East Meets West or North Meets South are the two choices Amy offers us this week for the Lens-Artists Challenge. I say “Game on!”
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In this first set of photos they meet, even though the sunrise is in Arizona, the sunset in France. Sunrise is my time of day, the filling of my heart to meet whatever might come. Sunset allows for thinking back on the day, planning for the next, slowing down for the upcoming night. Sunrise is an inhale; sunset an exhale…sunrise a drawing in; sunset a letting go.
Okonomiyaki is one of the most delicious ways East can meet West, the capital letter East and West! When our younger daughter studied Japanese, we were introduced to this easy to eat but-hard-to-spell-or-pronounce dish which I was thrilled to find in Chicago at Little Goat Diner. I went with a co-worker from the place I was working as well as the owner. We tried each other’s choices and it was 3 of 3 voting for my okonomiyake, which was absolutely fantastic. From the menu:
Okonomiyaki (Pronounced Yum)* Osaka street food with pork belly, scallions, poached egg, kewpie mayo, crunchy tempura & bonito flakes, sweet soy
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning “how you like” or “what you like” or “favorite,” and yaki meaning “grill.” ~ The Spruce Eats
North and south in my life are full of contrasts. My heart’s home lives in the mountains of Wyoming. I’ve described it as if my life were a puzzle missing just one piece. It looks just fine and presents a beautiful picture but when that one little piece is found and popped into place, it’s whole. I can live and live well without going to our Wyoming cabin, but it’s the little missing piece that fulfills me.
“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
― John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra
Yet our Arizona home, so different, is also filled with beauty, ready to embrace us, albeit with rather prickly arms. To feel at home in such opposite places is truly a blessing
“The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.” ~Edward Abbey
And of course there’s the contrast everyone thinks of when thinking of north and south: cold and heat. “Aren’t you glad to be away from winter?” people say to which I reply, “I actually miss winter.” Snowbirds (of the human sort) fly north in the summer to escape the heat, then return to the south when winter arrives. The seasons in each place are opposite: summer in the south is like winter in the north, the season that people try to avoid. Although I can’t say I’m a fan of 115 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and I do miss the winter, the contrast makes me appreciate each more. What’s not to like about that?
Although all sorts of metaphors could be drawn from these meetings and contrasts, the thought I would like you to take away is that differences are often what make life (and people) interesting. Don’t just stay in your same place, your comfort zone. Find beauty and joy in other, contrasting places and your life will be much richer.
This, that and the other thing 