ritual

Lately, going out for martinis, fries, and oysters has become the night-time version of matcha and froyo — a ritual, a little luxury.

"Seeing all this ritual and ceremony that goes with sumo is quite special," fan Sian says.

For decades, rolling blackouts and urgent calls for energy conservation were part of life in California — a reluctant summer ritual almost as reliable as the heat waves that drove them.

I first encountered this strange ritual as a child, shortly after my family arrived in Connecticut from the Soviet Union in 1989.

Creaky starts are a common ritual of aging.