hello present revisited

walking past imperial palace at dusk

The bookmarks are now officially more popular then the inconvience cookies, so it seems further explanation is in order. The leaves, except for the funny little one, appear to just be flat dried leaves and there does not seem to be any laquer. Think like a bay leaf, only a little shinier and plumper. The inscripition has been carved straight through the leaf sometimes going with the viens of the leaf, and sometimes wherever the character demands. Then a little gold shiny paper has been placed between the bookmark and the leaf to accentuate the writing. You may remember these were a gift from a lady who popped out of a ticket window at Japanese garden and said ' Hello, Present' . Wouldnt that be great if people often popped out of windows to give you cool things. In Japan, gardening is often considered as a form of meditation. 'Shintoism, Toaism, and Buddhism all stress the contemplation and re-creation of nature as part of the process of achieveing understanding and enlightenment' ( so says Frommers ) So I imagine that this practice is also a form of meditation. I'll keep an eye out for more, as I am a bit of a regular at the gardens, and Jean if there is one about lady alone on a mountain top in chaste pants, its yours.