chinese lantern festival

we spent the day in a place somewhere- where, i presume- is in the heart of los angeles. i can't be sure because i've never spent enough time in los angeles to know whether i was in the heart of it or not. but, i really do imagine that's where we were. i was born there, you know.

the occasion was the chinese lantern festival, taking place at the end of the chinese new year season.

© kimberly k. taylor 2009

i sat there watching various performers including a lovely comedian-acrobat-magician, a team of young ribbon dancers dressed in vibrant greens and reds, and a martial arts demonstration team wielding swords and fans. and the traditional lion dance made up of one gold, one red, and one miniature lion that came alive to dance about and pronounce the new year.

we meandered around until there wasn't much left to see and then i happened upon a secluded place, home to a quaint alleyway that led to nowhere- just to a green door outline that wasn't actually a door. and we took pictures and laughed and left it as we'd found it, but perhaps a bit more cheery and not as lonely.

when we were finished at the festival, one of us thought to find china town and get some lunch. it was a bit displacing, walking about that fragment of a vast city. someone i know- a musician- told me that los angeles isn't that big. that he wants to go somewhere bigger. that it's big enough. it is quite big enough.

the day was a change, and change can be refreshing even if you've only had 4 hours of sleep.