Liza Dalby, East Wind Melts the Ice: A Memoir through the Seasons
(University of California Press, 2007)
Liza Dalby has led an interesting life, it's safe to say. A cultural anthropologist by trade, she's spent a number of years in Japan, including one year as an actual geisha in Kyoto, developing not just a fluency in the language, but a love of the culture, both past and present. In East Wind Melts the Ice, she combines that affection with her knowledge of gardening, natural history and Chinese culture to craft a "memoir" of a year's passing (two, really, since she wrote the book during 2003-2004).
East Wind Melts the Ice is based on a Chinese almanac of the seasons that Dalby came across in her studies. That almanac divides the year into 75 units of five days each, with each unit named for some natural occurrence associated with that time frame. For example, Dalby's title is used for the first unit of spring (February 5-9). Dalby's used the almanac to create a journal of sorts, with one entry for each unit. The text for each entry ranges from explanations for each title (displaying Dalby's strong knowledge of Chinese and Japanese culture, plus solid research skills), snippets about her garden's development, or remembrances of or related to her time in Japan.
Dalby's writing style is very engaging, though she very occasionally tosses in bad puns (coy koi, when talking about her goldfish pond, for example). It's also clear she's done a considerable amount of research for a journal and readers will learn about various species of bird, flowers and animals native to China, California and Japan along with a healthy dose of Japanese haiku and culture.
At the end of the book, Dalby provides a chart of the 75 almanac units, adding in the 17th Century Japanese equivalent, plus her own modern Japanese and Californian interpretations. She's also added a brief explanation of the written Japanese language, plus a thorough index.
Readers who live outside Dalby's temperate stomping grounds of northern California may find the early start to the seasons (the solstices are considered mid-season, not the beginning) a bit odd, but this bit of cognitive dissonance doesn't detract from enjoying the book.
Dalby's journal will delight gardeners and fans of Japanese culture alike, and can be read straight through or picked up and browsed, unit by unit. Either way, East Wind Melts the Ice is a charming, quirky read.
Liza Dalby's personal Web site is here, including a visual journal to accompany East Wind Melts the Ice. (You can also read about Geisha, her account of the year she spent as the only non-Japanese geisha ever.)
