Flash Like a Night Blooming Cereus (昙花一现)

When the Beijing Olympic Games furled its curtain and its closing ceremony was rebroadcast by NBC, one precious night blooming cereus unfurled its petals under the dark cover of the night on the backyard deck of my home. It was before 10 pm. We took a few pictures of the elegant blossom. It smelled pleasantly aromatic.

It was a rare treat to us in four years. Last blossom was in the night of Aug.12, 2004, after five years of cultivation and waiting. We were rewarded a double blooming then.

Excited, I broke the news first to the grandparents whose tender and gentle care contributed to the blooming. Then I called Henry the King who went back home with his Queen and princesses after watching part of the NBC broadcast with us. The King said he was already disrobed, ready to retire to bed. Apparently, even such rare blooming could not hold back the King's determination. Earlier at my humble abode, I massaged the King's hard-worked shoulder while he lied down on the comfy lazy boy chair, to the hearty laughter of all princesses present. Admittedly, my service lavishly rendered on the King did not add an ounce of persuasion to lure him back.

Persistent, I phoned the Zhaos, to no avail. The jet lag must have taken a toll on them. I quickly figured out that there was no point in calling anyone else.

This morning the Cereus already folded up its petals. Soon the flower will wither and disappear. The night blooming cereus is like a fast replay of the 16-day Beijing Olympic Games. It is gone before we are willing to let. If the blooming remains four years apart (2004, 2008), we will expect the next one during the London Olympic Games in the summer of 2012. Frankly, that is no short wait.

The 100 medals won by Chinese athletes, together with the remarkable feat showcased by the luminaries such as Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, will be long remembered in Olympic history's annals.

The night blooming cereus reminds us once again the brevity and beauty of life. Before we know it, thinning hairs are silver-lining on our balding head, rippling wrinkles are rolling all over our body, decaying teeth are losing their grips to our gum, and bulging belly appears long before we are belly up. Laugh about it, we may get a youthful kick back, however fleeting it may be.

The lesson? As the preacher said, remember the Lord in the days of our youth.