Autumn Begins

A box of traditional mooncake signifies the start of the Autumn Season in celebration of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. This year it falls on Sunday, September 14, 2008.

Over time, the Moon Festival has become very popular in the San Francisco region because of the large Chinese Community. Last weekend, I attended the annual Moon Festival Fair at Chinatown and this weekend, a similar one was held in my neighborhood, Sunset's Irving Street community in its 4th year. However, I wasn't able to make it there due to a weekend course at the UC Berkeley Extension in South of Market in downtown SF.

This Autumn, I get to be home in San Francisco, having been away to Hong Kong in the last 4 years. Three of my nieces' birthdays fall on September and October. My mom and sister, Cindy's birthdays are October 23rd and 25th respectively. So, a round of birthday celebrations are sure to come. They're just an excuse to have FUN!! Who really pays attention to our own age especially as the years get thinner and thinner?!!

At this time of year, I also like tuning to jazz on KKSF 103.7. There's a real, jazzy feel to Autumn, kind of lazy with the year dragging to a latter end. I'd contemplate on what I have accomplished so far before this year comes to a close. The music from a piano, trumpet, or saxophone hit the right mood, a bit melancholy infused with a sexy vibe, melting into the romantic, warm evenings. A poem enters my mind through the soulful sounds, and I forget my day's agenda:

Rustling Autumn

tapping its sweet

maple syrup upon

my lips

waterfalling down

the brim

of my blueberry pancakes

breaking into mid-September

the pumpkins ripe

and just around the corner

trick or treaters creep

toward dim-lit porches

beneath a blazing

October sky

"Autumn leaves drift by the window..."

oozing from Nat King Cole

since I was away

orange days stayed

freshly tucked into

my father's garden

ripe with

apple and pear trees

harvesting til

the moonlight

covers the earth

and

caressing me to sleep.