Hey everyone! It’s Zundadon, dadon!
Today is the Autumnal Equinox, September 23rd, dadon. It’s a red-letter day on the calendar, dadon.
And for me, today was also a day to fulfill an important promise, dadon.
Do you remember the very end of my Summer Camp Report, dadon? I wrote that “when autumn comes, I promised to go have tea with the two people who sent me letters to thank them in person,” dadon.
I’ve just fulfilled the first of those promises, dadon đĩ
đ¸ I Walked Along a Bright Red Riverbank, dadon
I walked along the riverbank to get to our meeting spot, dadon.
And when I did, both sides of the path were bright red, dadon.
They were red spider lilies, dadon. They also have a cool alternate name: Manjushage, dadon.
Around Miyagi, the best time to see red spider lilies is usually from mid to late September, dadon. I hear it can change from year to year, but right around today is the perfect time, dadon.
Up close, the petals curl back, and the long stamens pop out like fireworks, dadon. Even one is amazing, but they were lined up all along the entire riverbank, dadon.
A red line stretched endlessly along the river, dadon.
I’m from a southern country, so I’d never seen a sight like this in my life, dadon. I just stood there for a while, staring with my mouth wide open, dadon.
By the way, the bulbs of red spider lilies are poisonous, dadon. That’s why people in the old days would plant them along rice paddies and around graves to keep away mice and moles, dadon.
They’re not just pretty; they had a real job to do, dadon. Learning that made me like them even more, dadon.
đĩ We Had Tea and I Said Thank You, dadon
We met up at a small cafe just past the riverbank, dadon.
The first thing I did after we sat down was properly thank her for sending a letter to the lodge during the training camp, dadon.
Me: “That letter made me so incredibly happy, dadon! The moment I read it, the whole lodge lit up, dadon!”
Yae-nyan: “Really? I’m so glad I wrote it, nanodaa!”
My souvenir for her was, of course, zunda mochi, dadon. I brought a whole box of the green stuff, dadon.
We talked about sweets, songs, games, my southern home country… and before I knew it, we were on our second cup of tea, dadon.
Yae-nyan: “You talk so fast and energetically, Zundadon, nanodaa!”
She laughed when she said that, dadon. But it’s true, dadon. I do everything at full power, dadon.
It was a short time, but being able to say ’thank you’ face-to-face was the best part of the day, dadon.
Getting a letter makes you happy, but being able to say thanks for it makes you just as happy, dadon.
đ Today, Day and Night Are the Same Length, dadon
Alright, since it’s the Autumnal Equinox, I’m gonna talk about something a little serious, dadon.
The Autumnal Equinox is the day when the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west, making the length of day and night almost the same, dadon.
And starting tomorrow, the nights will start getting a little bit longer, dadon.
The evenings that were so bright during the summer will get shorter day by day, dadon. It’s a little sad, but longer nights also mean more time for moon-gazing, dadon.
The autumn Higan period is the three days before and after the equinox, so this year it’s from September 20th to the 26th, dadon. It’s a quiet, warm time for paying respects to your ancestors, dadon.
There’s even a saying, “The heat and cold last only till Higan,” dadon. And it’s true, I didn’t even break a sweat while walking today, dadon.
đ Autumn in Tohoku is Totally Different from My Southern Home, dadon
Walking along the riverbank, the thing that surprised me most wasn’t the scenery, but the air, dadon.
When you breathe it in, the back of your nose feels cool, dadon. It’s completely different from the summer air, dadon.
And the sky is so high, dadon. The clouds are thin and seem very far away, dadon.
Back in my homeland, the air stays warm even in autumn, dadon. So this feeling of “the air itself changing with the seasons” has always been a mystery to me, dadon.
I was surprised last year, and I’m surprised by the same thing again this year, dadon.
I’ll probably keep being surprised every year, dadon. And I think that’s okay, dadon.
đ The Walk Home at Dusk, dadon
On the way back, I walked along the same riverbank, dadon.
But the scenery was completely different, dadon.
The evening light was orange, and when it hit the red spider lilies, they turned an even deeper red, dadon. My shadow stretched out about three times longer than my body, dadon.
The path I walked excitedly on the way there, thinking “Wow, amazing!”, I walked back slowly, savoring each step, dadon.
Even on the same path, the trip there and the trip back are so different, dadon.
It was a quiet walk home, fitting for the Autumnal Equinox, dadon.
đ Today’s Summary, dadon
If I had to sum up today in a nutshell, it’d be this, dadon.
- The Autumnal Equinox is when day and night are almost the same length, dadon
- Starting tomorrow, the nights get longer, dadon. More time for moon-gazing, dadon
- The best time to see red spider lilies (Manjushage) is usually mid-to-late September, dadon
- I got to say thank you face-to-face for the letter I received in the summer, dadon
- For me, who grew up in a southern country, the autumn air in Tohoku is a surprise every year, dadon
You can tell the seasons are changing not just from the numbers on the calendar, but from the air, the color of the light, and the length of the shadows, dadon. Today, I got to feel all of that with my whole body, all day long, dadon.
If you want to know more about me, check out Zundadon’s profile page, dadon. Everyone’s relationships are summarized on the Character Relations page, dadon!
I hear it’s going to get colder and colder in Tohoku from now on, dadon. As a guy from a southern country, I’m not great with the cold, but I’ll get through it by warming myself up with Zunda Energy, dadon!
I hope all of you stay warm and enjoy the autumn, dadon.
This was Zundadon, dadon~! đ´đ