Tossing My Beans

Happy Bean Throwing Day. Yes, it's Setsubun. You throw dried beans around your house shouting "Devils out, happiness in". Then you pick up and eat the number of beans corresponding to your age. I don't usually have dried beans in my house (unless I haven't done dishes in an extraordinarily long time). Luckily the local conbini has these cute little kits to make it all very easy. So this morning I tossed my beans to the best of my ability. Well, I couldn't bring myself to toss beans everywhere, so I threw them down my hall. I can safely say all the devils have been elimated from my hallway now. The foyer and the bathroom I think might have a couple of lurkers still around. And I choked down 41 blasted beans with my breakfast. Better bring me some good luck. In olden days the custom was to drive away the evil spirits by the strong smell of burning dried sardine heads. Luckily this is no longer popular. A few people still decorate their house entrances. Or at least that's the rumor. I haven't seen anything like that! I had hoped to go to Nara today to see the 1,000 lanterns lit at on of the temples, but the trains wouldn't get me there in time. So I had to be happy with tossing and shouting. @ell, it was more like muttering as I didn't want to wake my neighbors. Have you shooed away your demons today?