It’s such a beautiful day today. Something about days like this make me want to commune with everyone I see. Nothing extravagant. Just establish a momentary bond with people, a co-acknowledgement that we have come through yet again all that winter signifies, and are headed towards all that spring promises. I’ve done this spontaneously my entire life, and caught myself instinctively doing it once again today, like an unsung tradition. In japan, I usually do it with a broad smile and a “イイ天気ですね” (beautiful day isn’t it). And generally the response is the expected one, one of agreement, and a brief recognition on the part of this Japanese stranger that we are indeed all in this together and that there are ties that bind us all. One being the approach of spring.
Even if it leads, as it did today, to a conversation about how Yokohama has four seasons, and their surprise at learning that japan is not exceptional in that, that NY has four (including a spring) as well. Nothing can ruin the spell a day like today casts on me. Even that man who turned, about to respond to my prompt, discovering the salutation came from an unexpected non-Japanese source (me), and promptly turned away as if I must have been speaking to someone else. Even that gentleman, who thankfully was in the minority, can’t diminish the power of a beautiful day announcing the return of my beloved spring.
Hallelujah.