Oh, So It Was the New Year After All

I spent the morning writing, trying to finish what felt like the biggest assignment of the winter holidays.
It wasn’t until later, out on a walk, that I finally realized—this was the New Year.

The morning was cloudy, but by around noon the sky cleared.

I woke up before six, unable to fall back asleep, and spent the morning focused on writing, determined to finish what I thought of as the biggest homework assignment of the winter break.

By midday, I reached a stopping point and went out to walk Anne.

The strong winds from the day before had not yet died down, and fallen leaves were swirling everywhere.

Perhaps because the Sagichō ritual on the fifteenth has not yet passed, there were still many people out for their first shrine visit of the year.

This year, between being in mourning and being away from Japan, I had almost no sense of the New Year at all.
Only today did I finally realize that.