Japan's springtime cherry blossoms are revered by the Japanese people. The trees become covered with pink clouds and people take time to enjoy them. Families plan picnics under them. Inter-generational groups of ancient grandparents, busy parents, teens, and young children take river boat trips through their busy cities to admire the trees' profusion. Other people stroll alone under the trees' canopies and reflect on their lives. Men gather together to celebrate by drinking sake - lots of sake. And women too have their gatherings under the beautiful trees.
When we recently in Japan, I had reconciled myself to missing the cherry blossoms. After all, the bloom happens early in April and I would not arrive in Japan until April 20th. However much to my delight, the cherry trees were in full bloom when I landed on Honshu, Japan's biggest island. Due to unseasonal cold, the trees' blooms were two to three weeks late. It was a good news-bad news occasion, since the cold that slowed the trees so dramatically was part of the pattern of worldwide changing climate.
After some time in Japan and South Korea, I continued traveling along the Asian coast to Vladivostok,where we spent a rainy time exploring this Russian Siberian city that once was a military installation and a closed port. From there, the plan was to sail between Russia's Kuirl Islands and Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island. Instead, the ship encountered immense amounts of floating sea ice. It was a glorious and unprecedented experience. People poured onto the open decks to watch. Cameras clicked and clicked recording the sight.
As the number of ice floes became more numerous and larger, they began to pile on top of each other and push against the ship. We slowed to one to two knots - roughly the equivalent of about one to two miles per hour. Finally, the Captain concluded it was not possible to find a pathway through the ice. We turned around and headed back to Japan to find another route.
It was another good news-bad news experiences.It was nothing I ever expected to see. It was an experience of a lifetime. The bad news? Strong northerly winds of over 50 mph had pushed the ice southward from the high Arctic, where ice was melting. In April, where it should have still been winter for several more months. Another result of worldwide changing climate.
We did re-chart our course, going south around Hokkaido Island and then headed straight into the Bering Sea above the Aleutian Islands, further north than I ever expected to be. We had two and a half days to make up in order to reach Kodiak, Alaska.
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