Waning Days of Summer

Sayonara my singer:  You delight us with your many pitches and tones.  You are the splendor of summer.   Without you summer would have no song, you are truly a wonderful creation.

Singer of my summer

Sayonara my night promenade:  The beaches glow at night here in Zushi City.  We love night walks along with the ebb & flow of cool summer tides.   Walking along the shoreline barefoot in the blue-lit water.  Need I say more?

Sayonara my elixir of love: Cod-neck bottles with marbles placed in them are used to seal this carbonated drink.  Ramune is carbonated lemonade that's been around for ages and the Japanese love it.  The elixir part is made famous by a cocktail called "Tokyo Mojito" but with a few substitutes added: sake instead of rum and ramune instead of club soda!



Recipe:

150 ml sake

600 ml ramune (3 bottles)*

60 ml fresh lime juice

15-20 mint leaves

In a pitcher, muddle the mint leaves with lime juice. If you don’t have a muddler, make sure you tear the mint leaves to release their mint flavor. Add the sake and ramune to the pitcher and stir well. Add ice and enjoy!

Sayonara my onsen.  Your summer green is captivating.  Love the delicate balance between stone, wood, and earth.  You are the perfect amphitheater for the mind and soul.  You breathe forth an orchestral symphony of cicada sounds that cleanses our auras.

("Hope you tearfully enjoyed your sweaty summer wherever you are in the world, I enjoyed mine.   I can still taste the stifling heat on my tongue; I can quite literally lick the green essence of it").

I try to pace myself when soaking in hot water.  Not too fast, not too slow, not too long.  Take plenty of breaks.  I don't make much eye contact with folks.   You just need to pace yourself in and out of hot water and relaxing the whole time.   When I finish up I don't towel dry, I air dry my whole body under a tree while lying on a tatami.   The Cicada orchestra was really singing loudly then, and I could really get a sense of summer in its full splendor.   And in typical fashion, after I have properly hydrated myself with water, I have a Sapporo Super Dry.

And from that point in time, as the first waves of intoxication warm my body, everything comes together for me....And here's why.......

At times I am drawn away, and looking back down at the earth from my imaginary bubble from space, and I can sense the utter futility of my struggle against micro-gravity(life).   As I float there uncontrollably totally naked, yet gently, I can hear my own breath respiration on oxygen.  I can even see the finite beauty of my own temporality as the sun's glow radiate from the earth's pole and warming my iridescent bubble, I am at peace.





Through the void of space the womb of the matter I am embraced.  The time of our joy is limited.  The womb of the Jukujo is also warmly and embracing, and humid.  This too is limited, as time has no forgiveness.   It never forgives the beauty as it slowly turns to decrepitude.  We are stardust.   As our planet and planetary bodies begin to shift according to the seasons we are enamored in the loveliness of our own temporality.  Time is limited, so we must embrace it.   I want to make one thing perfectly clear.   Summer is a season and it must be enjoyed immensely, there may not be another summer for YOU.    

Part 2







The Waning Days of Summer Part 2





Around this time last summer I was admiring the smell of pit.   Niigata pit is far better smelling than anything out there.   I'm a real pitmaster.  Closing on this theme, a few more points have to be made. No summer anywhere in the world is complete without sun, skin, and sandy ass goodness along the Shonan Coast. ( my original without watermark)

The term Shonan boy and Shonan girl is a popular name given to young people who live along the Shonan Coast.    Or, better would be Kanagawa Prefectural beaches and shores.   Surfer types and windsurfers paradise tackle waves and glide across them so easily.    The Land of Kamakura, a showpiece town with a great cultural lineage dating back centuries.   Home of the Shonan Cookie!

If you don't surf, well that's alright.  Taking in the nice views is just as fun and exciting.   There is something for everybody to do and enjoy.   As the final weeks of summer closeout, we welcome autumn, especially those of us who prefer the cold.