Sometimes...

Matsuri082, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Here's the thing about living in Kyoto; Sometimes you are eating lunch and there is a horse in your parking lot. You will hear a slow drum beat and wonder whether it is construction or something falling over and then you will discern a rythm. Strange humming, like a wounded bandsaw murdering a bird that was already dying from something else, will join in faintly. There will be more people in the street, but only slightly at first. They will mainly be headed in the same direction. You will sense that you are missing something. Someone will run out of a house, look around the corner and dart back in saying "It's coming!" The matsuri will be upon you. Young men in robes with cell phones and sneakers will stop to drink juice boxes and there will be a horse in your parking lot.