[Open Post] Mono no Aware (The Fleeting Nature of Things)
The still pond:
A frog jumps in --
Splash!
--Basho (Modern translation)
A whole month of planning, poking around, digging, tending bamboo plants and carefully preparing the stalks before shaping them into water pipes and splicing it into a pipe running along the front wall of the Mansion, and tending and planting iris has paid off for Tsuzuki. He spent most of the morning waiting for the water level to rise, via the bamboo water-line set on a low stone wall leading from the foundation of the Mansion. Now he's sitting in the shade of the cherry tree he's planted beside it, enjoying a small flower-viewing picnic on a silk quilt spread out on the grass, a pile of pillows under his shoulders and a book of poetry in reach. He's slipped a few invitations under a few doors -- notably Duck's and Margot's -- and he's spread out a meal of chicken salad, devilled eggs, sweet rolls, fresh fruit and cherry shortcake, with a pot of green tea on a small burner: not the most traditional spread, but the most accessible to the guests.
A cherry blossom drifts down and lands on the quilt as he gazes across the water, watching the breeze ripple the surface gently and listening to the tiny waves splashing on the shore just a few feet away.
So! The much-mentioned pond has been completed, and its creator is relaxing beside it. Anyone can tag in and join him -- Madame Margot, Elured and Elurin, Duck, Jaenelle (whom I really want him to meet, since she's made of awesome), or whomever. Even some serpents can wander into Paradise as the day wears on -- I'm looking at you, Ines and Steerpike. And there may be an oppurtunity later on for Robin to bring the day to a perfect close...
Edited to add one more possible pup to tag in
A frog jumps in --
Splash!
--Basho (Modern translation)
A whole month of planning, poking around, digging, tending bamboo plants and carefully preparing the stalks before shaping them into water pipes and splicing it into a pipe running along the front wall of the Mansion, and tending and planting iris has paid off for Tsuzuki. He spent most of the morning waiting for the water level to rise, via the bamboo water-line set on a low stone wall leading from the foundation of the Mansion. Now he's sitting in the shade of the cherry tree he's planted beside it, enjoying a small flower-viewing picnic on a silk quilt spread out on the grass, a pile of pillows under his shoulders and a book of poetry in reach. He's slipped a few invitations under a few doors -- notably Duck's and Margot's -- and he's spread out a meal of chicken salad, devilled eggs, sweet rolls, fresh fruit and cherry shortcake, with a pot of green tea on a small burner: not the most traditional spread, but the most accessible to the guests.
A cherry blossom drifts down and lands on the quilt as he gazes across the water, watching the breeze ripple the surface gently and listening to the tiny waves splashing on the shore just a few feet away.
So! The much-mentioned pond has been completed, and its creator is relaxing beside it. Anyone can tag in and join him -- Madame Margot, Elured and Elurin, Duck, Jaenelle (whom I really want him to meet, since she's made of awesome), or whomever. Even some serpents can wander into Paradise as the day wears on -- I'm looking at you, Ines and Steerpike. And there may be an oppurtunity later on for Robin to bring the day to a perfect close...
Edited to add one more possible pup to tag in