Sigh. NO, Dontosai!

It's time for the annual "take down the New Year's Decorations and toss them in a huge bonfire" also known as どんと祭 (Dontosai). Rather than recycle some old observations from 3 years ago I'll just offer up today's. 

A huge crowd prevented me from taking as many photos as I'd have liked (click the above link for lots of pics) but I did take a few of the flames.

I didn't partake of much food (those accursed long lineups) but I did have an  お好み焼き (Okonomiyaki) which in this case was an actual rolled up pancake on a stick with some secret ingredients that I couldn't discern.

That little white dot happens to be a waxing moon and a tinier version shows up when I bought a crepe.

Every time I go, I miss out on the parade of half-naked guys and gals marching around the city and this time I managed to get the tail end of the queue.

I picked up an おみくじ (omikuji) just to see if my message is auspicious or not. Because I can't make out heads nor tails of it, I dunno if it's bad luck or good luck. Can anyone enlighten me? (If it is REALLY bad luck, please lie to me.)