imagine such opportunities are somewhat rare for her, being posted here in the center of Great Compassion Mountain, which certainly doesn't appear in many guidebooks. We picked ...

There is much to be learned about life from the art of making soup - patience, planning, risk, creativity, union, process, etc. I am a happy student.  

The rain pounds down outside, a sweet song the skies have really been enjoying of late. I don't mind, in fact it inspires a soft creativity in my mind. Thoughts drift to mountain adventures, which continue to reveal themselves as the path of my heart. I've just returned from a four-day run in Nara. A quiet and thoughtful reconnecting with sites, sights, and a few familiar faces. I collected a new gem for my mountain treasure chest, and beautiful indeed she is. Hasedera in southern Nara Prefecture is the reward of a meandering journey: south and east about an hour from Nara, alighting then descending stone steps from a lonesome train station, crossing through a small and sleepy town situated on a hillside, over a lulling river, and then up another hillside and hundreds more stone steps. Nestled is a good descriptive fit; nicely exhausting a good,  realistic reflection. The air shifted as I moved, thick near the river, and ever so subtly lighter and more accommodating...