Gardens and Temple Food

First, Happy Birthday to Quinn! The turtle came up specially so I could take his picture for you!

While Win was at work today, I went to Nanzen-ji, one of the big temples in Kyoto (a Zen temple begun in 1291). But I decided to go to one of the sub temples, Konchi-in, known especially for its garden. It is said to represent a tortoise and a crane surrounded by a sea of sand. Both animals are associated with longevity, beauty and eternal youth. The twisted pine in the photograph sits atop the boulders representing the tortoise. Lovely and quiet in the morning with few visitors. Then the garden at Tenju-an with moss everywhere and a lovely waterfall. Met Win at the nearby Kyoto International Community House, an organization devoted to cultural understanding.

We had a wonderful Shojin Ryori meal (Japanese vegetarian meal typically served near temples) at the restaurant of the Ryokan Yachiyo. Among other things, there was a pot of simmering tofu (very soft and delectable) for which there was a wonderful sauce and various garnishes including ginger, bonita, scallion, and seaweed. There was beautiful vegetable tempura (squash, sweet potato, lotus, eggplant, beans), a small dish of pickles, and two plates of various other small things we could mostly not identify (but one morsel was a small ball of green pounded rice with bean paste in the middle, wrapped in a piece of ?banana leaf tied with a piece of grass. How gorgeous!)

We then saw two short films at the Community House, one about an 80 y/o man who is a master of the art of dyeing kimono materials - a very complicated and laborious process which produces magnificent and expressive patterns (Yuzen silk if you want to look it up). The second film was on the tea ceremony and how it developed in Japan.

Since the day was still lovely, we walked over to the nearby Murin-an Garden, a more modern and naturalistic garden than the others and also very tranquil. One or two maples were beginning to change color...

I could almost forget about what happened to the Red Sox...

Much love to all