Vacation!

Okay, not really.
I mean I am on vacation, but I gotta go to work.
Okay, I don't gotta go, but I'm going anyways.
Well okay, I gotta go.
See every year, around this time, I get the dreaded call from My Friend Kyle(MFK) the Craft Fair Man, telling me that it's kadomatsu time.
Kadomatsu is a Japanese tradition of sorts that involves setting some bamboo thingys in front of your door to ward away evil spirits and to bring good luck in the coming new year.
I say sort of for it seems that no one in Japan really does this anymore and it's become more of a local thing that has been adopted and modified.
This is what a kadomatsu looks like:



The post from last year can be found here.
Now it's sort of tricky, making these kadomatsu thingys.
There's like precise measurements and angles and numbers of cord wrappings and all sorts of official guidelines and rules to follow.
Kinda sorta.
It also involves massive amounts of bamboo.
I have to admit that I used to feel a little guilty about the substantial amount of bamboo we go through to make these kadomatsu, but then I read that some bamboo grow like 12 inches a day.
That's a foot a day in layman's terms.
So anyways, while you are reading this, I'm probably deep in the Hawaiian jungle getting all bit by squiters, trampling around in the mud harvesting some really tall grass.
Which is what bamboo is.
A really tall grass.
Or, I may be standing at a mitre saw, cutting up the said bamboo into precisely measured amounts, getting them ready to be tied together.
Then again, I may be standing at a table, wrapping the said bamboo with rope, using the correct number of turns required.
I know this sound like really great fun and all, but in reality it's really hard work.
Sort of like crafting on a large scale for we make just under a thousand of these things a year.
By the new year, I'm pretty much sick of seeing bamboo.
Until the next year that is.
One thing about this year though, I'll be taking some bamboo for myself, for my much anticipated kite project.
I'm still looking for the right paper, but after this is all done, I should have enough bamboo to make a kite of substantial largeness.
I did want to go out for a ride tomorrow(today) but I guess I'll have to get my exercise in a different way.
Cross training don't you know.
Time to build up that core strength.
Or something.
So anyways, I'll be documenting this years kadomatsu drive and maybe include some instructions, just in case you want to make your very own bamboo thingy.
Oh, and the President is coming back to Kailua again this year, so I'll be trying to get me some spy shots.
Hopefully I won't get arrested or worse.
Stay tuned.