 That means "Fire Mountain," which is where I took this picture. It's pronounced "hinoyama" in Japanese. I love the name of the mountain (which actually barely qualifies as a mountain. It's really just a massive hill. But it was still fun to climb, don't get me wrong). There is an awesome park and walking trails that lead to the top, where these is an observatory. I went to the park in hopes of taking the ropeway to the top to take pictures of the whole Shimonoseki and Kanmon Strait area, but the ropeway was closed, so I started hiking, without thinking about having a water bottle or good hiking shoes with me. At first I was just walking around taking pictures of random flowers and pathways and stuff, but after about twenty minutes of walking I realized that I was really thirsty and hungry and sweaty and that I would have to hike back down as well. So I abandoned getting to the top and settled for getting to the nearest vending machine. So I'll have to go back sometime to get some good panoramic shots of the water and the bridge and the mountains. For now the above picture will suffice.
In other news, I wrote another haiku, this time only in English:
the deep black of crows
glistens in the morning sun
as they feast on trash.
I read it to one of my Japanese colleagues and at the end she said "yamete," which means about the same thing as "shut up" or "stop it." I asked her if she didn't like it, and she said that in Japan crows are a symbol of death, and are especially inauspicious in the morning. She said I should never write haikus about crows. It wasn't a super-serious thing to her, so we laughed at my foolish cultural mishap, but I still got the impression that the poem was unsettling to her. So I learned never to wax eloquent about crows in Japan. Let that be a lesson to you as well, my loyal readers.Labels: Daily Photo, flowers, Poems |
Name: Ruthie
"So I learned never to wax eloquent about crows in Japan." Haha, I love it=) I enjoy your perspective so much, Miss Ruf; it makes me miss you, but it never fails to make me smile=)