harvest moon

We call it the harvest moon, but in China, it's the mid autumn moon, a celebration of the goddess of the moon. Some 40 years ago, I celebrated with my friend Changping's family in Taiwan. Along with thousands of other city people, we packed food, got on the bus in the evening and headed for the hills around Taipei. We climbed hundreds of stairs to the temple grounds, spread our blankets among the trees, played musical instruments and had a picnic in the moonlight, with mooncakes, of course.
    Last night was a little more prosaic. I took some snaps, did some laundry, sat on the porch in admiration of the yin goddess  (shining so brightly because this is the one night a year she spends with her yang husband, who lives on the sun) and went to bed long before she was  mid-heaven in the autumn sky.