I woke up at 6 a.m. to laughter coming from outside my window. Why would people get up so early to laugh? Then it hit me — I was supposed to be out there too.
The neighbors had gathered to set up for a ceremony for the Mountain God. Twice a year, we pray to the mountain God who lives in a shrine behind my house.
People have prayed to the Mountain God for hundreds of years, only 10 years of which I have been around for. They always start with this early morning laughter, and the laughter continues for a couple of days in front of the Mountain God's shrine. I have to admit, I never understood what the laughter was all about. It was like a secret laughing society.