This is opportune! I literally just received my copy of Liza Dalby's LITTLE SONGS OF THE GEISHA: Traditional Japanese Ko-Uta. I have a long explanation for why I was hunting it down but I won't get into that here; just that I also really think she did (does?) interesting work. I have her THE TALE OF MURASAKI and her GEISHA book, too.
I have a thought about the moles turning into quail. Does the "turning into" ("naru") have to be a literal metamorphosis? Because here on our farm, I feel the "turning into" in terms of something like, one moment we hear peepers (last week) and the next moment there are daffodils (yesterday). As in, phases that seem to suddenly pop up? I wonder if one might see the molehills during one particular week and then there are quail fluttering in the brush the next week. If so, that actually feels right to me!
I really love her book East Wind Melts the Ice. When I lived in Tochigi, I loved to notice the gaps between the koyomi and what was actually happening in the world around me. The gap is bigger in a place like Vietnam, of course, where the Time of Big Snow is still called that even though they never --not ever-- see snow. In California the gap is also pretty big... Today was a day filled with gorgeous wild poppies which is a few months earlier than in Tochigi (in Japan every summer, in early summer, my neighbor would bring poppies over and they filled every vase, every glass and every bowl we had! We were in poppy land... )Dalby in her book is so fun in the way she maps the world around her (in Berkeley California) to what is seen in the Koyomi...A writer in England also did that with his book on the 72 seasons--link below. I think sometimes when you are comparing and contrasting, it helps to really notice details. So, I also keep a journal like Dalby's book where I map the koyomi onto the world around me. I was thinking of writing a post about that actually. I also loved what you said about how noticing the seasonal ephemera could make it seem you like things turns into another.... I love this book--he is not a specialist on Japan like Dalby but he is a birder!! https://www.amazon.com/Light-Rains-Sometimes-Fall-British/dp/1783965770
This is fantastic! I am going to order this! What an amazing idea. I would love to do the same for my little spot in New England! I wish wish wish I could draw/paint. I am a photographer so I guess I could pull out the old medium format and get very very nerdy with my film. Within the past week we have switched from crocuses to daffodils, and there are peepers tucked into this somehow. Thank you for this enlightenment!
Even though I have a ton of material--I have not organized it yet--but as a point on the graph this is my seasonal log https://www.dewdropworld.com/ Eventually all the 24 sekki will be linked (for now, I only have the current one linked) --the right-hand side categories are also posts linked by sekki. From the homepage, I eventually want each seki to have a landing page like this https://www.dewdropworld.com/2023/04/the-clear-and-bright-%E6%B8%85%E6%98%8E.html where I collect what is going on at that time of year.
How wonderful! I have ordered the Lev Parikian book, so excited. I've been watching the birds right outside my window at the feeder, but they are a bit boring, just the usual finches and chickadees. I really love the details and specificity of your log! I get impatient with these backyard birds, I need to slow down!
Those look like Californian quails. They belong to the Odontophoridae, a totally different family from the true quails (Phasianidae) or button quails (Turnicidae).
Are you talking about the picture at the top or my pictures at the bottom? I’ve labeled my pictures and you’re right the Francolin is only related to an old world quail. Any chance are you a birder or lister?
Omg! I'm swooning! Just last night I thought, "Oh I have to read Liza Dalby" . . . and fell asleep! lol! You include the best details with your work here -- Issa, the Chinese and the Japanese terms for this period -- and now a quail quiffering! (my word, sorry, I couldn't resist). Swooning, Leanne, swooning! Thank you!
This is opportune! I literally just received my copy of Liza Dalby's LITTLE SONGS OF THE GEISHA: Traditional Japanese Ko-Uta. I have a long explanation for why I was hunting it down but I won't get into that here; just that I also really think she did (does?) interesting work. I have her THE TALE OF MURASAKI and her GEISHA book, too.
I have a thought about the moles turning into quail. Does the "turning into" ("naru") have to be a literal metamorphosis? Because here on our farm, I feel the "turning into" in terms of something like, one moment we hear peepers (last week) and the next moment there are daffodils (yesterday). As in, phases that seem to suddenly pop up? I wonder if one might see the molehills during one particular week and then there are quail fluttering in the brush the next week. If so, that actually feels right to me!
I really love her book East Wind Melts the Ice. When I lived in Tochigi, I loved to notice the gaps between the koyomi and what was actually happening in the world around me. The gap is bigger in a place like Vietnam, of course, where the Time of Big Snow is still called that even though they never --not ever-- see snow. In California the gap is also pretty big... Today was a day filled with gorgeous wild poppies which is a few months earlier than in Tochigi (in Japan every summer, in early summer, my neighbor would bring poppies over and they filled every vase, every glass and every bowl we had! We were in poppy land... )Dalby in her book is so fun in the way she maps the world around her (in Berkeley California) to what is seen in the Koyomi...A writer in England also did that with his book on the 72 seasons--link below. I think sometimes when you are comparing and contrasting, it helps to really notice details. So, I also keep a journal like Dalby's book where I map the koyomi onto the world around me. I was thinking of writing a post about that actually. I also loved what you said about how noticing the seasonal ephemera could make it seem you like things turns into another.... I love this book--he is not a specialist on Japan like Dalby but he is a birder!! https://www.amazon.com/Light-Rains-Sometimes-Fall-British/dp/1783965770
This is fantastic! I am going to order this! What an amazing idea. I would love to do the same for my little spot in New England! I wish wish wish I could draw/paint. I am a photographer so I guess I could pull out the old medium format and get very very nerdy with my film. Within the past week we have switched from crocuses to daffodils, and there are peepers tucked into this somehow. Thank you for this enlightenment!
Even though I have a ton of material--I have not organized it yet--but as a point on the graph this is my seasonal log https://www.dewdropworld.com/ Eventually all the 24 sekki will be linked (for now, I only have the current one linked) --the right-hand side categories are also posts linked by sekki. From the homepage, I eventually want each seki to have a landing page like this https://www.dewdropworld.com/2023/04/the-clear-and-bright-%E6%B8%85%E6%98%8E.html where I collect what is going on at that time of year.
How wonderful! I have ordered the Lev Parikian book, so excited. I've been watching the birds right outside my window at the feeder, but they are a bit boring, just the usual finches and chickadees. I really love the details and specificity of your log! I get impatient with these backyard birds, I need to slow down!
Those look like Californian quails. They belong to the Odontophoridae, a totally different family from the true quails (Phasianidae) or button quails (Turnicidae).
Are you talking about the picture at the top or my pictures at the bottom? I’ve labeled my pictures and you’re right the Francolin is only related to an old world quail. Any chance are you a birder or lister?
Omg! I'm swooning! Just last night I thought, "Oh I have to read Liza Dalby" . . . and fell asleep! lol! You include the best details with your work here -- Issa, the Chinese and the Japanese terms for this period -- and now a quail quiffering! (my word, sorry, I couldn't resist). Swooning, Leanne, swooning! Thank you!
Quiffering is so wonderful!! You are so poetic!