Today was one of those days, when my work was stretching over the whole day, but which allowed me to take longer breaks in between. And such breaks want to be well used, because often at the end of the day I have unfortunately little time to recover and relax. And since the weather has finally become a little more consistent, and it it probably will not rain for the rest of the week, I now try to spend as much time as possible outside.

Here in Japan the summer came to an abrupt end and for a good month we have been rained on and off. Even though it was supposed to be high summer and thus the driest and sunniest time of the year, August felt more like a second rainy season. This year it was different from normal years, and therefor I now have to use every opportunity to get some sun, air and light. From next week on, rain is forecast again, but until then, it's time to get outside.

So this afternoon I took a little break in Tenju-en, a small park just outside the city center. This park is divided into two, a Japanese and a Chinese garden, which both complement each other wonderfully and which should express the (often very complicated) friendship between these two countries. The Japanese garden focuses on landscape and you will find an atmosphere where peace and harmony dominate. In the Chinese garden I have the feeling that it is a bit more playful and colorful and also always offers some more garden architecture. Both have their charm, but today we'll take a look at the Chinese part of the park and there it was where I took a few pictures today.

Framed by a pavilion and pieces of wall lies a pond, which I looked at from all sides. Since I'm usually more exposed to the Japanese scenery even in terms of gardens, it was very pleasant to be able to look at this rather strong contrast between these two styles.

To me, as a quiet observer, it offered a wonderful interplay of colors, the sky in particular played along perfectly, with a super blue and white mix. Looking at the sky, you immediately notice that it is now autumn, as the clouds hang lower and are thicker and it just looks different than it did in summer.

Today it was once again almost 30 degrees, but the high summer atmosphere is no longer present, it also no longer smells as it did a few weeks ago. I can sense a bit of a farewell mood, the cooler season is already knocking on the door, but fortunately it doesn't dare to come in yet.

However, the pond area was able to show off quite a bit, and the many color tones harmonized beautifully with each other in these conditions. Green, red and orange, and above all this heavy lightness of white and blue. Now it would be nice if I knew how to paint!

Several waterfalls provided a little variety in the park and a completely different soundscape. Raging and roaring but also soothing and covering everything. And yet discreetly inserted into the overall work of this piece of garden art, where even this waterfall was only a small piece in the big puzzle. Especially the Chinese garden was able to impress with many details and a big variety and surprised again and again.

And water has such a stimulating effect, especially if it runs through some smaller mountain rivers and down a waterfall. As higher and bigger as better for me. Of course the size of the waterfalls here in the park where rather limited but still somehow impressing. I just love watching the water coming down endlessly.

Water seems to be an overall aspect, sometimes resting and sometimes flowing, but always seeming alive. It was also a great idea that you could walk directly behind the waterfall. From there you have a completely different perspective. Not only in terms of view, but especially in terms of sound. The roar of the water is particularly good to hear here and encloses you, like in a capsule. It surely has a meditative and yet also energetic effect on me, and I just had to be careful not to slip and take an unwanted bath.

At the end there is a picture of the Japanese garden, which seems much more quiet and simple in comparison. But here I had sat down for a while to let the atmosphere work on me a bit more. The weather was just too good not to linger a little and enjoy the afternoon. Apart from maybe three or four other pleasure walkers, I had this little paradise here almost for myself. So why should I let myself be rushed though? And so I sat there at the pond and was enjoying my time off and I was reading and dreaming off for a while. I think there could certainly be worse things to do, and when I set off again an hour later, I found that I had spent this little break just right. In the end, sitting there in the sun I even started to sweat a little, which is actually nothing unusual in the summer, but as I wrote before, this year is somewaht different from usual.

Fortunately, it is not far to Tenju-en Park, and I have decided to come here again soon. These small oases in our everyday life are so important for our inner and outer balance, and if we allow ourselves a time-out now and then and retreat to such places and take a deep breath. That usually helps me to easily manage to recharge my batteries and restore my power.

So afterwards I was full of energy again and had no problems to finish the rest of the tasks I had to do today. And in the next few days there is not so much to do for me, so let's see where we will hang out then.

I wish you all a wonderful day, with hopefully some great weather to enjoy outside.

またね matane

[//]:# (!pinmapple 37.878846 lat 139.054885 long Tenju-en Park - A little bit of China in the middle of Japan d3scr)