A Late Hatsumode

There'd be quite a few more heads on the 1st.

Hatsumode is technically the first shrine visit of the New Year. What most people imply by it is the visiting of a shrine during the first three days of the year, so by that standard I'm really pretty damn late. Not that I hadn't tried! There was a damnably long line on the 2nd of January. So long in fact that they had to get people to direct the flow of traffic so that the streets weren't blocked by people waiting for a turn to get into the shrine. It was a little despairing to look at. Besides, I ended up getting sidetracked that day by the news that Lo's and Haruka's child was born.
 But here I am waiting in a far shorter line at the Tokyo Daijingu shrine in Iidabashi. It actually goes by pretty quick when there aren't several thousand people! The traditional Japanese prayer is fairly speedy. Bow twice, clap twice, pray in silence for a 3-5 seconds, bow once more, leave. Cue in the next guy. I can't say I regret not being in the four hour line.

Wooden wish tags!

If we wanna get technical, 2014 is the Year of the Horse - basically if you're turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, or 96, it's your year, so God owes you a lollipop and a tax refund.
 I've been told I would have pretty shit luck this year, but so far so good, I guess! Everyone around me seems to be a little worst off than I am, with one of my coworkers starting the year off with torn menisci, and two others with devastating family emergencies.
I wonder if any of them were turning 24?