The New Year Sunrise
One of the Japanese traditions that’s still somewhat popular is seeing of the new year sunrise (hatsuhinode-初日の出, not to be confused with hatsumoude). Last year, I think I stayed up all night, then went to see the sunrise before hitting the sack. This year, I actually went to bed by 3AM and woke up by 6:30. Lucky me.
Since I drove toward east, I was planning to drive west to find a good spot to see the sunrise. The sunrise is at 7:44, and I didn’t get to leave home until 7:00. And because I live in the east side of the town, following that plan was obviously not a good idea… And thus I headed south. Man, Kansas has so much windbreak woods. It’s not easy to find a good spot in such a short time.
Another problem—it’s so friggin’ cold! 21F, with wind chill of 11F. Standing out in the cold just for fun? That’s crazy. But here it is. The moment of truth.
