There are four days

There are four days left to complete the year-end cleaning.

Before the new year comes, everyone in Japan cleans the slate--and the house, their accounts, broken relationships, and all the other loose ends that are dangling. It's a great system, giving everyone a fresh start for the new year but it sure is a lot of work.

I have so many loose ends to attend to...there's a movie a borrowed from a friend, the shower really needs some scrubbing in the grimy corners, there's money to be invested before the 31st, and I'm not even thinking about the fingerprints on the glass doors. All those things I ignored, put off, or actively avoided during the year have four days to be resolved so I have some good karma in 2001.

If I were really Japanese, instead of merely following along with local customs, I'd also be cooking osechi ryori, the lucky new year foods. More about food tomorrow, I must go find the window cleaner.