3rd August 2025年8月3日

Quick ! Quick !

The cat’s been sick.

Where ? Where ?

Under the chair.

Hasten ! Hasten !

Fetch the basin.

Alack ! Alack !

It is too late,

The carpet’s in

An aweful state.

No ! No!

It’s all in vain,

For she has licked it

Up again.

👉 I’ve been clearing out. Weeding out those books that I will never read again and adding them to the street library on the Bahn Str. in Langen. But this is one book I shall never throw out. Iona and Peter Opie were a remarkable couple who collected children’s rhymes and riddles in the 40s and 50s. And I have the definitive edition with illustrations by Maurice Sendak

Here’s a link……

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_and_Peter_Opie

So there you are 😅 No point in getting out the vacuum cleaner

👉 In East Asia, summer is the time to remember your ancestors …your ancestors…. you may ask? In the west we may visit the graves of our grandparents (in my case in Ireland) or parents. We may pause awhile and leave some flowers. In Asia there is a widespread belief that you are connected to those who went before you. A strange concept for us Europeans maybe. But this concept of lineage is a part of Asian culture. So it is no surprise that, for example in Japan, the rituals are well established.

In Frankfurt we have a special Japanese dance group that perform the Obon (dance) every year. And at this year’s Main Matsuri Festival there will be such a dance….see the link…https://www.main-matsuri.com/programm/kuenstler/nichi-doku-bon-odori-kai-ev

👉 Another late summer festival is the Lantern floating ceremony. In Frankfurt the fast flowing river Main would not be suitable for this. But usually, with those who have gone before you in mind, you write your message or thought on a lantern, which floats out on the water….Tomoko sent me this picture of one such ceremony which took place recently at the lake in Senzokuike Park in Ota city, Tokyo.

Many who have taken part in this ceremony express a sort of relief that they have been able to commune* with their grandparents or parents, and have returned home with a lighter heart. The actual lanterns may be retrieved after the ceremony and used again next year, or burnt, as is the case here……(* the verb “commune ” is not easy to translate)

👉 There is even a ceremony in the UK, organized by the Shinnyo-en branch of Buddhism….https://www.shinnyoenuk.org/about-shinnyo-lantern-floating

👉 The days are still warm here in Germany, and the really hot heatwaves have hopefully left us now. Torrential showers flood my local building site.. see that square in the middle? That is not a garden pond but the lift shaft!

👉 However, nature only seems to use these showers as a chance to promote growth: Witness my walks in Langen and Frankfurt…….Honeysuckle seems only to send out its perfume in the early morning or evening….

Otherwise it’s a free for all……clover in the meadows….

Succulents at the botanic garden in Frankfurt….

Hydrangeas relishing the rain…..

……………and the water lilies preparing to burst open…..

An Elfenbein Distel…..an Ivory thistle….

And looks who’s here….the European oak…..

And these will become walnuts, believe it or not….

…and as for the local squirrels….well…it’s either territorial issues or finding a mate…I’m not quite sure what’s going on here…..

👉 Well, thank you for reading this, and feel free to pass it on to anyone you think might be interested. These days you can translate a web site instantaneously with A.I. or Google translate.

See you またね 😉

nigelwruddock@gmail.com

The End

終わり

😉