On the road in Canada

The annotated bibliography guided me into greater depth in the direction of my paper.

I hustled to the library to check out a dozen books on Japanese travel writings from 980 AD to today. I have been skimming them for certain excerpts to sticky note and study. To meditate upon before writing.

I did not spend any time this weekend writing the paper but plan to on Monday for a couple hours. Though like I said, I have been reading.

I read Basho’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North while eating dinner at Ben Moore’s on Saturday night. It is unique in it’s simplicity of language and depth. Definitely expresses my own feelings for the constant beckoning of the road. If only I could read the poems in Japanese!!!

A few passages that really stood out.

This is just before Basho sold his house to set out on foot.

“The gods seemed to have possessed my soul and tuned it inside out, and roadside images seemed to invite me from every corner, so that it was impossible for me to stay idle at home.”

In witnessing spring time buds at a temple.

“It was with awe

That I beheld

Fresh leaves, green leaves,

Bright in the sun.”

And later…

“After many days of solitary wandering, I came at last to the barrier-gate of Shirakawa, which marks the entrance to the northern regions. Here, for the first time, my mind was able to gain a certain balance and composure, no longer a victim to pestering anxiety, so it was with a mild sense of detachment that I thought about the ancient traveller who had passed through this gate with a burning desire to write home.”

I look forward to going deeper into the other books and writing… To feel a deeper connection with Japan through these works.

Camping in Canada on my way from Alaska