noise
so, here we are at the start of the new year. new album. new challenge. this time it's a treasure hunt. for today i choose the word "noise".
in the old country, new year is a merry time. it comes as the culmination of a long Christmas holiday. the filipinos are a merry lot, we celebrate anything - birth, death, anniversaries, fiestas, baptism, confirmation, wedding, new shoes, new digs (among other things) and of course, Christmas and New Year. and new year is the celebration i miss every year since i came to canada.
right after Christmas, you start to hear the sound of firecrackers. in the evening you hear the occasional fireworks. as the last day of the year approaches, the noise become more frequent. that is because anyone can buy them anywhere.
the filipinos believe that by making a lot of noise, the louder the better, the bad spirits are chased away. so just before midnight, while the men are making fireworks, the grown up children playing with firecrackers and the younger ones with tooters and sparklers, the women are armed with their pots and pans and go around the house as they beat the pots or pans with a ladle or a stick. (and that is the reason most pots in a filipino home have dents.) every nook and cranny is disturbed with this noise, the children are allowed to toot their horns or tooters inside the house, the noise competing with the neighbours' loud stereos and the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers. one time, i asked my mother: 'wouldn't you be driving away the good spirits too with all these noise?' i never got an answer but the stick landed on my behind. (hahaha! moral lesson: if you are six years old, you never question what the older people do.)
here in the free world, we cannot do that or your neighbours would call in the police and you get charged with public disturbance (not that it happened to us ever). if you want to celebrate new year and make noise, you go to restaurants or sports bars or you go the park where the celebration is televised and you hope that your mother who is at home, watching the proceedings, sees you on tv while she seethes because she can't do anything to drive away the bad spirits of the old year, not even to open the windows because it's friggin' cold. but you know she has in her hands a tooter like the ones shown above, and when midnight strikes heralding the new year, she will toot that tooter for at least two minutes lest the neighbours start to complain.
if you wish to participate in this 'treasure hunt' challenge and to read the rules of this challenge, here's the link:
http://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/9626/january-treasure-hunt 
@cscecil - it's total chaos, too, CS! and that's just inside my head! hahaha. thank you and happy new your to you, too, my friend.
@sarasdadandmom - available at a dollar store near you. wait, where are you at? they come in handy around here in toronto as we have a proliferation of dollar stores (or bargain stores). thank you, terry.
@bkbinthecity - yes, i agree with you, a quiet dinner it was for us, too, then partner went to bed and i was left on the computer. thank you, brian. all the best for the new year for you and melody.
@sunnygreenwood - the neighbour was noisy, too, but for different reasons. haha! thank you, anne. two albums now, more work (and here i thought i could take a break!).
@meiphotography - thank you, mei.