Lantern Festival at Forest Hills
Last night I went with my friends Steve and Sarah to Forest Hills Cemetery for the annual Lantern Festival. We met up with Tony, Robyn, Frank (who organized our outing), Ted, Amy, and Chris.
From the Forest Hills website:
"In this breathtaking ceremony of remembrance, visitors to this lush, Victorian landscape make paper lanterns and set them afloat on the peaceful waters of a small lake. This ritual is based on the traditional Japanese Bon Festival, a time when a door opens to the world of the ancestors, allowing us to send messages to the other side. People enjoy picnics on the grass and a multi-cultural program of music and dance. They decorate their lanterns with calligraphy and notes to those who have died. At sunset, a candle is lit in each lantern, and the glimmering lanterns are set afloat. Drifting and flickering with the wind, the lanterns symbolize the soul’s journey when life ends."
My motivations in going were multifold. It is a pleasant thing to do on a balmy summer night. There is the picnicking part...of course. Food will always reel me in!! Also, tomorrow is the on year anniversary of Scott's death, and time for the official mourning phase to end, though I doubt a day will pass where I don't think of him and my mom. I got a lantern for them, and on it had painted in calligraphy "Eternal Life" for my mother and "Peace" for Scott. I also wrote on it the years they were born and died.
I arrived at the event with just enough light in the sky to find my friends, and set my lantern afloat on the water with probably a thousand+ others. It's quite beautiful to witness them floating around randomly, bumping into each other, drifting peacefully...much the way we humans move.
I think it's kind of funny that I set the lantern out, and then immediately turned to eat. Probably a nervous factor should be taken into account!
But the dead are gone, and while I can remember them, the living are here now, and mortal things should be enjoyed and not taken for granted. So I ate there with my friends as we enjoyed a summer's night.
Our menu:
Pane Rustico
Stone Wheat crackers
Strawberry tarts
Marinated mushrooms
Chianti Salami
Prosciutto
Dried strawberries
Fresh strawberries
Muscat
Hummus
Cornichons
Sesame covered peanuts
Fresh basil
After things died down a bit, and darkness fell, strange noises began - geese honking, bullfrogs burping. Actually, shortly after I arrived, a huge frog hopped right through our picnic blanket. Very funny!
We were perched right on the edge of the water. And while playing with our flashlights, someone (Ted, I think) noticed a turtle in the water. A curious one, it was. It poked it's head out a few times and looked right at us with it's freaky reptilian eyes. Then I flashed my light over to a small nearby island, and saw two tiny phosphorescent eyes watching us from the brush. It was a frog!
Upon exiting the cemetery, we were amongst the last to leave. 'Twas a promenade of LED light from my camo flashlight matched with the perfect dark stillness. And spooky stones surrounding...
From the Forest Hills website:
"In this breathtaking ceremony of remembrance, visitors to this lush, Victorian landscape make paper lanterns and set them afloat on the peaceful waters of a small lake. This ritual is based on the traditional Japanese Bon Festival, a time when a door opens to the world of the ancestors, allowing us to send messages to the other side. People enjoy picnics on the grass and a multi-cultural program of music and dance. They decorate their lanterns with calligraphy and notes to those who have died. At sunset, a candle is lit in each lantern, and the glimmering lanterns are set afloat. Drifting and flickering with the wind, the lanterns symbolize the soul’s journey when life ends."
My motivations in going were multifold. It is a pleasant thing to do on a balmy summer night. There is the picnicking part...of course. Food will always reel me in!! Also, tomorrow is the on year anniversary of Scott's death, and time for the official mourning phase to end, though I doubt a day will pass where I don't think of him and my mom. I got a lantern for them, and on it had painted in calligraphy "Eternal Life" for my mother and "Peace" for Scott. I also wrote on it the years they were born and died.
I arrived at the event with just enough light in the sky to find my friends, and set my lantern afloat on the water with probably a thousand+ others. It's quite beautiful to witness them floating around randomly, bumping into each other, drifting peacefully...much the way we humans move.
I think it's kind of funny that I set the lantern out, and then immediately turned to eat. Probably a nervous factor should be taken into account!
But the dead are gone, and while I can remember them, the living are here now, and mortal things should be enjoyed and not taken for granted. So I ate there with my friends as we enjoyed a summer's night.
Our menu:
Pane Rustico
Stone Wheat crackers
Strawberry tarts
Marinated mushrooms
Chianti Salami
Prosciutto
Dried strawberries
Fresh strawberries
Muscat
Hummus
Cornichons
Sesame covered peanuts
Fresh basil
After things died down a bit, and darkness fell, strange noises began - geese honking, bullfrogs burping. Actually, shortly after I arrived, a huge frog hopped right through our picnic blanket. Very funny!
We were perched right on the edge of the water. And while playing with our flashlights, someone (Ted, I think) noticed a turtle in the water. A curious one, it was. It poked it's head out a few times and looked right at us with it's freaky reptilian eyes. Then I flashed my light over to a small nearby island, and saw two tiny phosphorescent eyes watching us from the brush. It was a frog!
Upon exiting the cemetery, we were amongst the last to leave. 'Twas a promenade of LED light from my camo flashlight matched with the perfect dark stillness. And spooky stones surrounding...
posted by Ajda the Turkish Queen at 8:04 AM
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