Autumn Evening
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Phase 1: Meadowlark Trail
D is out of town this week, so S opted for a quick solo trip, up the hill at the Meadowlark Trail. The sun is setting earlier these days, two weeks from the end of Daylight Savings Time. Darkness fell upon the trail by the time S reached the apex, just beyond the bench at the top of the switchbacks.
A quiet evening, 50-ish degrees. Light breeze, no moon.* A jogger or two. Several cyclists ascending, headlamps ablaze. No one spoke, save for the jogger advising her dog to behave.
Phase 2, 3: Home.
Leftover teriyaki chicken in tortillas with cheese, and a cup of red lentil dal soup, with spinach. Overall, a weird fusion. Then, vanilla ice cream, with inspirational hiking and photography videos on YouTube, while researching freeze dried backpacking food.
No particular questions of the night.
Haiku of the Night
Speaking of weird fusion, I found this French version of a Basho haiku:
sur un branch morte
les corbeaux se sont perchés
soir d'autumn
Google Translate says:
on a dead branch
the crows perched
autumn evening
Seems reasonable. Here’s the same one, presumably translated from Japanese directly**:
On a withered branch
A crow is perched
An autumn evening
If you prefer (and can read it), here’s the Japanese:
枯朶に 烏のとまりけり 秋の暮
But now we pull a Mark Twain*** and Google-translate the French into English into Japanese.
枯れた枝に 腰掛けたカラス 秋の夜
And back to English:
On a dead branch
Sit crow
Autumn night
Notes
* No moon: a waning crescent set earlier this evening, at 5:41pm. Clouds would have obscured it anyway.
** A Crow on a Withered Branch, https://matsuobashohaiku.home.blog/2019/09/19/a-crow-on-a-withered-branch/
*** Mark Twain's Back Translation, https://translation-blog.trustedtranslations.com/mark-twains-back-translation-2008-10-27.html
