jacki long: Day 4863: Persimmon Drying Season & Elephants / Earthquake & Snow in Austria

"Ray Charles #2": postage stamp, junk collage.

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2GN2S

"Peak Persimmon Drying Season ...

Drapes Orange Curtains"

It’s peak persimmon drying season in Japan right now.

And for Wakayama prefecture, a major producer of persimmons, that means that roughly 70 farmers throughout the town of Katsuragi transform their farms into what is reminiscent of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates, a 2005 art installation of orange curtains hung through New York’s Central Park in 2017.

The reason early November is peak persimmon drying season

is because dried persimmons (hoshigaki) are a traditional food

that plays a central role in kagamimochi, a New Year’s decoration found in households across Japan. Kagamimochi is assembled by placing white mochi at the base. Next, dried skewered persimmons and, on top, a daidai orange. This structure is said to represent the Imperial Regalia of Japan: the mirror is the mochi, the jewel is the orange and the sword is the skewered persimmons.

a traditional year-end kagamimochi decoration

The dried persimmons is arranged on a skewer in a particular way.

A total of 10 of them are skewered with 6 in the middle and

2 on each side. This is important because, as in many cases, the Japanese love wordplay. Two (niko) on each end = smiles (niko niko) on the outside. Six (mutsu) in the middle = harmony (mutsumajiku) on the inside.

Persimmons are a special year-end treat for a number of reasons.

For one thing, they represent a good harvest, and allow the opportunity to be thankful for that. The persimmon tree is also a very long-living tree, hence symbolizing longevity. And lastly, persimmon (柿) can also be written as 嘉来, meaning ‘happiness to come’. Yes, more wordplay.

An incredible display of animal instinct and intelligence! Surveillance footage from San Diego Zoo Safari Park captured a herd of African elephants forming a tight protective alert circle just 10 seconds before a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck. 

Exhibiting their superior seismic awareness, the adult elephants quickly recognized the impending danger (likely via low-frequency vibrations). They immediately gathered and faced outwards, shielding the young elephants and calves safely in the center of the formation.

This strong social behavior is crucial for protecting the most vulnerable members of the herd from perceived threats. The video serves as compelling evidence that elephants possess an acute ability to detect geological disturbances that humans cannot, reinforcing their role as a remarkable natural early-warning system.

Snowing in Austria

Good friend and artist, Elenor has graced us with her beautiful photography from Austria!

She said, "I think the frost looks so beautiful that you have to love even these cold temperatures. The last at least three weeks we had so much fog. Only a few times it lifted and we got to see the sun a bit. But that was just dreamlike. Maybe you like my impressions?"