Time for Cake (Moon Cakes)

Today is the day for the Mid-Autumn Festival Celebrations in China. In China and throughout many Asian countries, people celebrate the Harvest Moon on the 15th day of the eighth month of their lunar calendar. The date in the Western calendar changes yearly and this year it falls on September 25.
The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is a little bit like Thanksgiving here in the US and is second only to the New Year celebration in importance to Chinese people. On this special day, Chinese people worship in temples and hold happy family dinners at home. It is a time of family gathering.
After nightfall they stroll under the stars to view the brightest and fullest moon of the year. Children run around with bright, colorful lanterns in many different designs and shapes. It is also a romantic night for lovers, who sit holding hands on hilltops, riverbanks and park benches, captivated by the brightest moon of the year.
The adults usually indulge in eating many varieties of moon cakes with hot tea. For generations, moon cakes - measuring about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness - have been made with sweet fillings of nuts, mashed red beans, lotus-seed paste or Chinese dates, wrapped in a pastry. Sometimes a cooked egg yolk can be found in the middle of the rich tasting dessert. People compare moon cakes to the plum pudding and fruit cakes which are served during English holiday seasons. Other traditional treats include pomelo, persimmon, steamed taro dipped in sugar and roasted chestnuts.
Confectioners start baking the cakes, which are made with gray, moon-colored flour, as much as a month before the festival, In fact, some bakers make all their profits for the year from moon cake sales alone.
Moon Festival altars are adorned with five dishes of round fruits, such as apples, peaches, pomegranates, grapes and small melons. The round shape symbolizes the moon, as well as family unity.
Families, relations and friends gather to enjoy the full moon, a symbol of promise for abundance, of harmony and luck. Some will beseech the beautiful Moon Goddess of Immortality for protection as well as family unity.
There are many legends and different ways to celebrate the Moon Festival. Central to all of those celebrations is gathering of family to enjoy the company of one another.

So tonight spend some special time with your family outside looking up at the moon and celebrating life! I know we will share a special moment tonight remembering that Shelby is spending her last special holiday with her foster family looking at the same exact moon. I feel that her foster family is probably starting to grieve the loss they are about to experience. I believe they are truly treasuring these last special moments they are able to share with their Little Hong Hong.