Contentment and Happiness

One of the best thing of retirement is that I could spend time leisurely with the people I love, be that watching the grand niece and nephews growing up, having a lunch at Silver Diner with Janice and the kids, or walking on the beach and Silver Lake (waterfowl refuge) with Tom.

Mommy's Boy

Joshua is one year old now!  He is understanding a lot more.  And no matter what, Mommy is the best.

Especially when I am not feeling that great, I really want to cling to Mommy.

GuanDu Nature Park

On the last day before I left from Taiwan to US, BiFang, her husband Daniel, and I went to visit the GuanDu Nature Park.  This is a refuge for birds and other creatures living in swamps. We saw a lot of "white head old man" (black headed shrike).  The singing of these birds is very sweet.  I was waken up by their sing every morning when I stayed in BiFang's home.

And one time when BiFang and I were walking in a little park near the Palace Museum, I saw he following two birds.  I did not know their names, until I saw their pictures at the Nature Park:

I tried to catch a picture of them and realized that I really need a better camera than the little pocket sized Sony of mine.  I actually saw the Common Kingfisher diving into the pond, but he was too fast for my camera.

All three of us had an enjoyable time at the Nature Park.  We then drove to the Institute of Art (?) for lunch.

Red Bean Milk Ice shared with KC

Coming back from Tainan, I phoned KC to inquire about her Mom's situation.  Her Mom was out of the hospital and resting at home.  I asked if she can come out for a little bit as I will be heading back to US.  She suggested that we meet up at a metro station and spent some time at the "Dragon Mountain Temple" near the station.

My friend has been under a lot of stress taking care of her ageing parents.  The doctor is now trying to stop the pain caused by her Mom's cancer.   Her heart breaks seeing her Mom under the excruciating pain.

I am certainly at an age knowing that there is an end, and we have to be wise in counting our days.  I am grateful that I have peace in my heart (or soul) at president, and wish that I would never lose it. Edmund says that people usually have emptiness in their hearts.  I do believe that God's love can fill up that emptiness.  And love is a gift and a relationship.

When Jesus said that love your God with all of you, and love others as you love yourself, he was giving such a  high command.  Sometimes an individual had been so damaged that he or she could not even know what does it mean to love oneself, never mind loving others.  And when one does not understand the pain another person may be going through, how can one even truly love that person?  When I was growing up, I felt so much pain and there was no one but God I could turn to. I felt very alone and none of my friends knew the pain in my heart. Now I recognize that the pain I suffered was only heart aches.   I did not suffer many other kinds of pain suffered by human race.  I am so much happier now! But I should never lose the capacity to feel the pain suffered by others.

We walked around the temple and the nearby streets, and just talked.  KC says "Let's have some red bean milk ice at this store which is a most famous old shop in Wan Wha".  While I could not have sweets, I enjoyed quite a few scoops from KC's bowl.  It was very good!

I said "be strong, and take good care of yourself."  KC says "I have to be strong.  The alternative is falling"

May God bless my friend and her family.

Nancy goes grocery shopping in Tainan

When I was in Tainan, Nancy took me to the nearby fresh market to get some fruits, after our breakfast.  At the breakfast, I had the best "shou bin you tieu" that was freshly made at the little store outside Whei Ze's home.  It was really the best one I ever had!

Nancy was fully equipped with her mouse gear before heading out the house!  Visiting the local fresh market brought some old feelings back.  Yet the market is so much different than the wet market I knew from my childhood.  I remember that I was not very strong physically, and fainted at the wet market one time when going grocery shopping with Edmund.  He had to pick me up from the ground.  And now, I feel I am probably doing best with my health.  More energetic, and more "with it" at the moment.  Thank God!

Visit with Whei Ger

I took the high speed train with Nancy on Oct 29 from Taipei to Tainan to visit Whei Ger.  It was good I get a chance to talk to Nancy on the train for 2 hours.  She has always been an introvert, and I am glad that she feels comfortable talking to me.  Wei Ze and her husband are very nice.  They have planned to visit their daughter the following morning.  So I only got to visit them a bit in the evening.  Whei Ger is doing pretty well considering everything.  The patience exhibited by this entire family is admirable.

Nancy made pearl balls for lunch.

Classmate reunion luncheon

Chin Class members are unique, and I am grateful being one of them.  Eleven of us met for lunch on Saturday 10222011, because KC and I came back to Taipei.  We are medical doctors, nutritionist, computer scientists, chemist, pharmacist, and Pin Bai who now concentrates on connection between religion and psychology. Pin Bai's husband was killed by a gun shot.  Herself also had one bullet shot through her head, and was in coma for 7 years.  She recovered from the incident but lost short term memory capability.  Her long term memory recovered while she has to be accompanied by someone else to any place beyond her home and very nearby neighborhood.

We had a pleasant get-together all right.
https://picasaweb.google.com/101531546717367086027/Taiwan102111?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCM_AltfRzqnZ7AE&feat=directlink

Second Sister

We call her Er Je, who is the wife of the second son of my Father's elder brother.  She is a very nice and diligent lady.  My fond memory of her started when I was a very young child.  She had been always kind to me.  She showed no particular preference to boys (my brothers), unlike some other relatives from my Father's side.  She hardly had any mean word toward anybody, even to those who were unkind to her.  I am so happy for her that her life now is quite comfortable, living with her son, daughter-in-law and two grand daughters.  She is a good example of "do good and receive good"

A few pictures taken while visiting her on this trip is attached:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gapKQuSi1jFYydjY0Gm137zo5xu2zPUK8Gr8_B_0zWQ?feat=directlink

Two pictures with Father in them were taken from the album of hers.

A walk in the park with Tom

Janice has jury duty, and Tom went to VA to babysit.  I decided to drive to Arlington to have lunch with Tom at Mark's Dock House.  We had some dim sum.  Not bad!  Then we did a nice shopping excursion to the Whole Food.  Tom got three out of the four items Janice asked him to buy.  The shop was temporarily out of arrow root powder.  I introduced two breakfast cereals I like with good fiber and low sugar.  I was impressed that Tom decided to also buy them to try.  My big brother listened to me!  I am so delighted and consider that quite an achievement.  Respect is earned.  And indeed it needs to be earned for someone who is much younger than the big brother.  We then took an one hour a walk at the nearby park before heading back.  We were so good with time that I did not have to fight the afternoon rush hour.  There were some birds flying against the light blue sky under a shinning sun.  I appreciate and am grateful for the feeling of peace and joy driving home.

Dark Hollow Fall Hiking

Following the horseback riding on Saturday, we drove to the Shenandoah National Park.  The fog and rain provided a somewhat different mood for us.  The Dark Hollow Fall is a Fall most close to the road, right adjacent to the Big Meadow visitor's center.  The round trip was only 1.7 miles.  We had a good time.