The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the
cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It’s a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.”
—Homaro Cantu
"…Clouds descend the stairway of the sky to mingle with the mountain peaks. From copper canyons of the west
they steal the glowing embers of the dying sun, and scatter them in the blazing climax to light campfires in the sky.”
John Martin Scott, Vagabonds of the Sky
Cecile and I took a brisk walk on the walking trails near our home the other day. It was in the high forties. This is cold for us in Northern California. Nature is having a tug of war in terms of weather variants, ranging from 60 to 80 degrees by day and 40 to 50 by night.
Early Spring is trying so hard to replace the wintry air. Cherry blossoms are in full bloom along the path and outside my home office window. After a late afternoon yoga class, I drove home for dinner and saw a cluster of clouds
with a pink hue. I decided to drive to higher ground to witness the sunset, bursting with color like "campfires in the sky."
It is times like these that I turn to the poets for their whimsical interpretations. Here is an adaptation of a poem by Sk Abdul Aziz, simply entitled Clouds:
I sometimes stare at the clouds
They are so beautiful…aren’t they?
[Both} residents [and] rulers of the vast sky
Constantly traveling
They are various shapes and sizes
Some small patches
Some big formations
They sport different colors…
Decorating the blue sky
And giving it a different look
Every day when the sun rises and sets behind the clouds
The visual is simply breathtaking
I especially love it when the sun plays peekaboo with the clouds
Then at night, the moon peeps out from behind the clouds
And gives the night a whole new meaning
Of course, there are those days and nights when the clouds
Overpower the sun and the moon
One thing I envy about the clouds is that they seem to have so much time on their hands
Never in a hurry
Postscript: The bird between the tree trunks is a Grey Heron, a long-legged predatory bird the lake and grounds where we live
