Waiting for the Earth to Turn

To the west the sun sank and to the east, a glow from behind the mountain in Sacheon City, South Korea. On the last day of February, several hundred families, couples and old timers gathered to greet the largest full moon of the year.

The waiting together was the ritual. People ate tofu and oranges under a tent in a makeshift cafe. Middle-aged Koreans danced to club music pumping out of the back of a truck. Infants were bundled on their mothers' backs. Men kept adding fabric and brush to a towering bonfire, to be lit the moment the moon appeared.

We stood in the cold, waiting for the earth to turn. At last the moon rose high enough: a ghost, an angel, a big hunk of luck.



The fire billowed. (I could feel my fingers and hindquarters again). People made wishes for a good planting season, then turned for home.