My Day of Days

I reached a new decade back in December.  One that didn't really bother me all that much as I am not very vain.  What are you gonna do?  Nevertheless, it was the best birthday ever.  I went to lunch with my daughters and friends, got the nicest gifts and had the best time.  And, nobody said a word about my surprise birthday party that night at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, sneaky little devils.  They were all there having fun, grinning like Cheshire cats and no one had even let it slip.  I've never had a surprise party before.  It was wonderful.  All my children, husband, sister and her significant other, friends and their children were there.  I love them all.  My cake was a beautiful cake/mousse concoction covered in cherry blossoms ( this because my daughter knew how much I was moved by the movie) and I got a copy of the movie too.  My daughter had even sent out printed invitations with cherry blossoms inscribed and on the back a picture of me in the field and a line from the poem THE ROAD NOT TAKEN by Robert Frost that I quote from time to time.  My friends and family are so thoughtful, so wonderful.  I adore them. It was the best day and night.  "someday I shall be telling this tale ages and ages hence, two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."  I, I took the one less traveled by and now I'm lost on the farm.

excerpt from "Cherry Blossoms" (2008)

One of the final scenes from CHERRY BLOSSOMS. (You must read previous post to make sense of this post). On the last morning of Rudi's life, in his wife's kimono, he readies himself and walks to the lake near Mr Fuji. Here, he begins his butoh dance to honor his dead wife, who then joins him for this last dance. There are a few more scenes, but the last two are so diverse; say so much about life - one's own life as opposed to how others' view it. I want you to watch this film so I won't tell more except that CHERRY BLOSSOMS is about the interplay between fulfillment and regret; happiness and sorrow. The use of the cherry blossoms symbolized beauty, impermanence and new beginnings. You just have to see this beautiful film.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS (or Hanami)

I saw this movie the other night. Though not for everyone, I thought it profound... and beautiful... and heartbreaking: I think my life has been changed by it. CHERRY BLOSSOMS is a German film by Doris Dorrie from 2008. I saw it on the Sundance Channel. Set in Japan, it is about the end of life journey of an aging German couple. At the wife Trudi's prompting, they decide to take the trip she's always wanted, to Japan. Unbeknownst to her husband Rudi, the wife keeps his terminal diagnosis from him. Trudi had always loved Japan and her people, its culture; she had longed to travel there and study butoh dancing and see Mt. Fuji, but life, family, the rearing of their children got in the way. Her husband had always dismissed her dancing dreams and made a life for himself through his work. During a beautiful scene at the Baltic Sea on their journey to Japan, Trudi suddenly dies. Rudi is left alone, bereft and after burying her, heads to Japan to stay with his youngest son, who is not too happy having him there nor does he understand his father. Wearing his wife's clothing, her pearls; Rudi wonders around Tokyo trying to make sense of their loss; wants to somehow make it all up to his wife. One day he comes upon a young butoh dancer performing under cherry blossoms in a park. Though he is dressed in his wife's clothes, Yu, the dancer, doesn't respond; understands why he wears them. They journey together to find meaning. Watch the above video, THE DANCE OF SHADOWS. I'll talk more of butoh later. And the rest of this beautiful movie.