Wednesday, December 10

I awoke this morning to gray gloominess and CNN telling me Illinois was the most corrupt state in the US. Although I now live in Pittsburgh I really consider myself a Chicagoan, having spent most of my first 63 years there. I wasn’t surprised to hear about the governor. Probably the bigger surprise is why it took so long to get him. He certainly didn’t make any effort to cover his tracks. I don’t agree that Illinois is the most corrupt. Pennsylvania has made pay to play legal. The other state I’ve lived in most recently, New Jersey, has some interesting things going on also. Both of these states have the potential to be No. 1, also. But I digress…

The sun came out about 9:00 and I went out. I had two temples in my sights this morning, sort of across the street from each other. I say sort of because that’s how they appear on the map. Reality is different. I began with the one on the side of the street where I got off the bus, and found it was down a narrow street about 50 m. and then up, I don”t know how much. Most of it was on a steep slope with a few stairs. I don’t like up, or down for that matter, but up I went. Shinnyo-d0 was worth it. No tourists, just enough people to keep me feeling comfortable. There was supposed to be a garden, which I think it was closed. The grounds were lovely with lots of great trees. The buildings were interesting. It was a great morning.

I didn’t want to go back down the way I came; I found another road and promptly got lost. I don’t usually mind being lost but this was requiring more walking than I really wanted to do. I found a beautiful little garden with an open doorway. Although the entryway was open, unfortunately the actual garden was blocked—it would have to be viewed from a building and no one was around to let me in.

Finally came to the entrance to a temple that was on the map. This one had no appeal for me being a lot of buildings with a lot of gravel around them. Another 300 m. and I came to a police box and one of those terrible communication glitches. The officer was very pleasant, but not terribly helpful. Eventually he pointed me in the wrong direction and I took another very long walk, getting to a main street where I could get a bus back to where I wanted to be. Sometimes I think I should rename this blog, “The Misadventures of a Silly Old Lady trying to get along without language.”

Having done as much climbing as I could bear to think about in one day I put plan B into effect, forgetting about the temple on the other side of a now distant street that would have required even more climbing and went to Heian Shrine instead. It’s on flat land, and I never saw their garden when I went there last year. This is a huge, stroll garden, actually four different gardens, positioned around Heian Shrine. Each of the gardens has different features, one with two beautiful old-style buildings; two with irises around a pond, unfortunately not at this time of year; one with a large pond crossed by stepping stones that were the girders of two famous bridges in the center of Kyoto constructed in the 16^th Century; one designed for garden parties for poets.

This bird followed me from the park in Osaka

By the time I finished this garden I was serious about finding lunch. However I was distracted by a sign directing me to Muran-in, another garden on my list. I tried to find a lunch place on the way, but got to Muran-in first. This garden was created by an individual, a statesman of the Meiji and Taisho periods. Entering through a narrow doorway you find a small stroll garden; nothing like the garden at Heian Shrine, but very pleasant. I put my hunger on the back burner and enjoyed my stroll through the garden.

Now, lunch became a big issue. I used to say I would eat anything that didn’t move. I don’t know if age has anything to do with it, but I now realize I’ve become a very fussy eater. It’s not just Japanese food I have trouble with. I only eat at certain places at home, also. So I began my search, checking out the pictures, the plastic models and the occasional menu with English on iit. I found a place that said it had grilled fish and walked in. They had Japanese style booths where you sit on the floor, but they also had a counter with stools. Sitting at the counter I was able to watch some of the food preparation. It was a very tiny place, not much larger than my hotel room. The grill, and the person grilling were behind a wall with a pass through to the person behind the counter. She got a tray ready with pickles, something that turned out to be potatoes, cold, a dish of tofu, and finally rice, miso and my grilled mackrel. The fish was delicious and I particularly liked the tofu, which was slightly redolent of yuzu, a Japanese citrus flavoring.

I fell in love with yuzu last year. The dictionary definition is citron, but I’m inclined not to believe it. I think it’s something particular to Japan. I asked about the yuzu flavored tofu, but they didn’t understand. There was a lemon slice with my fish that they pointed to and called yuzu. I bought yuzu sauce at home, but it wasn’t as good as what I’ve had here.