SCORPIONS - No Kidding

Some American friends are in town now, and they were brave enough to try out local delicacies like cicadas, octopus, and scorpions. Here the scorpion eaters are pictured.

FYI, we have not felt any of the aftershocks reported today from the Sichuan earthquake zone; apparently they were felt over a wide area, but not here.

The Last Two Weeks

I recently traveled to Shanghai and southwestern China's Yunnan Province. The top photo is in a Yunnan village; the second photo is not a sidewalk cafe in Paris, but in Shanghai; the third photo is a village lady who is planning on getting somewhere and taking a seat once she gets there; fourth is an elderly lady in Bedrock; and the last one, a street scene, gives you a view of the flowers alongside the road in Bedrock.

Toby Lives and Other Updates

Hi! I don't have time to post pictures today, but wanted to give you some updates. First, I want to let you know that THANKS TO GOD and His gracious answers to prayer, Toby the dog has survived his very near brush with death from parvo. Toby's American owners were stressed to the limit as the drama played out, but are now very relieved and joyful at his FULL recovery.


I did not feel any earth move related to the recent devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province. It is too far from where I live. But I have instead been very moved and saddened as I join the rest of the population here in grieving the great loss of human life. No other news has been reported here since it happened on May 12th. I have shared with my parents many of the heart-wrenching stories that I'm sure you have not heard, but I can't bear to relive those stories by re-telling them again here. I have seen photos of things that probably would not have been allowed to be published in your newspapers or shown on your TV screens due to sensitivity of the subject matter. I never realized how horrible an earthquake could be until I saw the upclose reporting done by the reporters in this country...reporters standing literally inches from the terrified person targeted for rescue, as he is being rescued. The people in this country are deeply saddened, unlike anything I have ever seen before in my years in this country. The country came to a standstill on Monday afternoon at 2:28 p.m. as the sirens sounded for 3 minutes, as a memorial to the one-week anniversary of the 3-minute long quake. I stood on the side of the road as the sirens sounded. Taxi drivers pulled off the road. There were not many dry eyes at that moment, for sure not mine.

Toby the Dog

Hi. My friends' dog, Toby, was diagnosed today with parvovirus, a terrible disease that many dogs do not survive. Here, Toby is at the vet's office, tied on to a bed, as he receives an I.V. The normal wiggly Toby doesn't even care, he is just so sick. My friends are devastated at this terrible news. I think the man who said he gave the dog immunizations either lied or ignorantly messed up. My dog was immunized against parvo, and Toby should have been too. Pray for Toby's survival, as I don't think my friends could handle such a loss at this early point of their overseas life.