Ching Ming

     April 4 is Ching Ming, Grave Sweeping Day, which is an official holiday in Hong Kong.  People visit their ancestors' graves to tidy them.  At the gravesite they burn incense and paper money called "hell bank notes" for their ancestors to use in their afterlife.  They also leave flowers and food for their ancestors and pour wine on the ground at the gravesite.  Sometimes people set off firecrackers to scare away the evil spirits that are believed to be roaming about today.  Willow branches are also said to keep away the evil spirits.
     Ching Ming means "clean and bright" and is associated with spring.  Sometimes people have a picnic at their ancestors' gravesite, or they might fly kites.
     I didn't observe any of these Ching Ming rituals going on today, since there aren't any cemeteries close to us.  I read a couple notices about anticipated crowded public transit and delays due to large numbers of people expected to be traveling to gravesites.  There were still plenty of people left back here in the city.  Some business places on the street were shuttered, but many were open.
    Because it was a holiday Terry skipped his sweaty walking commute and worked from home today.  For a break this afternoon he broke out a newly-acquired Scrabble game that a co-worker brought from London a few days ago--we were never able to locate one here.  We sat at the kitchen table and played a game, while enjoying a perfect breeze blowing off the harbor.  This new Scrabble board is a jarring shade of bright green-blue and the tiles are plastic, which didn't quite seem like real Scrabble because we're so used to our traditional dark maroon board and wooden tiles at home.  We remind ourselves often that having to get used to new things should slow down aging!
     Something else that was new today was using our kitchen's wimpy-looking toaster oven for our evening meal.  We've only used it once before, to crisp up some stale rye crackers.  Yesterday at a store across the street I found a small glass baking dish that fits perfectly inside the toaster oven.  Tonight I used it to make a favorite dish we haven't had for months:  a roasted melange of chickpeas, eggplant, sweet red pepper, and onion, tossed in olive oil with curry powder and garam masala.  Success!  It took awhile, but it was delicious.