TEN THOUSAND MEMORIES

                                                   SENBATSURU

                                               OneThousand Cranes

                                            Ten Thousand Memories

Thousands of cranes were at Izumi that winter, and I was there to see them.  An avid birder for years, I found myself birding, among other things, in Japan.  How I got there, what happened there, whether it was zen, karma, destiny, or dumb luck, so many things happened that in the years since, I look back often, a thousand times a day, to 10,000 memories and more.  And so I have come to this blog, to share the beauty, the awe, the pounding of all my senses in the 4 years that awakened my soul, refreshed my heart, and allowed me to find joy in just being me in far away, exotic Japan.

                                                My souvenir from Izumi, Kagoshima, Japan

The symbol of 1,000 cranes is one of hope as told in the story of the origami (folded paper art) cranes.  It tells that if someone is sick and receives strings of the origami cranes, that he or she has received so many wishes to become well.  When I close my eyes I see the soaring cranes at Izumi, landing, taking off, touch and goes if you will, wings spread to catch the air and lift, rise, fly.  I see the paper cranes swinging on strings, hanging on the branches of cherry trees filled with 10,000 blossoms, pink, swaying in the wind, separating from the branches, drifting down in beautiful, intimate perfection, floating along soft paths, silent, to lay like pink fallen snow.

Cherry blossoms blush,
Ballerinas pirouette,
My love for you.

Mountains, fire, water,
10,000 kindnesses,
Welcome to  Japan.

2 haiku (poems) I wrote in Japan.

My first entry will end here.  I invite you to join me on this journey to learn how I overcame the culture shock and the homesickness and began to thrive, live and love in a way that allowed me to meet life head on, to make 10,000 memories and more.