9×9

It’s mid-autumn festival today. 中秋。

I went back to our old place to pick up packages. Traffic was heavy on the Alpine Road today. A lady walking her dog passed by after I parked. She stared at me. My previous neighbors’ boys‘ toys scattered along the path leading to my old home. Trees were still green. It was just slightly more than a week ago when I left this place. Everything, the pleasant, the unpleasant, are still the same.

I was a bit nervous heading there. I hate saying goodbye, no matter to whom, to what. The hard part is always to farewell to the memory. We had been through so much in there. After all those, we moved in as a family, and now moved out still as a family. I should be grateful for that.

The house is empty. I didn’t dare to take a careful look at the place or stay in there long. I regret it now. I should have been braver. Look out through the old windows for the familiar views. Close my eyes, imagine furnitures in their old configuration. Think about my cats running around my legs. Go upstairs, remind myself of crickets singing at night. Oh why didn’t I take good photos before we left?

Saying goodbye on the mid-autumn is sad. But at least I still have my family and my cats with me. 夫复何求？