"You will have many bright days soon." Right at the end of the Chinese New Year celebration is the Lantern Festival. This happens the 15th day of the first month in the lunar year. It happens to fall on March 5, 2015 this year. It marks the last day of the Spring Festival. People go out at night and watch brilliantly lit lanterns in the sky. Sometimes riddles are placed on these lanterns. Participants of the festivities who can guess the right answer win a prize. Tang yuan (sticky rice balls … [Read more...]
Of Wasps and Chinese Lanterns
March 17, 2014 2 Comments
"A swarm of mosquitoes can sound like thunder." -Chinese proverb My story's not about mosquitoes. It involves a different pesky insect. With spring coming, birds are chirping and flowers are bursting into color. But there may also be the arrival of paper wasps in our area. Similar to yellow jackets in looks, the paper wasp is a bit longer and more slender. Yellow jackets love meat and are pretty aggressive, while paper wasps are docile. Nevertheless, their striped danger markings scare me. … [Read more...]
