Vladimir Nabokov, from a letter to his wife Véra (24 March 1937)

“Upstream”, Mary Oliver | Akimasa Harada

Rainy day in Daira Pond, Japan // 雨の日の平池

Came across this fallen Chaffinch nest, fortunately fallen before any eggs laid it seems. Absolutely gorgeous nests

Robert Mapplethorpe for Helmut Lang (1997)

Ashenbank woods near Cobham, England by Simon Bolton

by wordyelaine

kafka

!

Pink mountaineer's axe from Muromachi period, 14th century Japan

When practitioners of Shugendō went up into the mountains, axes like this one were used to cut the branches and clear the brush in their path. Originally, these were used as a tool, but they came to take on a ceremonial function as a ritual implement. The blade of this axe is made of iron, and it is shaped like a plectrum for strumming stringed instruments. There are heart-shaped openwork designs decoratively bordered with bronze. The handle is made of wood wrapped in a bronze sheet.