a day for eating eel

Farmer's market at its summery best: today, there were peaches and plums; white nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries...

There were my sister's favorite dahlias (red, orange and white).

Of course, there were countless tomatoes (heirloom and otherwise) --and Japanese cucumbers.

For the first time, we stopped in the stall to buy fish; for a party-- mussels, clams, swordfish, mahi-mahi and salmon!  I rarely eat fish anymore--nothing sustainable tastes any good, it seems. But in Japan, I used to love eating fish in summer.

Carp served on ice and and eel grilled over charcoals!

Speaking of eel, today is eel day in Japan. 夏の土用 

In the time of Small Heat (小暑),  people need to brace themselves for the Big Heat just ahead.

It can be unbearably hot and humid at this time of year --like a sauna sometimes. And people drag themselves around; the old fashioned sending out postcards to inquire after friends' health in this time of dreaded heat. Dread? Yes, of the greater heat ahead. It really can be enervating. And so the Japanese eat eel--believed to provide fortitude, strength and vitality.

I miss eel. I have not had it since leaving Japan. I can hardly bare to think of it, as it was of of my favorite foods--grilled on charcoal and served on a bed of rice with pickles. 

When I asked Kazy what he most wanted to do when he got back to Japan, he said, "Eat unagi!"

If autumn is for evenings, summer is for nights, says Sei Shonagon:

In Summer, the nights. Not only when the moon shines down, but on dark nights, too, when the fireflies flit to and fro, and even when it rains, how beautiful it is!

Yes, how beautiful it is. 

But lucky us, in Los Angeles, summer evenings are also most beautiful of all. It is the perfect time to eat dinners outside. 

According to one of my Japanese almanacs, this is the time when young hawks learn to fly 鷹乃学習.

Chicks hatched in May and June are now ready to fly! And hunt!

We see that first-hand as a smart red hawk comes and plants himself on our back fence waiting for a little finch to come and feed at our bird feeder. 

The perfect snack?

It is quite a sight. 

And the finches really are getting chubby from all the free grub!

In Japan, this is a time for weeding the rice fields--back-breaking work.

It is the season for stone fish (I never tried that) and lettuce; zucchini and wind chimes (only put out in summer--to leave them up all year is to show yourself to be devoid of all seasonal sensibility!) And shaved ice. I used to always change the cushion covers to indigo dyed linens--so much cooler, they say--I'd do that when the rains finished in June. 

Here in Pasadena, the peacocks are much quieter now. Mating season is over and so we only hear an occasional bloodcurdling shriek every so often in the middle of the night. Mornings bring so many birds. To our feeders come the towhees, finches and mourning doves.  There are also bluejays and sparrows; woodpeckers and mockingbirds. Chris loves the mockingbirds most of all. The brave and courageous mockingbird was the only one to plant himself near the hawk and scream and scream at him till the hawk gave up and left without so much as one snack. 

The puppy and I started swimming every day after our walk--water is even colder than I'd remembered!

 

Comments

[Mary]

Such a beautiful piece, full of summer! I especially like the photo of the hawk. Thanks for sharing this.

[Leanne]

Thanks, Mary!! So happy to see you here! There is a new book, in addition to East Wind Melts Snow called Wabi Sabi about the calendar... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062905155/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Lea]

From Brooks, fascinating and wonderful video about falconry in Mongolia!! https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lauren-mcgough-how-an-oklahoma-woman-learned-to-fly-like-an-eagle-in-mongolia-60-minutes-2019-07-21/