Lowell Water Festival

(Today we had KJ's one-year wellbaby appointment. Twenty-four and a half pounds, thirty-one inches.)


We went up to Lowell for the Southeast Asian Water Festival. Did a drive-by look at a couple of houses that whispercricket and teinedreugan had previously looked at too. Dropped by a sandwich place for dinner. Etc.

Then we went down to the canal. For a donation, we could get a small coracle-like paper boat, filled with flowers, a candle, and a stick of sandalwood incense. A procession circumambulated a section of the water, led by a dozen or so saffron-robed monks, and then the boats were released into the water. (And fished out a little ways down by someone with a pool scooper.)

I tried to walk the circuit slowly, steadily, letting the energy of the thing build and holding it. (Unfortunately I lost it a little when I got to the queue at the end, but hey.) I sheltered my tiny flame with my hands and my breasts, because in places the wind kept putting it out, and that seemed oddly and appropriately symbolic, the way of protecting the fragile light of a wish. While standing out on the bridge over the water, I was struck by the sense of the canal spirits, the water forces, and wondered what they thought of the entire thing, and quietly thanked them - and then I read the website when we got home and learned that that was part of what the ritual was for, so hah, guess my senses are working decently.

The three of us who were walking the ritual put our boats in together. Then I hurried back and nursed KJ, who was Very Put Out that I'd gone by her without providing her with meem meem.

I find myself really liking Lowell a lot.