Wandering in Pictures · 23 of 24

A Sudden Shower on the Great Bridge

Rain sweeps across a wooden bridge as walkers hurry home under hats and umbrellas.

Woodblock print · Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857

A Japanese woodblock print of a long wooden bridge in heavy rain, with a few walkers under hats and umbrellas and a raft on the river beyond.
Utagawa Hiroshige · Public domain

Let your eyes wander

  1. Begin with the pale curve of the bridge, rising from the lower left.
  2. On the left, two walkers share the shelter of their dark umbrellas.
  3. Ahead of them, a man in a round straw hat bends into the rain.
  4. Further up, two more walkers huddle together under one wide hat.
  5. At the top of the slope, someone holds a straw mat over their head.
  6. Out on the river, a lone figure poles a long raft through the rain.
  7. Notice how the fine lines of rain fall at two slightly different angles.
  8. Far across the water, the other shore is only a soft grey shadow.

There is no last thing to find. Look again wherever your eyes would like to rest, or close them and keep the picture.

Keep going

Nothing here needs finishing. Every door leads somewhere, and the last one is always darker than this.

Stay here

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Go somewhere near

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Something quieter

Almost nothingDrift ModeOne step closer to sleep