Street art in Misawa

 

I have not been able to find out why, but there seems to have been a youth project and an art project to paint the shutters of businesses and adorn walls with murals in the main street of Misawa. Obviously Shuji Terayama (and the museum) feature but so much more.

There are ties with the US (airbase) celebrated.

Plenty of flowers and pretty scenes.

It's a lovely way to make something out of nothing and build community.

Linking with  #KeithsRamblings & #WordlessWednesday

Further reading: Street art in Japan (if not up for walking, the bus will take you past a lot of it)


Bear Season.

When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I'll know I'm growing old. Lady Bird Johnson

On my last morning in Kyoto, I ducked out to Sanjusangendo, the temple with 1001 statutes. They are gold and it is stunning, however photos are prohibited so for my eyes only.

It snowed heavily as I strolled the grounds and the garden was more stunning than usual as a result.

There is a magic to the dusting of whiteness and the thick, large snowflakes falling all around me. Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote of that the "feathery flakes are scattered widely through the air, and hover downward with uncertain flight" and it's such an apt description.

I am curious that lots of languages have many words for snow but English only has one, while it snows heavily in so many English speaking countries...do our lack of words limit our thoughts or does our lack of thought limit our words?

Linking with #GardenAffair #MCoW #WordlessWednesday#ThruMyLens

 #SundayBest #NaturesNotes

 #TrafficJamReboot #FloralFridayFoto

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary ~ Aaron Rose.

It had been an overcast day for our big day of sightseeing in Kyoto. Thankfully not raining but grey and dark.

Then as we hit Kinkakuji, the temple with the famed golden pavillion in the afternoon, the sun came out to hit the gold in just the right angle. It glowed.

It would have still been beautiful but with the sun as a spotlight it was breath-taking.

The camera doesn't really pick up the shine emanating from the building but you can sort of see it comeing from under the roof.

I was told by a friend that the reason these buildings survive the many earthquakes is that they are placed upon rocks, so the rocks move with the earth when it shakes, bearing the brunt of the movement.

In short, they go with the flow. Perhaps that is the lesson we take from these stunning edifices? Events might shake us but if we remain steady under impact, we will still be standing at the end.

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