Some New Year's Eve Sights and Sounds (Patreon)

明けましておめでとうございます〜 Happy New Year!

It was my first time ever doing the whole Joya no Kane and Hatsu Hi no De alone. The above is 25 minutes of the temple bell ringing. My apologies for not making it sound as good as R usually does. But the fact I managed to record it, get it off the recorder, and turn it into an MP3 is like pretty impressive to me. I'm patting myself on the back. Lots to learn!

I showed up at the temple and had to stand behind a gaggle of high school boys, so you get to hear them being goofy. Older people behind me. So you get to hear them complain about being sweaty and then chilled. When the fireworks go off in the distance is when it hit midnight. Suzuki Roshi gave a little New Year's greeting wishing for peace and good things. But the boys were talking and I didn't hear it all. The last two bells are a little loud because that's the one I rang. I still think my favorite sound is the heavy bell swinging back and forth on the rope. Creaking.

For the first sunrise, I got up while it was still dark I drove to the beach. It was quite crowded. Many more people than the temple. It's always baffling to me why anyone would want to make a lot of noise at dawn, the sun slowly rising, first day of the New Year. But they do. I had to smile. It's so Yaizu and I'm actually returning to Yaizu in February, so it felt like a kind of rowdy reminder of how those fisher folk, Yaizu-jin are and a kind of welcome back.

I believe the dance they are doing here they go through various fishing movements...pulling in the nets... Sorry. I was looking at the flags mostly.

Here's a link to four minutes of that. There was also a point where they played the Twist, but no one did the Twist they just kind of circled their arms. Absolutely adorable.

https://youtu.be/m5xmqOF8tCc?si=a3egqNQ_TkC4irUC

Here's the first sunrise of 2026. It didn't fail to impress.

And here's some ozoni. I didn't really do osechi this year. I actually managed to give myself a mild case of food poisoning. Or, well, old milk poisoning. After I got back from Hokkaido I drank terribly expired milk -- but it smelled okay! -- and I think that is the culprit. It's not too bad, no gross symptoms, just stomach pains, slight fever, and not very hungry. Although I did manage to eat all this.

That's oheso mochi, because it looks like a belly button. No need to buy a big sheet of the fresh stuff. I just wanted one piece.

Alrighty then! I want to thank you again for all the support, kind messages, and love. I cannot tell you how much it means to me. I was pretty down last night, but your love, it lifted me higher. Wait. Wut? No. That's a song. But it did. I got me through a blue night. Sending all the love right back atcha 💕. Stay safe and warm and let's hope this New Year is filled with more peace and wild creativity, if you will!

XO,

terrie