Today I helped out at Oyama Senmaida for the first time.
The annual illumination event is over – I wrote about the torch lighting in October – and today we removed all the LED lights, cleaned them, and packed them away for next time.
The work itself was not too stressful – I filled three bags of LED lights, pulling them up from the edges of the fields. It was probably 400 of the 10,000 lights.
Then Nagamura-san called me over to start cleaning. Each light needed to be wiped clean of mud and neatly packed into a box or crate.
My neighbour, Bill, also came to help and we sat together. We chatted and laughed in English, catching up on what he’s been doing lately. We two East Coast Americans worked at a brisk pace and as the mountain of LED lights in front of us dwindled, more appeared in front of us.
Getting involved at Oyama Senmaida has been on my list of things to do since we moved. I want more connection to the community and this is a big part of where I live now – a major city tourist attraction and learning center two minutes walk from home. This small start is a foot in the door to more activity there, if they will have me.
