It's the year of the tiger - again. It is a reminder of just how long I've been here - seeing animals for the second time on the 12-year Chinese calendar.
We placed the large rounds of omochi from the other day on a piece of rice paper, with the greenery, a tangerine orange mikan, and a dried kaki persimmon from the fall.
We visit the family tomb and light incense, placing fresh flowers and some treats at the site. Then we are obligated to go to the family home to drink sweet sake and nibble at the cold food prepared earlier in the week, although we get a bowl of hot ozoni, sort of a stew made with lots of root vegetables and a chunk of melting sticky omochi in it. The stew is quite satisfying. The cold foods, specialities for this holiday, are called osetchi-dori. Everything is prepared ahead of time and placed in stacking boxes so that the women can have a day off from cooking meals. They work ten times as hard all week in order to have this day free! But there still are dishes and preparations to be made, frankly, it's a bum deal. I can't complain, I am not preparing it.
The two older sisters are angry because their mother didn't want to prepare all of the dishes this year. Not that they volunteered to help! Both are in their fifties, with grown kids and no jobs, so they could easily have helped out. I don't care for most of the dishes and am unmotivated to prepare food that I won't eat. I don't ask them to roast a turkey or bake pies. With a cloud of siblings feuding over the household, we will all drink merrily to the new year, wishing for the miracle that will bring peace to the family.
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