Mountains and molehills

It has been a difficult week. There is no work available for Hitomi and myself. Dad has not returned to Hokkaido, instead he stayed here with us. Because of the continuing threats of radiation poisoning in the water and possibly also in the seafood, dad has 'advised' Rina to go and take baby Yoshiro to stay in Kansai. Rina's sister has gone with her because she knows Hiro's heart and has told him to stay here if he so desires to look after the business. They are staying in the place where Hitomi and I stayed when we vacationed after my operation in 2009. They telephoned us on Friday evening to say that they had arrived there safely.
Life is not normal here anymore. We carry on as if it were normal and the news we see seems balanced with every new unfolding tragedy we also see the hugs and smiles of those reunited after such frightening separation.

I took a walk in the park just to think and try vainly to clear my head of cobwebs that seem to grow from spidery corners. Now is usually the time we would anticipate the coming of blossoms growing on the spring trees. The word we use for the viewing the spring blossoms is "Hanami" but it is "Hakanasa" that now seems to be the key word. It means a fleeting or transient thing and that is all that we feel here. It is not resignation or delicate in any measure. It's just an understanding that nothing is permanent.
We look back at the samurai and look at all that he stood for and if we look carefully we may notice that his symbol was the flower. The flowers didn't cling and hold on to life, they just appeared, bloomed and fell while still splendid. Such spirit, bravery and self sacrifice was the essence of Bushido. Perhaps such romantic ideals are difficult to find in today's world and it is more a case of 'gaman', just facing up to our toils and to our duty and 'getting on with it', and this is what we do, it's what we have to do. Such a life is not new because from the very beginning we on these islands have been devastated by one disaster after another. We grieve for the loss of our loved ones but we will never give up. We clear away the debris from fallen structures and we plan our rebuilding. Supplies are low and hard to find but slowly they come. We see people sleeping in their cars because the shelters are full. We are warmed seeing he smile of a victim as he gratefully receives a blanket and clean water from an aide worker and a tear comes to my eye to see them cheer each other as they huddle around an open fire and watch the forgetful snow gently falling all around them.
Step by step we will repair each broken thing and just as the phoenix rises from the ashes, so shall we rise from mud and rubble. We have rebuilt again and again after the devastation of every century that knocks us over. We will stand again and rebuild after this one and the next one whenever it may come. It's what we do in this impermanent world. In 1995 Kobe and the surrounding area was devastated by a massive quake and yet just a few years later where can you find evidence of this event?

In the days that come, nature will have her blooms open and she will again show herself in all of her beauty. She will start in the south and come to Tokyo and then venture north into a devastated land. Ironically these are also the days that we pay our respects to our dear departed family members. There are now over ten thousand dead and there are another twenty thousand are missing. So many are fallen and lost like the petals at the end of a cherry blossom season. This is a small number against a population but each and every one of those thirty thousand was important. Each one was loved and had loved. Each had breathed and had bore witness to our ephemeral days. Fear in a handful of dust! A splash in the ocean and the dust is rinsed away!

Every one of us is a flower blooming however briefly. A breeze may blow across the sakura and we suddenly find ourselves standing in pink snow. Enjoy your moments as death smiles at us all because as the warriors of old would remind us, all we mere mortals can do is smile back. The scenes of devastation we witness would suggest that March and not April has become the cruelest of months. The burial of the dead and death by water may suggest that TS Elliot had a gift of prophesy in his waste land.
The world is constantly changing and in flux. We also change with it. Everything and everyone we know will pass away but while we are here my friends, I will tell you this: Life smiles at you so please do smile back.