![\"160514_yashio_purple_1_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_purple_1_600.jpg\")
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The miyami <\/em>azaelas and the shiro<\/em> (white) yashio <\/em>were blooming gloriously as we walked\u00a0along the first leg of the trail up Hakkorei and then over to the Abe Pass .<\/p>\n 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 . . .<\/p>\n . . . we had hopes that it might be a perfect day for taking photographs (that is, green and red and white and purple on a\u00a0background of bright blue photographs).<\/p>\n Alas, the skies went grey.<\/p>\n I’d really hoped for those blue shots (thought I might even make a new and cheery\u00a0bookmark) . . .<\/p>\n . . . but the grey fascinated, too.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n In the grey, you feel their earnestness.<\/p>\n In the grey, you feel the pride they<\/em> feel in the way they go about their lives.<\/p>\n It made me feel a bit of pride being there walking amongst them.<\/p>\n And it made me feel how natural it would be, in the woods, to have an “extreme” thought.<\/p>\n Oh, dear.<\/p>\n I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil\u2014to 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.\u00a0<\/em>(Henry D.Thoreau)<\/p>\n The green-purple-white was nice, too.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0my camera when operated by me.<\/p>\n Here and there, orange azaelas were blooming, too.<\/p>\n If you have the time \/ To come along with me<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n The will to climb \/ To where you can see<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n If you have the mind \/ To set yourself free<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n You might feel sublime \/ Know your reality . . .<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n . . . all around you. \/ It\u2019s all around you.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n The miyami azaelas and the shiro (white) yashio were blooming gloriously as we walked\u00a0along 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 … Continue reading Yashio—May 14, 2016<\/span> ![\"160514_green_mountain_blue_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_green_mountain_blue_600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_yashio_5_450\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_5_450.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_yashio_6_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_6_600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_yashio_7_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_7_600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_yashio_3_b_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_3_b_600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_yashio_purple_2_450\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_purple_2_450.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_yashio_purple_3_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_yashio_purple_3_600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"160514_orange_azaela_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_orange_azaela_600.jpg\")
So what to say?<\/p>\n![\"160514_miyama_azaela_600\"](\"http:\/\/persimmon-dreams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/160514_miyama_azaela_600.jpg\")
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