In the Japanese taxonomy of breezes, the perfumed winds (風薫る) blow just before the south-easterly winds of the rainy season, which arrive later in the month. Known as plum rains (梅雨)—so heavy, the downpours are said to knock the ripening plums right off their branches. When that happens, it is the yellow sparrow wind (黄雀風) that is blowing. The ancient calendar is filled with times when one thing is transformed into another. In this case, Chinese legend has it that when this wind blows, the fish in the ocean turn into tiny sparrows.
Cleopatra knew all about winds. She traveled the Nile on a boat whose sails were perfumed in sandalwood and rose water. Adorned with purple sails so perfumed, Shakespeare said, the winds were love-sick with them.
In Los Angeles, May is the time of “peacocks screeching in the palm trees.” Their desperate longing can be heard for miles around. Still weeks away from “June Gloom,” when a heavy marine layer blankets the city in thick mist, in May the roses bake in the L.A. sunshine.
May is also marked by the flowering of the jacaranda trees. Strange that hardly anyone mentions them, since the world turns purple in May. That’s when I become Cleopatra for a few weeks, living in a cloud of purple perfumed blossoms.
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My Japanese is slowly but surely slipping, I kept mistaking Tsubame/swallow 燕 for Suzume/sparrow 雀. I noticed that when looking at the kanji it did NOT look right, but the sounds of the words are lost. So kanji is sticking in my mind much longer in a passive way than hearing.
First published in River Teeth Beautiful Things in 2020
So interesting to learn about the wind names! I wonder how the fish into sparrow came about, or what's behind the imagery... I remember the jacaranda trees so much that now it's symbolic of late spring/early summer in LA in my mind.
Such a lush world -- more than pictures or image -- closer to a realm of heaven countenanced by Hagoromo! Wow!