My balcony

I've been wanting balcony furniture forever. I could have bought some, but it was seriously over-priced so I didn't. But when my American friends had to move back to America suddenly and started selling their stuff at garage-sale prices, I snatched up this little patio furniture set. It actually has three chairs. Today I had coffee out there, and I even took my computer out there to do a little work. I put a blanket in a chair so Mimi could join me without having a fear of falling out the sides. I think this outdoor setting will be even more fun when the temperatures climb out of the 50s. :-)

I have earplugs, but the traffic noise from downstairs was really not that bad. I have a good view of the elderly people who meet in the park downstairs. They meet daily to play poker. Some parks in town have highly-cultured elderly people that play flutes in gazebos or paint on canvas. My elderly people are not quite so high-class though. Today a middle-age man and an elderly man were trying to tear each other's heads off, and calmed down when two men jumped in to separate them. (Reminds me of my first year of teaching when I stopped a fight in the hallway at the junior high.)

The tiny delicate green leaves of the weeping willow have emerged, and the white tulip tree is in bloom. The next month should bring a lot of beauty to my corner of the world.

Worth my time

China's Ministry of Education estimates that 30 percent of Chinese people living in China don't speak Mandarin, the official language. They speak other languages or dialects. And the lady above? She's definitely one of the 30 percent.

I met her in a park. I think she told me her life story. Poor lady was so desperate to talk to someone that she didn't seem to care that I didn't understand. (I told her I didn't understand, but she is hard of hearing and so maybe she didn't catch that part.) I just smiled and looked sympathetic when her tone seemed to call for it. I think it did her good.

I don't know her story, but I know she's created by God. That makes her worth my time.