Friday, April 1, 2016

Earthquake and Friends on the Heel of Monkey Year

 There was an earthquake yesterday morning at 4 am that woke Leona and me up, however, it affected Tainan, 95 miles south of here, adversely. Buildings fell and people were trapped and died, fourteen so far. One sixteen floor condo not far from Leona’s sister’s home collapsed. The news was international. I got e-mails of concern from Selma, Joanne, Richard Banks, Lorraine, Robin, James Leavey, Jim Drieu, and contacted the kids to let them know we were alright. I sent a Facebook message to my two primary pages, johnnyshortwave and davidtempleFDR.










      Today is the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Monkey. Leona and I took her scooter to go shopping at the Tan-Tzu day market. As we were finishing shopping and walking back to the scooter, the wind blew a large, heavy umbrella used at a stall and hit Leona on the head. She was dazed and hurt, even mentioned concussion and thought of calling an ambulance at first, but a woman went to get her an ice-pack and we went to a tea shop to sit and calm down. Leona said she felt light-headed still so we sat and drank hot ginger tea. After a half hour or so, she felt better, with a little bump on her head. We got on the scooter and rode home. She suffered no ill effects. In the afternoon, we affixed New Year greeting posters to the front of the building and near the elevators in the four building segments. We had a nice lunch with the goodies we bought at the market and even more for dinner while we watched news about the earthquake and saw a DVD movie about a bicycle race.

We had dinner at Leona’s family’s condo last evening. Afterward we came home to watch “The Intern” about a 70 year old widower who rejoins the work force, for free because he is bored with retired life. I have a good-looking wife to keep me company (though I could use some more affection) and Grandma Moses/Mother Jones motivation to write and agitate, Mandarin lessons and two ESL classes to teach, plus I have a sweet bicycle and a Han River to ride and keep my clear mind. I don’t have to work for free for anyone else but myself.

2-9-16 6:46am Tues. (1)
      I made dinner for us and Leona’s cousin’s family last evening: Spanish mushroom soup, antipasto salad, parmesan baked broccoli, smoked pork loin, and bread stuffing. It was our New Year offering.
On Monday we brought roast pork thigh and a sticky rice dish from a local restaurant to Leona’s family dinner; her sister-in-law never seems to make enough food for the holiday and we thought we would be supplementing it, but because she knew in advance we were bringing two dishes, she made even less than usual. Next year, Leona won’t tell her if we plan to bring a special dish.
 Today, the daughters, who were obliged to join festivities at their husbands’ homes, get to go home for Lunar New Year greetings. We will go back to Leona’s family condo again today for lunch. Leona said there would be more food on the table because her sister-in-law wants to impress Leona’s aunt. Go figure. I guess, in the evening, Lin Shih-Dong will let his wife go home for dinner

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