Posted by Once again I find myself celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. The evening meal has been enjoyed and cleared and the family have all found a seat in the living room to occupy while enjoying small talk over tea. Stomach full and heart content, I pause to reflect upon the holiday, its meaning and all that goes into it. Things are quiet now. The rush of sending gifts has settled and a calm lingers in the atmosphere as my children make jokes with my mother-in-law and my husband discusses the following day’s dinner plans with his older brother. In this calm, I think to myself, “What is it that sets this Holiday apart from the rest?” I look out of my high-rise window. Cars are passing. I look for the moon, but due to an earlier shower, it remains hidden. The moon…the full moon being of great significance to this lunar-based festival. Without its appearance, can the holiday still hold its usual splendor? “Tomorrow we will eat hot pot for lunch. Let’s meet around 12:30,” I hear my husband say to his older brother. “And maybe afterwards we can all go catch a movie,” he adds. A smile crosses my face. This is what makes the holiday special. Time spent with family. The gifts shared with friends in the days leading up to the festival . The stories that are shared around the delicious foods served . The 中秋节快乐(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival) texts and red packets shared between friends. The coming together of loved ones. This is what gives the holiday its meaning. Not the mooncakes passed around and consumed. Not the full-moon itself. No, the coming together of family is what makes it special. The reunion of loved ones is what makes the mooncakes taste delicious. The reunion is what makes gazing at the full-moon enjoyable. The reunion makes the holiday.
And with this thought having been turned to type, i will now leave you all and rejoin my family. Over steaming cups of tea and with sweet mooncakes in hand, more stories will be shared.
Sending wishes that everyone has a special Mid-Autumn festival and remember to not let the holiday pass without having at least one mooncake.
Until the next post-
Goodbye and Goodnight from Bouvier_
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