Expo Bamboo Shoots: Spring Comes from Within the Earth

Before it is visible to the eye, spring begins within the earth.

Wanting to confirm that feeling just a little, I went to the Expo '70 Commemorative Park to buy bamboo shoots.

At 10:00 AM, I received a numbered ticket.

Number 68. There were more people than I had expected.

However, the act of "lining up" itself felt somewhat like spring.

Time that does not rush. A season where waiting is permitted.

I returned home once.

The tulips on the balcony had already finished blooming. I deadheaded the flowers.

For the sake of next year.

My six-year-old yuzu tree had tiny buds. It seemed as if nothing had started yet, but it had truly begun.

When I returned to the park again, the bamboo shoots were lined up.

The large ones were already gone. However, some misshapen ones remained.

I thought that was fine.

In fact, I felt that those were somehow closer to nature.

I brought them home and peeled them.

I was told that just boiling them in water would be enough. That is how fresh they were.

In the pot, they were quietly cooking through.

I made them into simmered bamboo shoots and brought them to my mouth.

They were tender, yet had a core.

Perhaps this is what spring tastes like.

We grilled the small ones over charcoal.

We put them on the fire with their skins still on.
The scent of a slight char, and the rising steam.

The children were laughing.

Perhaps spring is not something you go outside to search for,
but rather something you can hold in your hands like this.

Emerging from the earth,
passing through the kitchen,
and becoming part of someone's body.

That simple process,
somehow, feels a little precious.