All That Glitters and Gold- Moon Festival Party Meets Vegas

This is a photo from a Moon Day Festival near my apartment. The woman in the gold dress was the MC. She had a side kick with an outfit that resembled a glittering maid's uniform. There were flashing lights in sync with salutations and introductions. While I watched an old man was invited on stage to sing to the crowd. The MC in the gold dress would fill in and round off some of the long notes. But, never loud enough to take the center stage. She was good. Some people were sitting nearby as I snapped photos. They were obviously jealous that they weren't at the party. In the dark, crouching over their puny grills, they had the attitude of chastised children. They wouldn't even acknowledge my presence beyond a glaring glance. I couldn't blame them. It was like being in the desert outside of Vegas with no money or water or transportation. I'd be cussing and kicking the sand too.

The Moon Festival party I went to the following night was quite mellow by comparison. A teacher's dad invited the extended family to his house, but imagine thanksgiving with sandals. On the sidewalk, crouching over hub cap grills and cooking shrimp, clams, oysters, pork, ribs, thin sliced beef, sweet sausage, and kabobs. I was given the honor of flipping the meat on one grill. Dad would come around occasionally and make sure you weren't over cooking anything, but the job came with regular beer deliveries and first pick of the meats. I smelled like a campfire when I got home...what a great smell. Later in the night, dad pulled out the Japanese whiskey and sat down next to me. We proceeded to 'talk' with the help of my teacher friend, but mostly we toasted each other or our families. That lasted about an hour before dad had to hit the bed. That was the cue to pack up and go home. It was good because my head was floating about three feet above my shoulders. With a full belly and a warm head I hit my bed and slept.