Lanterns give light and hope to the world

During the evening of the Lantern Festival, on Feb 11, I took a flight from Beijing back to my parents' home in Tennessee. That's the last night fireworks are used to celebrate Lunar New Year. It was an astonishingly clear, smog-free and cloudless winter's day in Beijing.

I was fortunate enough to have a window seat on the west side of the plane. The red rim from the setting sun framed a beauteous sight I fear I'll never see again.

A bouquet of fireworks bloomed across the city. While we were still at low altitude, I could see the colors of each firework grow, then fall away. A myriad of these flowers covered the city.