More than a half month has past since the spring equinox. The days are getting longer and longer. Swallows have arrived from southern places. Various flowers have begun blooming. Spring has come!
Every morning these days, I woke up to singing of Japanese bush warblers. About a decade ago, I heard them singing through my laptop during an online meeting with my business partners. One of them lived in a rural area where bush warblers were singing every morning. "What a wonderful life it is to live in such an environment rich in nature!", I thought then. I did not expect I could live in such a place. But now it has come true. I feel so happy when I hear their songs in the morning.
This winter, there came several yellow birds which I have never seen before in my garden. They were pecking on dry grasses. Their voices are also beautiful and pleasant. I was so glad to have the new friends in my garden. But now, as if they switched places with swallows, they never show up lately. I wonder where they have gone.
I looked them up in a field guide to birds at a library and found out that they are called "Aoji" (in Japanese), a black-faced bunting (Emberiza spodocephala). It says that they migrate to north when it gets warm. That's why they suddenly disappeared. I hope I can see them again in the autumn.
One of the seasonal works for me in the spring is picking young yomogi plants (Japanese mugwort) and dry them to make a herbal tea. Yomogi plants growing in early spiring are milder than those in other warmer seasons, so it is the best season to make yomogi tea now.
With chirashi-zushi, scattered sushi, decorated with edible flowers like early cherry blossoms, Persian speedwells (Veronica persica), and chickweed, I cerebrated the arrival of the spring. Cherry blossoms around here is now in full bloom. I hope everyone enjoy a beautiful and wonderful spring in peace.
