Distracted by Lotus Blossoms: How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Pardon my absence, please. I've spent the summer gazing at lotus blossoms while pondering priorities for my last year in Japan.

The first sighting was at Koishikawa Korakuen, a lovely Tokyo garden the Yokosuka Officers Spouses' Club visited in late July with a few of our Japanese friends in tow.  The day was slightly overcast which was good since apparently lotus flowers clam up when the sun comes out.

There's lots to see at this garden so I hope to get back there when the maples turn later this fall.

The very next day Ishii-san and I visited the Ofuna Botanical Garden where we found lotus blooming in a shallow pond ringed by a path that let us get up close and personal with the plants.

seed pod on July 28

Ishii-san taught science to junior high students in her heyday so strolling with her is always enlightening. When she isn't pulling cicada shells off walls and trees, she's pointing out things like lotus seed pods which I would otherwise tend to ignore while concentrating on the flowers.

seed pod on Aug 6

A week later, when I introduced Shinagawa-san to the botanical garden, those seed pods looked quite different. The pod was drying and pulling away from the seeds which had started to turn from green to purple.

People in this part of the world eat those seeds raw and use them in soups. After the seeds are removed from the pods, dried pods are used in flower arrangements. Sometimes people fill the holes in dried pods with colorful little balls of fabric. That's something I'd like to try.

Shinagawa-san is dwarfed by the tall lotus plants

Shinagawa-san and I visited the garden on a bright, sunny day so we had to poke our heads under the leaves to see most of the flowers that were blooming defiantly.

Just when I thought I'd seen all the lotus blossoms Japan had to offer, Kyoko-san lured me to Kamakura with promises of waffles and coffee. I was making a beeline from the train station to the waffle shop when she grabbed my elbow and dragged me to the lotus ponds in front of Hachimangu Shrine. I'd be the last person on earth to complain about bossy friends.