Tanabata Time

I've "borrowed" Tanabata again this year.   Well, just a little bit anyway.  It's a nice nod to the Japanese culture that I admire, and it's a gentle holiday since no one else around me is celebrating.

Tanabata is a summer festival in Japan (and other Asian countries) that celebrates the legend of the dieties Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented in the night sky by Vega and Altair) who are lovers but who are separated by the Milky Way and destined only to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.  

My celebration, such as it was, was simple and short.

I decorated a spray of bamboo that I pilfered from my neighbor's yard.  (Don't worry:  they despise the invasive bamboo that has taken over the sides of their driveway; they would be more than happy for anyone to cut some down.)  I made some silver stars and a silver chain from a large plastic seed packet.  And I wrote encouraging words on some leftover decorative paper tags that I had made a long time ago.  I also found a pretty old paper fan that has been reposing, long forgotten, in a dresser drawer.

And I listened to Arashi's Mikazuki on repeat while I decorated the bamboo.  This is a sweet sad song that refers to Tanabata.   (If you wanna listen to the song, you can do so at this link:  https://vimeo.com/191753599  It's a private video [which does not belong to me]  so you may need to use the password Arashi to view it.) 

And I made Goldfish Rice (recipe idea is in this post).  I added some ginger to it this time to give it a bit of pizzazz.  (Fresh ginger would have been very much nicer but I only had powdered, and sometimes you've just gotta go with what you've got.)

It was a nice hour out of an otherwise typical summer day. 

Life is good.
Celebrate something!