Every Day a Good Day
When it’s raining, listen to the rain
Kamakura is still in the tsuyu rainy season though it may end next week. This year has been even rainier than usual.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my parents in Chiba. It is about a 2-hour train ride from Kamakura by the JR Yokosuka line. I usually get off at Kita-Kamakura station to pick up my father’s favorite inarizushi from Kosen, an old sushi shop that has been in business since the 1950s. There are only two things on the menu at Kosen: inarizushi and inarizushi with nori rolls. Kosen’s takeout inarizushi has been beloved of locals for years, including some famous locals like master film director Yasujiro Ozu, who spent his late years in Kita-Kamakura.
The balance between tofu wrap and vinegar rice is perfect. It reminds me of my grandmother’s homemade o-inarisan (a nickname for inarizushi).
My father spends most of the time these days in his adjustable bed in the living room from where he can admire the little garden he used to take care of daily. His tiny garden is a piece of art. Everything is organized and balanced. There are shrubs like maple trees, agarwood, azaleas, camellias, cotton roses (confederate roses), and hydrangeas and also little plants like lily of the valley, Chinese lantern plant and shiso, a Japanese basil-like herb. The shrubs are dandily trimmed like big bonsai with cute little plants nestled at their feet. A little pebbled path set with stepping stones runs through the middle. I can tell how much he loves his garden just by looking at it.
My father was never very talkative when he was younger. He is even quieter these days. When he talks, he talks about his garden. How each maple tree changes colors subtly every day. He named one of the maple trees “amabie,” the mythical yokai spirit that protects from disease. Sometimes he points out branches he would like us to trim to keep his garden looking neat. I listen to his stories while massaging his swollen legs and listen to the sound of the raindrops falling on leaves.
Staring at the garden on rainy days reminds me of a novel a friend who teaches the tea ceremony in Kamakura recommended to me.
“Every Day a Good Day” by Noriko Morishita, translated by Elenor Goldsmith is a story about what the author learned from studying the tea ceremony for over 25 years. While going through many stages of her life, from job-hunting setbacks to lost love, the tea was always there to remind her that simply being present in the moment is enough.
This book broke down my preconceptions of the tea ceremony which I’d always secretly thought was simply about learning a sequence of trivial steps of how to serve tea. There is a procedure to be learned, of course, but the real point of the ceremony is the philosophy of life you learn from these steps.
Part of this philosophy can be described by the saying “Every Day a Good Day” — the title of the book and a Japanese Zen proverb. You may find a hanging scroll with this saying on it, 日日是好日 when you visit a tea house. It means to savor the moment. Do not worry about things which haven’t happened yet, or hold regrets about the moments which you can not change anymore. It reminds us to be present.
When it is raining, listen to the rain. You’ve got to be right here. In body and mind. Use all five senses and immerse yourself in savoring the now. If you do that, you’ll understand. The path of freedom is always here now . . . When it rains, we call the weather bad. But really, there is no such thing as bad weather. If you can appreciate even the rain, every day becomes a good day. Every day a good day.
This is what the author of this book learned from attending a tea ceremony lesson on a rainy day.
I know my father has a lot to complain about — limbs he can not move by himself anymore, pain from his swollen stomach. But he is content just to admire his garden, and thanks us for meals even when he only can eat just a little. He takes time to sip his soup, spoon by spoon. He is savoring the now.
I am learning to savor this time too, sitting next to my father’s bed, looking at the garden in the rain.
This year, the tsuyu season is longer than ever. But why not pay attention to the sound of raindrops and enjoy the rainy day?
Love from rainy Kamakura.
