Children Perform Eisa at a Full Moon Festival
October 4th 2017 a Kangetsusai (moon viewing) Festival was held in Kin Town.
Wanting to travel light, I used a mono-pod and 18-250 MM lens, with the Pentax K1.
The mono-pod, would make it easier, to avoid having drunken revelers, shaking the camera.
The thing had been collecting dust, in my office for a few years.
It was my first time, using such a gadget and, it worked out pretty well.
I was standing at a level above most of the crowd and zooming-in on the stage.
Two younger grandchildren came along and said, "Jiji." That's Japanese for grandpa.
I hugged the girl and patted the boy. It started raining. I toweled his bald head, dry.
The granddaughter told me, "Kannon's up there doing Eisa."
Kannon, is a sixth grader and, daughter of my favorite daughter-in-law.
What kind of crappy grandfather, would I be if, I missed photographing her ?
A Busy Time of the Year
Celebrations, festivals and sports day events keep me going, around the clock.
There are probably thousands of images, waiting processing in my files.
The wind picked up, rain was falling down, on and off, during this matsuri (festival).
Some folks, ran off the field, seeking shelter. Others, popped open umbrellas.
The last time, I saw my granddaughter perform Eisa, she was wearing purple head-wear.
Assuming she'd be dressed in the same uniform, I concentrated on purple.
Then, used continuous firing on the camera's shutter button. Like a machine gun.
Frame the compositions, to include everybody in the crowd and, I couldn't miss her.
The weather or, something, even broke the loudspeaker system and, music stopped.
But, those spirited kids, kept on drumming, chanting and dancing. They were amazing.
At any Eisa event, there's always someone, whistling loud, like a whippoorwill on steroids.
Local men, fired-up on kettles of Okinawan spirits, contributed to the merrymaking.
After the Eisa
Along came my favorite daughter-in-law and, she saw that I had brought the camera.
"Papa, did you get photos of Kannon?" she asked me.
"Of course, I get photos of everybody. What sort of crappy grandpa, do you think I am?"
By the end of the event, I was exhausted. Dropped the camera by my office and, called it a day.
There were over 800 photos taken. I left a computer, downloading and, locked the door.
Out shooting the full moon, the past few nights, I haven't done much photo processing.
Here it is, a few days later and, everyone wants to see the pictures of Kannon.
Going through the image files, I couldn't find her. I looked at hundreds of photos.
Enlarging them on the screen and, looking at purple scarves, I didn't spot my granddaughter.
Bummed Out Grandpa
It's a good thing, I only have one daughter-in-law, in Okinawa. She's still my favorite, here.
The other one, in the USA is, my favorite American daughter-in-law.
It's also a good thing, I didn't delete all the photos, of those kids wearing purple.
After checking all the kids faces, on the stage, I noticed something.
Bouncing up and down, on the ground, were drummers, in red head bands.
All of a sudden, I spotted this doll, with a drum and a cute little nose, I'd recognize anywhere.
Why in the hell, didn't anyone tell me, the color of my granddaughter's uniform ?
