One year. 72 encounters. A work in progress
A story published over the course of a year inspired in part by the Japanese calendar based on nature’s microseasons.
You can find out more about the calendar here.
Chapters will vary in length and be unedited.
I’ll add links to this post as they happen.
1 – east wind melts the ice
2 – the nightingale sings
3 – fish emerge from the ice
4 – rain moistens the soil
5 – mist starts to linger
6 – grass sprouts, trees bud
7 – hibernating insects surface
8 – first peach blossoms
9 – caterpillars become butterflies
10 – sparrows start to nest
11 – first cherry blossoms
12 – distant thunder
13 – swallows return
14 – wild geese fly north
15 – first rainbows appear
16 – first reeds sprout
17 – last frost, rice seedlings grow
18 – peonies bloom
19 – frogs start singing
20 – worms surface
21 – bamboo shoots sprout
22 – silkworms awake and eat
23 – safflowers bloom
24 – the time for wheat
25 – praying mantises hatch
26 – rotten grass becomes fireflies
27 – plums turn yellow
28 – self-heal withers
29 – irises bloom
30 – crow-dipper sprouts
Warm winds blow
First lotus blossoms
Hawks learn to fly
Paulownia trees produce seeds
Earth is damp, air is humid
Great rains sometimes fall
Cool winds blow
Evening cicadas sing
Thick fog descends
Cotton flowers bloom
Heat starts to die down
Rice ripens
Dew glistens white on grass
Wagtails sing
Swallows leave
Thunder ceases
Insects hole up underground
Farmers drain fields
Wild geese return
Chrysanthemums bloom
Crickets chirp around the door
First frost
Light rains sometimes fall
Maple leaves and ivy turn yellow
Camellias bloom
Land starts to freeze
Daffodils bloom
Rainbows hide
North wind blows the leaves from the trees
Tachibana citrus tree leaves start to turn yellow
Cold sets in, winter begins
Bears start hibernating in their dens
Salmons gather and swim upstream
Self-heal sprouts
Deer shed antlers
Wheat sprouts under snow
Parsley flourishes
Springs thaw
Pheasants start to call
Butterburs bud
Ice thickens on streams
Hens start laying eggs