Sunday, February 17, 2013

the birthday of the emperor of heaven


Today is the birthday of the Emperor of Heaven (or something like that) and the fireworks are popping all around town like popcorn in a movie theater concession stand! The cats seem to be getting used to all the noise these past few days at the end of the Lunar New Year holiday when stores use firecrackers to open their doors after the hiatus to scare the evil spirits away and welcome back customers. There aren’t any more religious and superstitious people here than in America but they are much noisier. In both places, religion takes over the airwaves with news about ceremonies, special programs, and sales and advertisements with people saying ‘congratulations’ to viewers. Newscasters exchange Wall Street suits for red chi-pows and silk jackets shaking their fist in fist hands at us with smiles on their faces. Money and wealth seem to be more prevalent wishes than good health but with all the smoke from the fireworks, vehicles in traffic heading home for the holidays, and bonfires from people who couldn’t wait for sanitation pick-up to resume and burn their garbage on roads and hillsides, they should be praying for a cure to lung cancer and emphysema.

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