This pretty pinkish purple flower is the Marguerite Daisy.
Found this a few days after the earthquake when seeing and hearing about the earthquake, tsunami, and the nuclear power plant all over the news just got to be a bit too much for me to handle. It's selfish of me, I know. But I needed to pretend for just a minute that everything would be okay.
*As of today, 9,408 people have died and 14,716 people are still missing. There are also approximately 261,000 people who are currently living in shelters (mostly school gymnasiums). Although the news is mainly focused on the nuclear reactors (bless those men and women working to control the situation)...many Japanese are more worried about the missing and sheltered people in Tohoku, where it is currently very cold. Many of the shelters still do not have water, electricity, or petrol and time is starting to run out for many. I hope you will keep them in your prayers.
Beautiful flower photo.
ReplyDeletePraying for people in Japan to see beauty again.
Hugs,
Dani
I have never seen a daisy like this, it is so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI think it is right to be cheered up by small things after such a terrible experience. Take care and keep us posted...
Overwhelming. Find all the flowers you can. (Kaori, I've donated to the Red Cross, but is there another agency that you think is more effective?)
ReplyDeleteso true, it's best to take life one day at a time and cherish every moment you have.
ReplyDeletei'm glad these lovely marguerites brightens your day, because it's uber pretty in lilac. ^-^
and still praying for those affected by the tsunami, can't help but get teary eyed when I watched nhk news.
But Japanese people are brave and very positive...
A beautiful example of the cycle of life...that there still are flowers as beautiful as these even as the immense tragedy in Japan still unfolds...a beautiful and thought provoking post Kaori...
ReplyDeleteI don't pray but I do keep my fingers crossed that the news won't keep worsening. Don't give up and keep looking at flowers and all the little things that can make you smile for a minute or two.
ReplyDeleteI hope nothing will worsen in Japan. Ganbade.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely flowers - a beautiful distraction from the heavy news lately in Japan! Ganbatte, ne!
ReplyDeleteNice post for this day.
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty flowers Kaori! My heart just breaks hearing the news each day from Japan. I am continuing to pray.
ReplyDeleteReally, so many of your photos are breathtakingly beautiful. Have you yet set up a Zazzle account? I would love to be able to purchase any number of them as something like greeting cards.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes play “Sound of Silence” on shakuhachi (not so well, I think!). I have always loved that song.
Like altadenahiker I have contributed to the Red Cross (and other charities). I can only hope that such contributions reach those most in need as soon as possible. What to do? I have thought of (just thought of, no action on) things such as an “Adopt a Family” program where we could contribute an amount of our choice to families (or individuals) in need on, say, a monthly basis (but isn’t this a bit too “Third World” for Japanese people?). A kind of homestay offered by people outside of Japan who have room in their homes (lots of problems with this one, huh? Cultural differences. Visas. Transportation to and from. Settle overseas? Return to Japan? When? What to do then? It just seems many Japanese people would be averse to this).
I see that many Japanese people are offering space to stricken people, either individuals in their own homes, or municipalities with public housing (even Tokyo). Do Japanese people wish to totally sever themselves from their former community and become strangers in another area as individuals? Do they have a choice?
After the Great Meireki Fire of 1855 whole communities were moved out of central Edo into the boonies such as Renjaku in Mitaka.
Some temporary shelters are being built like in Kobe. After all, this makes me feel that it is a Japanese problem that the Japanese will handle themselves. I just wish that there were more direct ways we could help.
The number of people in shelters is going down, yet some shelters are still lacking even the most primitive basic human needs. What to do? What about the children? The trauma? Sigh. Think I’ll go play “The Sound of Silence.”
Oops. 1655.
ReplyDeleteKeep looking for small sources of cheer! :)
ReplyDeletepassing a flower
ReplyDeleteboth looking at eachother
smiles
please have a good thursday.
daily athens
keep your heart open to litlle beauty to cheer you up is a good thing , all our thoughts goes to the suffering people of Japan... Hold on !
ReplyDeletekeep your heart open to litlle beauty to cheer you up is a good thing , all our thoughts goes to the suffering people of Japan... Hold on !
ReplyDelete... And there was a 6.1 earthquake there again today! When will this end? Beautiful contrasting colours in your photo.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the lovely comments! I have a lot of things to be thankful for, including all of you :-D
ReplyDeleteKarin, I also donated to the red cross and ADRA, an NGO group, both here in Japan. There's a really great list another blogger made of Japanese organizations that you can donate to here. It's a great blog post and it covers all of the organizations that I would recommend, too!
Tall Gary, regarding the temporary housings, I've heard, for example, there are over 1,000 units scheduled to be built in the next couple of months in Miyagi. There are also smaller villages that have moved together to sister-cities that are providing them temporary housing in the Kanto or Kansai areas. There's a lot going on and still to come. But I think we can all work together to get through this with more efficiency than we did in 1655 :-)
Oh, sister cities. Great. Many cities here in the States also have Japanese sister cities... I wonder if help can be offered this way.
ReplyDeleteYou’re sure right about 1655. The contemporary temporary housing will certainly not look like this.
Beautiful simple flowers. Such sad news from your country. Thoughts are with you
ReplyDeleteJapan is in my prayers every night. Your photo is beautiful and you need that break for beauty and peace in a time like this. It's not selfish - take care of yourself. My best to you.
ReplyDeleteBalance is the middle road... good for your sanity, Kaori. Stay strong. Sadly, for the people in the thick of it, this nightmare won't end anytime soon... while the media has already turned to other events and crises. Focusing on flowers keeps the overwhelm at bay. A beautiful flower it is, too!
ReplyDelete