Welcome 2021!

As we rung in the new year last night, I, like millions of other people, was happy to leave 2020 behind. It was a difficult year on so many levels. I look forward to releasing the stress and hardship of the past year and working toward a brighter tomorrow.

We traditionally spend New Year's Eve eating soba for lunch with friends and celebrating with a quiet evening at home. We always tune in to NHK for their New Year Eve special and eat nabe. This year we ate soba and nabe at home and still watched the televised entertainment.

As for New Year's Day, we normally eat our osechi and head out the door to visit a couple shrines. With Covid numbers in Tokyo at an all time high, we ate our osechi and chose to limit our shrine visits to just the small local shrine in our neighborhood.

We spent the rest of the day at home. We had a lovely outdoor chat with our neighbors and video chatted with a friend. We also let our son watch "Spirited Away" for the first time.

2021 is the year of the cow (or ox), an animal revered for its diligence and persistence. It is also thought of as grounded, loyal, gentle, and trustworthy. As an agricultural animal, it has a strong connection to the earth, creating both stability and nourishment. I am certain that we need these things worldwide as soon as possible.

Statues of cows can be found at many shrines throughout Japan. It is believed that cows possess wisdom, so many students go to shrines to rub the cow's forehead before exams.  (These shrines are labeled as Tenmangu.)

We look forward to going to more shrines over the course of the first month of 2021.  I appreciate the time to reflect on generating good fortune and looking forward instead of behind.