Necessity is the mother of invention

                                           
It may look stupid to you, but everyone in China is singing the praises of whomever thought up the "e-bike jacket." If you ride through the streets at 30-40 mph, you kick up quite a wind chill in the winter. It is unbearable, and it makes you want to stay indoors all winter.  But NOW! Mine is midnight blue. I get out much more now than ever before.

Busy and cold

Update on my life: I have been really busy, thus my longer-than-usual blog absences. And my feet are really cold these days. They are cold right now. Cold feet.

I have an American friend leaving town somewhat unexpectedly, so I told her I would take on a group of four junior high kids whom she was helping learn English. I went to their meeting place yesterday. I wore three layers on my feet, four layers below the waist, four layers above the waist … and then on top of all of that, I put on my down coat, down gloves and scarf. I still felt like a popsicle during the 1-1/2 hour lesson. I had to take off my gloves to write on the whiteboard, but we all wore our winter coats throughout the entire lesson.

I asked the kids if they were cold and they said no. They go to unheated schools, so they think cold is normal.

I already kind of wish I hadn't promised to take on this class. The kids are lovely, of course, but I find the cold conditions rather horrifying. Chinese people often ask me "你怕冷吗?" ("Are you scared of the cold?") And I always answer "yes."

Hot, snowy and pink

On the last day of January, I took a photo of the confused trees in my apartment complex. It was so warm, they thought it was spring so they started popping out pink buds. The following day (February 1st) it got to 75°F. That kind of warmth in winter never happens around here. We usually get cold and stay that way for six months.

The guards at my apartment complex put Christmas lights in the trees for Chinese New Year (Chinese New Year was January 31st this year). Is it a tradition to put lights in trees for CNY? No. They just thought it looked pretty.

Four days later it was snowing. And the week after that it snowed even more. It didn't stick (not much anyway). All these are pics from that general time frame. There's no snow in the photos, just wet pavement that resulted from it.

Super-sleuth Mimi. Hiding in the grass. Cats beware.

 Look at that plume tail!

Her paw hair has since been trimmed. It really grows fast! It was so long she was almost tripping over it when she jumped on the park bench. I would cut it more often if she wouldn't wiggle around so much when I got the scissors out.

I bet all this pink is making you dizzy. I bet you're headed to the kitchen for a bitter cup of coffee to cut through all the sweetness of this post. Even I'm a little overwhelmed, and I kind of like pink. Don't worry, I'll choose a non-pink color for my next post.

Pleasant weather

This winter has been pleasant. It's still plenty cold, but we've had far more sunshine than usual, and slightly warmer temperatures than in my previous winters here.

Weekend before last, we had a highly rare blast of warm winter temperatures, and it was 75°F on February 1st! I didn't have to wear a jacket or long johns. This has happened here NEVER before on my watch. Unlike Texas where the weather jumps up and down all winter long, here it is consistently frigid all winter, until now.

While the warm weather was here, a young friend came to stay for 10 days. We did some sightseeing in the nice weather.

The warm weather lasted only about a week though, then we had snow. It snowed again today.

I'm going to Thailand next Tuesday. It is in the 90s there. I'm digging out my summer clothes and sandals. Feels really strange to do so when it is snowing outside!

The burgundy coat

Xiao Wen's village, May 2013

My good friend in Bedrock, Xiao Wen (not her real name), lives in a village. Like many villagers, she works hard to make a good home life for her husband and children, taking on dirty jobs no one else will do and paying no attention to her own needs. They don't have much, but they seem happy and are always thankful for God's provision.

The other day, a professor at the university where I used to teach (I'll call her Jen, also not her real name) drove out to Xiao Wen's village, and told her that I had asked her to go to the village to pay her a visit. Jen gave her a beautiful warm, burgundy winter coat. I don't know if Jen told her the coat was from me, but Xiao Wen thought the coat was a gift from me since I was the excuse for the visit.

I wish I had thought to do so, but I had not asked Jen to go to the village, and I had not given Jen any money to buy Xiao Wen a coat. She had done it all on her own, out of the goodness of her heart.

The two women only know each other through me. Their lives are very different and they wouldn't normally associate with one another due to being in different social-economic levels.

Both are women of faith.

I love how they are looking out for each other though, even all these years after I, their common friend, has left. I love that Xiao Wen has a warm beautiful coat she would have never bought for herself, and I love that Jen went to some trouble to make sure Xiao Wen had something special to keep her warm through the bitter winter cold of Bedrock.

I feel weird knowing I got credit, but a third party, a woman who first made me aware of the situation, is going to clear up any misunderstandings in a culturally appropriate way. (For those who might know, D is the third party.)

Truthfully, I'm just thinking how this whole burgundy coat story has me feeling warm all over. :-)

Chilling proof

It's that "pink box" time of year. It has turned cold here -- freezing temperatures and unusually high winds. I've had to pull out winter clothes and Mimi has found warmth in her soft fleece pink box. Even though she was wearing a sweater on this really cold day, she still yearned for a little more warmth.

I was really trying to hold off until December to start the main heating in the house, but alas, I had to give in a week early. The main heating doesn't get my house very warm, and I still have to wear lots of clothes indoors. My Chinese friends, many of whom can't afford expensive heating bills, wear their down coats indoors. I don't do that, but I have on my long johns and expect them to be a staple in my wardrobe, day and night, until May.

Mimi has two sweaters that she tolerates. I love this green one with a bright pink flower on it; makes her into one stunning doggy in the neighborhood! (All the other dogs in the neighborhood wear clothes in winter too.) This sweater is the first piece of clothing I ever bought for my dog, and is still my favorite. I usually don't keep Mimi in clothes indoors unless it is really cold. And I never keep her in clothes when I am not home; her feet have been known to get caught in the bodice so that she can't move. 

Do any of you wear long johns all winter long? I bet not.

Chillin'

It turned cold the other day. After paying my shockingly expensive electric bill at the end our history-breaking summer heat wave, I was not anxious to start using the main heaters. I want to delay that as long as possible. Instead, I put my oscillating electric heater close by my work station, and my heathen Pekingese immediately went over to bow down in worship before it. She stayed there the rest of the day.

I always hear that dogs don't need clothes because they have fur coats to keep them warm. But then I've also read that dogs that live indoors acclimatize to temperature-controlled dwellings much like people do. Clearly, my dog thought it was cold. She has the run of the house and lots of rugs to lay on. This was her choice.

If she's cold now, then when it gets seriously cold, I'm going to have to put clothes on her to keep her warm!

Mimi's not the only cold one. Over the weekend I put my electric blanket on my bed, dug out my comforter, and wore a thick sweater. It's dark by 5 p.m. these days. Looks like we're going to dig in and prepare for another long cold winter in the Middle Kingdom.

Icy landscapes

By Christmas Day, I was worn out. I went to lunch and coffee downtown, then came back to pack for a trip. It didn't seem much like Christmas, but then it never does here anyway.

I got up 4:30 a.m. the day after Christmas, got ready, and headed to the train station.

I rode a high-speed train (299 km per hour was the fastest speed I saw) towards the north. I saw lots of snow and ice. Above is a icy lake in a snow-covered landscape.

The cold weather just makes me want to take a long nap.