Laughing with the Daffodils

Sagami Hara had its annual Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday. For a change the weather cooperated and the cherry trees put on a brave front, after having been battered by heavy rain for two days. The sky was clear and the trees were about 65% full. There was snow on the Tanazawa mountains in the distance.

The first event was the Cherry Blossom 7K. About 150 people ran. I was not last. I did meet 2 very nice Japanese ladies, Megumi and Katsume, with whom I finished. We had been running pretty close together the whole route, though I would pass them up the hills and they would pass me on the way down. So, at the finish line, we linked arms and cross the line together. For the first time, I felt like I was a part of something here and not just an outsider looking in. It must have been distasteful for them, at least a little, because Americans tend to be sweatier than most Japanese. There were others behind us including a group of men who had obviously decided it was a mobile hanami (cherry blossom viewing party). They had been partaking of the sake and were running back and forth taking pictures of each other by the various trees along the race route. The drivers of the straggler van finally got tired of these guys singing and darting around in the traffic and scooped them up. I got a really cool long sleeved T-shirt; its black with (gasp) cherry blossoms on it! I also got a nice farmers’ sunburn.

Everywhere there was even the tiniest cherry tree with only one blossom on it, there were people sitting under it picnicing and appreciating the fragile beauty of the blossoms. Much beer was being consumed.

There was so much to do. I got to sit at a tea ceremony. I was instructed on how to sit and comment on the tea implements and flowers; then, I got to drink that frothy powdered green tea – YUCK! I do not understand the lure of the tea ceremony. You have to sit in an uncomfortable position, comment on how lovely some stick in a glass of water is and wait while someone takes their time making something you don’t want to drink. At least now I know. I had some great Bar-B-Que pork on a stick – a little spicy, but good; you can’t go wrong if its on a stick. While I was eating some ladies played the shamisen (a Japanese instrument) – I want to learn. There was an ikebana (flower arranging) competition. Some of them were pretty neat, but others were awkward and even ugly in their attempts to be artistic. There were soccer games, tug-of-wars and dancing. I even got up for the fisherman’s dance.

I went home and took a nap, because I was invited to a yo-zakura (blossom and moon viewing party). For the yo-zakura I made gyoza. It was beautiful. We all took a turn at composing poems, but I can’t remember any of them (probably the sake).

Someone at work gave me a chocolate today, and the fortune inside the wrapper said, “Laugh with the daffodils.” 🙂