The miyami azaelas and the shiro (white) yashio were blooming gloriously as we walked along the first leg of the trail up Hakkorei and then over to the Abe Pass .
We knew they would be, we’d been up just the week before, and in the car, as we got closer to Umegashima early that morning and saw the skies still blue . . .
. . . we had hopes that it might be a perfect day for taking photographs (that is, green and red and white and purple on a background of bright blue photographs).
Alas, the skies went grey.
I’d really hoped for those blue shots (thought I might even make a new and cheery bookmark) . . .
. . . but the grey fascinated, too.
When the yashio are in full bloom under a brilliant blue sky, they seem so jolly and joyful. They seem to have such light hearts—and to blossom and shine with such magnificent ease.
In the grey, you feel their earnestness.
In the grey, you feel the pride they feel in the way they go about their lives.
It made me feel a bit of pride being there walking amongst them.
And it made me feel how natural it would be, in the woods, to have an “extreme” thought.
Oh, dear.
I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil—to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization. (Henry D.Thoreau)
The green-purple-white was nice, too.
But when the blooming trees are scattered along the ridge and the focal points are numerous, the naked eye does a better job of discovering the beauty than the camera. At least a better job than my camera when operated by me.
Here and there, orange azaelas were blooming, too.
So what to say?
If you have the time / To come along with me
The will to climb / To where you can see
If you have the mind / To set yourself free
You might feel sublime / Know your reality . . .
. . . all around you. / It’s all around you.
