Japanese morning greetings

Do you have mornings when you wonder if it is really a good morning?

Is it possible that good mornings are a state of mind? If every morning was the same, it could happen that life would get boring.

Mornings can be affected by lack of sleep, illness, worries...

But I still believe that many mornings can be good if we want them to be.

When I was little and rounded the corner of the kitchen in my childhood home, my father would say: "Light jumps and bird chatter!" What on earth that really meant, is hard to say, but it gave me the feeling every time, that mornings were good.

The thing is, we tend to see and hear things differently here at the Duck and Cherry. In the early morning hours in spring and summer the birds are happily chirping in the trees outside the bedroom window. I will say: "Oh, how lovely to hear the birds. It makes me happy," and I drowse off to sleep again. While my handsome husband will say: "That horrible bird noise keeps me awake."

Sometimes when we wake up I try to greet Arnfinn in one of the few morning greetings I know in different languages. My favorite is Ohayo gazaimasu (Japanese). It sounds so cheerful and makes me feel good just saying it.

I like slow mornings, no stress mornings. Not always easy to do, but it makes my day much, much better.

Today's water color shows a little fairy, who has fallen asleep in a bird's nest.