March

I like March. It’s not February anymore and not April yet. The temperature is still unstable; some day is spring-like warm and some day winter-like cold. However, I think there is something exciting and hopeful about March. I was born in March.

Last week in February, my husband invited me to go for a drive to Shirahama in Wakayama, a three-hour-drive from my house.

Spring comes earlier there and the paper said “ume”; the Japanese apricot, trees were in full bloom at Minabe apricot trees farm field (南部梅林)
 
First I wanted to see the ocean at this Senjyōjiki（千畳敷；1000-mat-spreading）It is a widely spreading sandstone formation sloping into the Pacific Ocean. It has been formed by erosion taking place through surging ocean since time immemorial.

 

  

  It looks like  huge remains.

  

Sandstones are soft enough to make it easy to carve so there are lots of scribbles on it by thoughtless visitors (not visible in this picture, though).

 

 

Merciless and destructive sometimes, still so powerful and merciful and benevolent　the ocean is.

Then we headed for ume viewing. I  had noticed many ume trees flowering here and there on entering Wakayama. Seen from afar, it looked like translucent veils were hanging all over, but taken a closer look they were lovely snow-white.



as busy as a bee!
 

They have been cultivated for a harvest, whose origin dates back to Meiji Era (1868-1912). Wakayama now produces 60% of gross ume production in Japan, whose products are  famous for  their top quality called Nankou-ume (南高梅). 

 

 

The fruit is mainly made into “Umeboshi”; pickled ume,
and used as a preserved food.

I like umeboshi low in salt, it's healthy and tasty. A rice ball with it buried inside is very simple but helpful especialy in such a case of emergency.

 

 

 

 

weeping ume tree planted on the sidewalk

Coming March 11th marks the third anniversary since the great East Japan Earthquake. We tend to be off guard for a disaster with the passage of time. Many people in the heavily stricken region in Fukushima are still struggling. March is also the time to remember and share the feeling and brace myself again.

Wakayama