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P.S. for Moments in Bloom: Japanese Seasonal Living for a Mindful Life
Thursday, 5 November 2026
P.S. post scriptum meaning "after writing". Here's mine. I completed a book review for
Moments in Bloom. The authors would have us pay attention and become more aware
of the small changes to the seasons, their colors, tastes, experiences. Then pause and reflect.
image courtesy Rock Point, an imprint of The Quarto Group
a charming book about Japanese Seasonal Living for a Mindful Life and uploaded it a week ago.
Today, while grocery shopping, I had a mindful moment, just as the authors would have us do.
This is actually a very good thing. I live in - let's call it semi-rural New Jersey. Two different neighbors have sheep, another has cows, there's a pony. End-of-driveway signs for pick your own pumpkins. Not an option for city dwellers. But they do have supermarkets. Which do offer moments of seasonal living for a mindful life. So . . .
Explore the season. Let's see . . . where are we. The pentad of November 2-6,
Momiji tsuta kibamu, Maple leaves and ivy turn gold. Colors of the season are
frost, autumn water, 
pumpkin, maple in autumn
Taste persimmon, beet, pear, chestnut. Experiences might include a visit
to a pumpkin patch, an autumn walk before autumn comes to an end, and
making a visit a body of water and observing its clarity.
Chestnuts, the book tells us, are deeply loved in Japan, cultivated there since the Jomon hunter/gatherer period.
Apparently long before rice became a staple, chestnuts were a mainstay of the Japanese diet. Additional
text notes that their peak is in October and November. Roasted chestnuts are popular in stores and festivals.
Today's visit to the supermarket shows me a bushel basket partially filled with chestnuts. A seasonal option.
Text for Persimmon, Kaki, digresses with mention of Algonquin name for the fruit, mention of
American folk belief that persimmon seeds can prognosticate the weather, and though available
all autumn and winter in China, they are traditionally enjoyed during season of Frost Descending,
October 23 to November 6. Japanese culture also prizes persimmons, often depicting then in art and poetry.
One seasonal fruit that is not in this book, that is indelibly intertwined with this season,
that is uniquely American, is the cranberry. Even more than pumpkins it is the arrival
of bags of fresh cranberries in the supermarket, forerunner of the Thanksgiving holiday
at the end of November. Even for me it is an indoor experience of the season. Be mindful.
You cannot see the cranberry harvest not unless you make a special trip to the bogs of
New Jersey where they are cultivated. However supermarkets everywhere have the cranberries.
Experience this season with its pentads and let there be memorable moments. Observe. Enjoy.
And use this engaging book to help you recognize and connect with the seasonal, mindful life.
Moments in Bloom, Japanese Seasonal Living for a Mindful Life
Alexis Agliano Sanborn and Kit Lanthier
published by Rock Point, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA
Hardcover, trim size 5.71 in x 7.68 in /, $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-57715-825-7
release date October 6, 2026
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher
If you have any comments or questions, you can e-mail me: jgglatt@gmail.com
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