山の暮らし or Life in the Mountains

暖かくなったので春の山菜が芽吹いてきました。カンゾウ、オオバギボウシ、そして山ウド。

今日はカンゾウとオオバギボウシを食べよう。軽く茹でて甘味噌につけて食べると美味しい。

カンゾウは甘い草と書くと思うけれど、その名の通りかすかな甘みがあってうまい。

オオバギボウシの若芽は東北の方ではウルイといわれて、春の食卓に季節感を添えるという話を聞いたことがある。東北の震災の後、関の道の駅で高級食材として売られていたのを覚えている。今もあるだろうか。

山ウドは天ぷらにすると最高に美味しいけれど、うちのはまだ若いので今年は食べないことにしよう。

食うに困ったら山へ入れと、東北の方では言われるとどこかの本で読んだことがある。春の山には他にもコシアブラとかタラとかゼンマイなどなど、食うに困らないくらいの山菜が溢れていて、自然の恵みを実感させてくれる。

七重八重　花は咲けども　山吹の　みの一つだに　なきぞ悲しき
兼明親王　後拾遺和歌集

この歌は太田道灌に関する逸話で知られています。その逸話とは、道灌が雨に降られて農家に立ち寄り蓑（みの）を借りようとしたところ、若い娘が黙って山吹の花のひと枝を差し出したというものです。これには、山吹には「実がない」ことと、「蓑がない」ことを掛け合わせた掛け言葉で、蓑ひとつさえないほど貧しいということを、娘はこのひと枝に込めたのです。
ちなみに道灌はその意味をその場では理解できませんでしたが、後にこの歌を知り、掛け言葉の意味を理解して自分の無学を恥じたということです。

写真は昔、山に咲いていた原種の山吹を庭に挿木したものです。

なるほど、と今なら思うけど、今まで誰も考えつかなかったんだね。

全国初の「石川モデル」仮設住宅　既存の「概念」打ち破る挑戦 | 毎日新聞 　山あいに広がる水田は、初夏に植えられた苗が成長して青々としていた。その一角には畑もあったが、7月中旬にはそこに木造平屋の住宅6戸が完成した。間取りは2DKで広さは約30平方メートルだ。

lol.

Sad but it rings true.

彼の国ではポテトチップスも、ペットの餌かと思うような大きな袋で売っているのを見た時には、びっくりした。

Movie night just leveled up.

Artist Star Park Designs

Travels with Lowell
“It was a perfect, sunny day, and we passed an open-air cafe, where at one sidewalk table, we saw a young woman bringing a delicious-looking hamburger to her mouth. Lowell and I felt our mouths watering, but Shane leapt into action and, with a lightning-quick lunge, took a large bite out of her hamburger before it reached her mouth.
The woman was stunned, as were her companions – but then she broke out into laughter.” – Everything in Its Place

This is an anecdote that happened during one of Oliver Sack’s travels with a touretter.

Oliver Sacks is a neurologist and author of many books including “Awakening,” which was made into a movie with the same title.

Although his works are of his expertise, his language captures hearts of many people with his intriguing description of his time spent with his patients. The reason why his writing touches us is his compassion shown to his patients, I think. To him, his patients were his friends. He spent a lot of time with them and even traveled with some of them.

He was a warm-hearted man because, I think, he himself had a sorrow and solitude deep in his heart. His brother was diagnosed schizophrenic when he was young and Oliver was close to him.
He was gay. Being gay in those days was something that was supposed to hide, something even that had to be “treated.”

“I am shy in ordinary social contexts; I am not able to ‘chat’ with any ease; I have difficulty recognizing people…,” he writes in his “On the Move.”

Oliver Sacks had experienced so much grief and hardship, which had lingered all his life.
Travels with Lowell
“It was a perfect, sunny day, and we passed an open-air cafe, where at one sidewalk table, we saw a young woman bringing a delicious-looking hamburger to her mouth. Lowell and I felt our mouths watering, but Shane leapt into action and, with a lightning-quick lunge, took a large bite out of her hamburger before it reached her mouth.
The woman was stunned, as were her companions – but then she broke out into laughter.” – Everything in Its Place

This is an anecdote that happened during one of Oliver Sack’s travels with a touretter.

Oliver Sacks is a neurologist and author of many books including “Awakening,” which was made into a movie with the same title.

Although his works are of his expertise, his language captures hearts of many people with his intriguing description of his time spent with his patients. The reason why his writing touches us is his compassion shown to his patients, I think. To him, his patients were his friends. He spent a lot of time with them and even traveled with some of them.

He was a warm-hearted man because, I think, he himself had a sorrow and solitude deep in his heart. His brother was diagnosed schizophrenic when he was young and Oliver was close to him.
He was gay. Being gay in those days was something that was supposed to hide, something even that had to be “treated.”

“I am shy in ordinary social contexts; I am not able to ‘chat’ with any ease; I have difficulty recognizing people…,” he writes in his “On the Move.”

Oliver Sacks had experienced so much grief and hardship, which had lingered all his life.

Sadness hides behind your laughter. The more you go through difficulties, the more compassionate you would become.

辛いときにはいつでもそう言ってくれよ
一緒に笑っている時に
君だけが辛い思いをしているなんてたまらないからな

Credit Star Park Designs