typhoon out, ancestors still here

So, Typhoon Eteau ripped through here this weekend. Several people were swept away in flash flooding or mudslides. As usual the day after was spectacularly sunny and clear, Eteau having sucked all of the summer-city haze out to sea and depositing fresh clean air, possibly air that has never passed through the lungs of man. Unfortunately, the day was spent picking all of the debris scattered in its wake.

The Bon Odori festival on Saturday was typhooned out. The city seemed determined to go ahead with it; a few brave souls were dashing about under the flapping tents attempting to make merry in the horizontal rain. I guess some people were more anxious than others to get their ancestors started on their way back. As it was, by 1400 the entire affair was a lost cause. We did not get to dance the dance that tells the ancestors it’s time to go, nor did we get to float little boats with candles down the Sagami river to show them the way. I don’t know if this means that they’ll hang around until we do, or if they can find their own way back. Each region has their Bon festival at a different time, so perhaps the ancestors here will take their cues from the ancestors in some other region. Or, maybe, there is some sort of emergency ancestor return procedure that people are performing in their homes, something to do with animals made from zucchini and eggplants (corgettes and aubergines for our European friends). I need to find out, just in case somebody’s ancestors are hanging around here – though they probably got offended by something and left long ago.