A Relaxing Sunday, Kind Of

Today sweet husband of mine and I went to the movies and saw "Get Smart". My first movie in a long long time and I enjoyed it immensely. My belly was overstuffed with popcorn which made the food later in the day less enjoyable than normal.

We then went to the Tacoma Buddhist Church Bon Odori Festival. It's a summer event to celebrate and honor the lives of deceased family members and friends with dancing, drumming and of course food.

When I was in Jr. High and grade school I danced in the Seattle Bon Odori each year dressed in a different kimono or yukata each time. My grandmother in Japan sewed a new one for me each year. Now that I am an adult I no longer dance but do have a tradition of attending Bon Odori for the food. Of course I have to have somen noodles; wheat based noodles served cold in a dipping sauce with finely chopped green onions. It is a common summer meal in Japan.

Bon Odori somehow takes me back to the days of my pre-teen and early teen years. Even though those years were very stressful for me since I was basically thought of as weird by "my friends" because I wasn't full blooded Japanese and came from a divorced home, somehow Bon Odori is a very relaxing venue for me.

This is one of today's dance instructors leading the little ones in the dance steps.

And of course it is not Bon Odori without the drums.

What was not relaxing today was being so worried over our cat Riley, the one in renal failure. His day was bad, he wouldn't eat so I had to force feed him. He is drinking a lot of water but is still dehydrated even after receiving fluids. We don't want him to suffer and don't want him to spend his last days in the hospital hooked up to IV fluids surrounded by loving people but strangers to him. Monday we will say good-bye to Riley and send him on his path to the Rainbow Bridge.