Gelato and the moon

"Mid-Autumn of mooncake and tea

But a good scoop of gelato is enough for me"

Why so? That reminds me of how the old festive spirit reflected its excitement on smudgy faces of the neighboring kids, running after an ice cream trolley. Back then, our parents were busy making ends meet, struggling to raise cattle and fowls, hence they had no time to prepare for the Mid-Autumn for us children. In contrary, we dreadfully longed for the occasion.

Among them, I am the one who was only good at grabbing snacks and playing naughty. Making paper lanterns or mooncakes was far from my imagination. What amazed me most was the popsicle, which was then merely lumpy, pale and bland shaving ice. But for me, that’s the best treat in the world.

When people usually had ice cream in the morning or noon, we kids only waited to have it in the late afternoon, when the sales was slow. Uncle Nam, the ice cream cart’s owner, would sell us some and we paid him with all the saving pennies in our pockets. Then we took turn to lick until there was nothing but three bare sticks.

The most thrilling thing of the Mid-Autumn festival night was when children carried their lanterns, and Uncle Nam returned home early from work to hand us each an ice pop. We did not have to wait for our turn to lick. What a pure joy it was! Gazing at the full moon, we kids sat down together, admired the nature’s beauty and at the same time, kept an eye on our pops as they melted easily. Under the light of the moon and patchwork lanterns, we celebrated the festival with a simple supper – ice cream. For us, the cold treat was likened to luxurious banquets we’d seen on many kungfu soap operas back then. Ice cream on one hand, I skillfully handled the drops on the other hand for fear that others might poke their nose into. It always left me great regret when the ice cream melted right away on my taste buds before I knew it. Ice cream is said to be the cure for thirst. In our case, the more we ate, the more thirsty we felt and the feeling hung around till bedtime.

Today, Mid-Autumn is no longer a fancy occasion. I still appreciate the habit of having ice cream in the moonlight. Recounting sweet memories, gelato now becomes my new virtue as it is the kind that does not melt fast. And Greenie Scoop is my new gelato haven to recall the old good things of past Mid-Autumn festivals.