Maybe about 150 feet away, there is a small two story house with light coming from a single window on the second story. I hear the angry and and forceful yelling of a Japanese man. I can’t be sure but I feel like he’s yelling at a woman. Interspersed between the gravel-voiced shouts I hear a small feminine murmur.
Then again, maybe I’m imagining things. I woke up this morning at exactly 7:00 A.M. to the sound of an Air Raid siren, carrying clearly throughout the valley behind my house. It rang out once and slowly wound down, as if it were being turned by a man who’s sole job is to crank its wheel. Ever since summer camp at age 12 when I was forced to take cover from oncoming tornadoes by piling onto a tree with my scout troop, air raid sirens have made me uneasy. I rolled over to check the time on my phone, noting that it was exactly 7 A.M. on July, 7th. 7/7 at 7AM. My tired brain thought this correlation was reason enough for it to be innocuous and I fell back asleep.
I don’t know the significance of this and when I asked my teachers about it, even teachers that live in the same building, they had no recollection or weren’t awoken by it.
On my way to school I stopped by a grocery store to get Kit-Kat’s¹ for my students as a treat for successfully completing games. My cashier was wearing a yukata, which is similar to a kimono in style and appearance but not as formal or constricting. I have no idea why she was wearing one and I didn’t take the time to ask. I saw no one else wearing one during my day.
After doing some research it appears that today is Tanabata, or the star festival. I’ll let Wikipedia take over for a second:
The original Tanabata date was based on the Japanese lunisolar calendar, which is about a month behind the Gregorian calendar. As a result, some festivals are held on July 7, some are held on a few days around August 7, while the others are still held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the traditional Japanese lunisolar calendar, which is usually in August in the Gregorian Calendar.
It would appear Tsuru, or whoever is in charge of holiday warning sirens, is fixated on the number 7. I’m slightly smug that I put it together so fast even in my shocked early morning stupor.
Maybe it’s just too many episodes of Twin Peaks.
¹Interestingly, in Japanese Kitto Katsu translates to “You’ll surely win!” or “You’ll do great!”
0 Responses to “Diane…”