from Vanamonde #614 (2005)
I missed the 106th annual Golden Dragon Parade, but some of the 27th annual Firecracker 5-or-10 Kilometer Run-Walk went by as I ate noodle soup next morning on North Broadway. I saw lion-dancing just north of the Chinatown Gateway: drum and cymbals; the lion pranced, stalked, shot up its head, looked, and ate a bunch of lettuce with two persimmons; good luck for a new restaurant, which duly lit firecrackers; on to the next. Above the Gate two dragons have descended from the clouds to chase a pearl, which glows at night; on the west Harmony and Longevity, on the east Wisdom and Prosperity, all very proper. Two ten-year-old girls on a stage danced Reflections Under the Moon. Calligrapher Kan Fu-chung in his booth wrote (in Chinese) May your dreams come true; he was so amazed I found it interesting that he gave it to me; he refused payment, so I put cash in a box for his school; with no good home for the calligraphy, I gave it to Chinese friends. Only good dreams.