On a Sunday morning drive, I picked up a living fossil. Sold from a tiny untended stall by the road, along with pumpkins and overripe apples, a young gingko tree. Barely half a meter tall sapling, with the number of leaves I could count on my fingers. A hand-drawn tag said EUR1.50. I thought it…
A woman stood in front of my window. She seemed to be peering into the living room. Ours is a busy urban street, a tram stop across the road, a petrol station, cars speeding by, people rushing past on their way to the beach. No one lingers. I would like them to, at some point,…
It has been a strange spring – sunny, very dry and remarkably chilly. We had our first frosts of the year in mid-April. I sowed compulsively at the end of March and first half of April, the worst and scariest of the quarantine. Very little of that came up. I had to go over the…
I did hug a tree before, at the time hoping for a connection, some reciprocity, a promise of healing. This time, I hugged a tree without any expectations, just to get closer, to notice little things about it and to observe my sensory reactions. Nothing too "fancy" or esoteric. It is much more rewarding, I…
This year we hosted a small cherry-blossom-viewing party, hanami, for the first time. I had come to think that the cherry tree in our garden (a swaying factor in our decision to buy this house) deserved a celebration. A dedicated party thrown in its honor - despite the tree being, most likely, a Kanzan. My…
My roots and bulbs 