Early Summer

I love this time of year in Kamakura.

Drums sound in the evenings as children of various neighborhood associations prepare for festivals.

Lanterns go up. 

Dashi floats are rolled out.

Festivals begin.

Tanabata decorations wave in the wind...

for the seventh day of the seventh month.

Lotus leaves fill ponds.
Buds rise from the water.
And the flowers are good.
May some of this joy find its way north to Tohoku.