Drawing By Yoshino-gawa

Last Sunday my brother brought to my attention the fact that I had been unplugged for a couple of days. I don't know how and what I did last night but I managed to fix it all by myself. I am especially happy because I pride myself to be more of a people's person and not trusting computers, buttons and electronic devices. I have decided to celebrate it with this picture that I drew with pastels in Tokushima.

We lived right by the Yoshino-gawa (River) surrounded by many rice and daikon fields. Aizumi was a small village and people knew and liked us.  In our neighbourhood we had a good reputation.  It is very important component of happy living in Japan. The farmers would very often give us daikon and other veggies freshly picked from the ground. And at night it would be pitch dark outside of our apartment building because there was no reason to light up those fields. It was a quiet and cozy place for the two of us. But if \i was there alone I don't think I would perceive it as a peaceful place. It would be rather dull and sad place for a single person without any access to other English-speakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5a9rSKvuxk&t=78s

At that stage in our lives we travelled a lot. Thanks to a little car provided by our school's owner we were able to drive all around Shikoku island and visit a lot of 88 pilgrimage temples. I think we did as many as 30-ish. Somewhere in our book collection there is a notebook that every pilgrim buys and gets stamps at each of the temples. So that you can reminisce after or have a proof of your pilgrimage. It just made me think if a friend of ours got one on his pilgrimage there and if he finished all 88? Hmm. Mr. F. let me know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJ-RFcmwss

There are a lot of little altars everywhere. Like the one I drew. In the morning, I would cross a blue bridge near my place to go on the other side of Yoshino-gawa for exercise and satisfy my curiosity. There was a path with fig trees, wild flora, many frogs, snakes and cats. But a bit further into the land, on the other side of that river, by the road in Oasa-cho, there was this lovely little place. I would go there once in a while to draw and ring that bell that alerts Gods of my prayer. It was helpful to me because I had no way of going to a church. So I made do with what I had. I remember the day I drew this. It was very humid and the sun was ruthless. On days like that there was a special smell in the air. A mix of sea salt, greenery by the river, fish from the water and wood. I could smell evergreens everywhere in Tokushima. Maybe because everything in Japan was made of natural materials such as wood. It was an abundant resource. The mountains were covered by lush green multitude of evergreens. It looked and felt like a jungle. And the surrounding, although it is Japan, the most advanced technologically country, it is natural, traditional and organic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3h9eIdInZQ

Almost at the end of our stay in Tokushima, one of the students told us that there was a catholic church in the city and in fact the priest there was from Poland. We managed to meet with him and talk to him. But it was already too late. Mentally we where on our way out. Emotionally, we were already gone to Osaka for my next teaching contract.