The Adventures of Periwinkle and Stinky

 

Periwinkle stood by the Teleportation Tunnel waiting for her boyfriend Stinky's arrival.  She checked her furs in the mirror and made sure her whiskers looked nice.  With a loud WOOSH, he came tumbling out of the tunnel.  Periwinkle rushed up to him and they shared whisker kisses and paw pats.  Stinky asked how her fursib Raz was doing and Periwinkle said he was doing okay on his meds and had his ultrasound appointment scheduled for Thursday.  Stinky told her that his whole family was sending purrs and prayers for an excellent report for Raz.

Once again, Stinky asked if they were going to see manatees and Periwinkle told him the weather was still a bit warm but she hoped next time there would be manatees for them to see.  "We have something special to do today," said Periwinkle and she handed him a headband which he immediately put on.

Periwinkle said they were going to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit.  She went on to explain a little more.  "Legend states that the Chinese New Year stemmed from an ancient battle against the Nian (/nyen/, which sounds the same as 'year' in Chinese), a terrifying beast that showed up every Lunar New Year's Eve to eat people and livestock. To scare away the monster, people displayed red paper, burned bamboo, lit candles, and wore red clothes. These traditions have been continued until the present time.  It is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.  

She added "Celebrations of Chinese New Year traditionally last for 16 days, starting from Chinese New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival. The first 7 days are a public holiday, from January 21st to January 27th in 2023."

"It's also lucky to wear Red which is why we both have red headbands.  Decorating your door is a fun way to celebrate.

They both were impurressed with a traditional Chinese door.

Lion dances and dragon dances are widely seen in China and Chinatowns in many Western countries during the Lunar New Year. They are performed to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year or event. 

Stinky quickly looked up some facts about Chinese New Year on his phone and surprised Periwinkle with some facts. "January 24th is the day of the Rat. People will leave some grains and crackers in corners to share their harvest with the rats. They will then go to sleep early in order to not disturb the “wedding.” This way, the rats will not disturb them during the year either." Both agreed they might enjoy chasing rats but didn't want to bring any bad luck.

They looked at some videos showing traditional Chinese Gala entertainment too.

"This sure is fun.  I really didn't know anything about the Chinese Lunar New Year" said Stinky.  Periwinkle said she didn't either.  They both agreed that they often learned a lot on their Adventures.

Since it was getting late and Stinky had to return home, they shared a snack with Periwinkle's fursibs and downloaded coloring pages to do for their moms.

After some whisker kisses and paw pats, Stinky hopped back into the Teleportation Tunnel and headed home.  Periwinkle went to find her fursibs and to find a nice sun puddle to nap in.