Mei-Shun drove mom-in-law to one of major shrines in Japan 八坂神社=yasaka-jinja whose headquarters is located in Kyoto. It is called 祇園さん as well, since the famous Gion Festival is hosted by them. Our nearest branch of 八坂神社 was late dad-in-law’s favorite. He used to buy something at a food stand along a path to the shrine to warm up our hands during midnight queuing for hours. 17 years later, we quietly spend 30 minutes in sunshine to worship.
あけましておめでとうございます。A Happy New Year!
This has become 寝正月, sleepy new-year holidays for Shin and Mei-Shun. He brought a cold to home, making her have the same symptom — sore throat and a slight fever. It is never seen to affect their first omikuji of 2017, yet he drew 小吉 while she did 半吉. The latter means half lucky, the worst among 吉 lots. They therefore tied them on a 南天 branch grown in the shrine garden to avoid such ill-fated souvenirs.
meishunkikunoe 