Enter the Dragon

 

by Pa Rock

Big Ol' Rat

The Chinese New Year, one of several lunar new years from various country's, happens at the start of the second full moon after the winter solstice (December 21st or 22nd).    The holiday generally falls somewhere between the third week of January and the third week of February.   This year the Chinese and several other nations celebrated their New Year on Saturday, February 10th. 

The Chinese divide their lunar calendar into twelve segments, each represented by an animal (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig), with each animal reigning supreme every 12th year.  The year of the rabbit (which honors three of my six grandchildren) ended on Saturday, and the year of the dragon began.

I know a little bit about the year of the dragon.  ( In fact, I know just enough about many things to be quite annoying!)

A dozen years ago when I was living and working on Okinawa, a good friend and I traveled to Vietnam for the holidays.  We arrived in Saigon (now officially called Ho Chi Minh City) on Christmas Eve of 2011 and left Hanoi on January 1st, 2012.   During the eight days that we were in-country we traveled in a private car with two young Vietnamese men who acted as our guides.  They spoke very good English as they showed and explained much of their country's history while we explored the countryside and urban landscapes between the two old capitals.

One of our guides was due to become a father in a couple of months, and he was, of course, very excited about that.  He was especially pleased that the baby would be born in the year of the dragon because the dragon represented luck and good fortune.    The guide explained to us that people in his country often planned pregnancies so that the babies would be born in the year of the dragon and the child would be blessed with good luck.

That Vietnamese child should be almost twelve now.  I hope that he or she has been lucky and is enjoying a good life.   (My rabbits are all doing great, one is twenty-four and a college graduate, the other two are twelve and in middle school where they seem focused on the arts.)

But this year is about dragons.  Be nice to them and maybe some of that luck will rub off!