The Elusive Moon

During mid-autumn, the moon is reputed to be at its most enchanting, roundest and biggest. Yet, on mid-autumn's day this year, the sky was sullen, gloomy and leaden with a dense blanket of unfriendly grey clouds. At the most crucial bewitching hour where the sun finally bade farewell and the sky darkened in readiness for thousands of mortals to admire the glorious moon, the weather decided to weep a little with some light rain. 

It could be nature's way of bestowing an atmosphere of refreshing coolness for the moon stalkers and lantern bearers. Or it could be her way of shrouding the shy moon who, for some reason, did not wish to make any grand appearance at all this year. 

For what it was worth, at 8pm, we decided to trudge down to Botanic Gardens to join the ranks of the lantern bearers. The nippy nocturnal air embraced us as we strolled along the magically lit paths of the grand old gardens. Big Bee was very fond of the traditional paper lanterns that glowed with spellbinding luminosity, carrying one with careful balancing. 

Little Bee eyeing Big Bee's traditional lantern while her battery-operated one sang a tune merrily

PF and family joined us shortly after, and the 3 big kids turned a bit crazy, rambling on cheekily about spooky things and ghostly sightings. Guess they are at an age where they are curious about the mystical unknown. They were dashing across the large grassy grounds in darkness, borrowing bravado from strength in numbers. 

Bravely playing with sparklers with Eugene, Claire and Uncle Andrew, and creating a dense cloud of smoke!

Little Bee did not relish walking about with dim lanterns in a gigantic dark park, so she kept nestling beside me. I ended up carrying an enormous (and heavy!) lantern in the form of Little Bee and her battery-operated lantern! 

Hubby and I are always enchanted by these little lambent emblems of light - and we reiterated to each other that we must make it a point to create an annual celebration of this beautiful traditional festival with the children.