Sunday Afternoon Walk

 

My Nikon DSLR camera is an amazing piece of modern technology, but for me it is a magikal tool. When it is around my neck, I slow down and see more.  My Aries sun sign rushes me from one adventure to another at break neck speed. I am usually riding my bicycle from one job to another, the scenery constantly changing. But my camera brings out my Cancer rising sign, I take things much more slowly and think a lot more. 

 

 

I do not usually take my camera down this street, but I often use it to move from place to place. Today I had my camera and for the first time I saw this derelict old wooden house covered in dead foliage and leaves. It is surrounded by modern buildings and has a sad  neglected atmosphere. But at one time it must have been the newest building on the street, full of hope and optimism for the future.

 

 

Crossing back over the river to the east side (where I live) I looked for the kites that are usually circling over the river. They were absent today, which reminded me that I had seen them to the north east at Kyoto University on Wednesday. That day there was a festival at the nearby Yoshida Shrine and I thought then, that they were looking for the chance to steal food. So maybe today they have found another event.

 

 

I came across a fortune tellers shop, which had a sign reminiscent of a doctor's clinic. But it had moons and a star indicating times when he gives reading at other places. It made me wonder how he and his clients view fortune telling.

 

 

I dropped into Ebisu shrine and noticed that two people had left there old wallets on a special sacred stone there.  Many Kyoto people do this when they buy new ones. My old one will be there soon. I am looking for a new yellow wallet, Japanese people believe they are lucky, so I will give it a go.

 

 

I crossed the street to the shrine with many images of wild bore. I do not know the meaning, one day I should really ask, but not today. A day when I do not have my camera.

 

 

Finally a quick stop at the second hand shop and a look at the old post cards. Among them is a picture of a young beautiful woman, probably taken a long time ago by a better photographer than me. I wonder if he used a Nikon?  I will never know, but I know whatever camera he used, it was magickal for him.