Obon

Last night was the beginning of Obon. (Check out this link to read more about what Obon is all about) This is my favorite time of the year to be living in Okinawa. The weather is horrible but the great festivals and traditions are fantastic. I have been waiting for Obon to begin because it is so rich in tradition and my personal favorite, the Eisa drummers that parade through our neighborhood. And last night was the night.

We were outside chatting with our new neighbors and we heard them start up a block from the house. The look on Jackson's face was sheer joy. He is such a fan of Eisa drummers and Shi Shi lions. He took off before I even got my camera out of my bag.

As many of you all know I am learning to shoot on manual but this evening I wasn't able to even try because it was dark and they were moving all around. So excuse the flash and auto focusing.

Jackson is in LOVE with our new neighbors. They have four children, 2 older boys and 2 younger girls. They have really taken to him also and I love that he looks up to them so much. When Jackson sees them outside he will yell "my kids are outside". He is so cute. Here he is with his kid. They walked the route with the drummers together.

Even Gavin got into the spirit. Some of the smaller kiddos were crying from the load drums but not our laid back guy. He enjoyed his hands while watching the drummers.