Country Days - First Day of the New Year

2007-2-18
Fifth day, the first day of the New Year. We woke up this morning and found our dog Daibo missing. Till now he has not returned. The firecrackers last night were too loud, and he was probably scared away. He must have found nowhere to hide before he lost his way or got caught by someone, for it was the same terribly noisy everywhere. For the first time in his life our New Year came as a test for him, yet it seems to our sorrow that he failed. I wish he could come back tomorrow. The only photo I took of him. God bless him wherever he goes.
[Photo of Daibo]

Boating is the only good exercise for me here.
[Photo of Boat]

Our baby, my youngest uncle’s little girl of 9 months, is always our super star.
[Photos of Little Chen]
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Fireworks
In the country, as you probably knew, lots of firecrackers blast when people celebrate the lunar New Year. They are strings of thumb-sized cylinders of explosive dressed in thick layers of red paper. When it blows, the noise is devastating.
[Photos of Fireworks]

Yearly Practice
As not mentioned, “Ninlai”, our Yearly Practice, has two main parts. At the village square, lots of fireworks are bought by the Village Commune for everybody, and we’re free whether to let them off, watch the performance by and the drummers, or even see a movie shown outdoors. “Everybody has fun, thanks to our better life now” is what this part most likely means.
For a family of us, accordingly, there can be a feast. It would be a large one in this case, something usually thousands of Yuan, which used to be a matter of years of savings. Thus we do not do this often. Dozens of round tables are arranged, cooks are hired, and relatives, friends and acquaintances are called over in this little country assembling. The implication, as we can put it in this way, “Eat good things till you’re full, also thanks to the better life, of mine, of course.”
It’s a matter of face rather than something religiously traditional in Maoming Area, according to Dad’s experience. Or you can say, the love of face is part of our traditions.

I started receiving text messages from my friends last night. Thank you all, men.