Timing is everything

So we just returned from a very long trip, after the ceremony to remember uncle Shunya's death a year ago. His ashes were buried in the family grave this morning in Sendai. Before that, there was a little ceremony thing at the shrine.

Imagine this... everyone dressed in serious black, sitting in order of birth and relationship to the deceased, all silent, looking all solemn in the immaculate, speckless temple hall. The Shinto priest starts chanting while tapping his drum and bell.

And what happens? Our dear Minori starts dancing!!!

She insisted on standing just in front of me and she pumped her knees up and down to the beat of the drum and her arms started doing the hula-hula!

Yuri, my SIL, sitting on my left, and my cousin-in-law who had a very well-behaved two-year-old boy sitting on her lap on my right, burst out into chuckles. Minori's dad sitting a few seats away saw it and had to close his eyes to stop himself from laughing.

Sorry, no photo of this one.