Two Birthdays

I forgot to bring my music to Yume Mitai practice yesterday. It wasn't a big deal, because I have most of it memorized, except for the brand new songs. On the other hand, it sort of was because there was also a piece of music that I was supposed to pass on to another member, who is in Jigen and Matto Bayashi with us as well. Since he is also in Matto Bayashi, and we practice on Tuesdays, I told him that I would bring it for him then (the next day), but he told me that he won't be at Matto Bayashi practice this week. Why? Because the whole company, or nearly the whole company, is traveling today to Mie prefecture to visit a famous shrine, Ise Jingu. They are going to this shrine to pray for blessings for a good year as they approach their 400th anniversary. You see, as of yesterday (June 2) Asano Taiko is 399 years old.

Do you know what this means? It means that our son was born on the same day that Asano Taiko was "born". No wonder he enjoys drums and taiko so much. The stars certainly seemed to be aligned in the right spots for him to be a taiko drummer. Anyhow, he is two years old (a bit younger than Asano Taiko) and for his birthday present we got him a Winnie the Pooh drumset. He seemed not quite sure what to make of it at first, but once he figured out what to do, we could barely pull him away from it.

I remember my dad had one of these kiddie drum sets and he used to get it out for us to play with sometimes on weekends. I can't be certain, but it must have been from when he was a kid, and I bet he still has it somewhere. Then I think my younger brother had one too (correct me if I'm wrong, Mark). I wonder if that one is still around somewhere. It is impressive that my dad's kiddie drumset was sturdy enough to still be available for us to play with when we were kids. Unfortunately, the use of plastic has significantly increased since the days when my pop was a child and I worry that this drumset will last until me son is 3. We'll just have to be careful. Anyway, here's a picture of him rockin' out with Pooh!