Misty Morning

A blanket of dense fog covered the village this morning. It’s funny that mist shrouds most things from view, but it also makes otherwise invisible things appear. And by invisible things, I mostly mean spider webs.

Yes, it really was this misty

Higanbana Flowers

Taking a walk, I came across these vivid and rather peculiar flowers. Although it’s a bit too early in the morning for deep contemplation on the nature of existence, their name literally means “flower of the other shore,” referring to higan 彼岸（ひがん）, the Buddhist concept of the “other shore”—a metaphorical realm of enlightenment contrasted with shigan 此岸（しがん）, “this shore,” which represents the ordinary world of human existence.

This might be something you want to just casually bring up mid conversation with a Japanese person and give yourself an air of mystery. They also might just think you are rather odd.