For Christmas I received a Washi Calendar from my son who is currently living in a remote village in the mountains of Japan. On the first day of every month I reveal a new page of the calendar with the sadness of not knowing when or if I’ll ever see my son again. The world has gotten that shaky.

Despite all the evil in the world, we’ve managed to reach the eighth month of 2025. In the US there are no official holidays during this month. In Japan there’s only one: The 11th or Mountain Day.

Apparently there are no official celebrations of Mountain Day, much the same as last month’s Marine Day , but everyone is encouraged to take the day off to celebrate their favorite or closest mountain. (Japan is 80% mountain so it’s not that hard!)

My memories of this last month of summer, before life gets back to the normal grind of work or school, are of uneasy transitions. I would barely get settled in to a new routine when all too suddenly came the holidays! Yippee! More expectations, more preparations, more stress!

But, in Japan the symbol for this month is the pink lotus, the flower that arises from murky water and thus represents enlightenment, purity and spiritual awakening. Perhaps … I’ve been thinking about this month all wrong! Perhaps … I should hightail it to the nearest mountain and seek some of that enlightenment.

Or perhaps I’m more like the grass.