Friday, July 13, 2007

Green Acres

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother.
It's so young,It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha'n't be gone long.--You come too.

Pace Mr. Frost, the critter is what we used to call in the Army in my time (during which a lot of the Vietnam guys were still around) a "waterboo". A carabao, or water buffalo.

These are pictures from another family's trip to Lianjiang City, the small town in southernmost China where our soon-to-be little daughter Baoxin was born and is living. Since Friday is my day for posting "things-I'm-interested-in", and what I'm most interested in now is her, I thought I'd put these up. Note the banana trees above: southern Guangdong Province is China's "banana belt" - tropical and more like Southeast Asia than it is like the interior of the country.

It is also, as far as I can tell, about semi-rural. I get the feeling that folks from Beijing and even Guangzhou probably think of Lianjiangers as, um, "rubes"...

Described as a "typical street scene" from Lianjiang City. Wonder what the bicyclist is going to do with the bamboo. Home improvement? Garden plant stakes? Light industrial materials?
Not sure what the guys are doing here. Is this the Cantonese version of trainspotting? Just a shady spot to hang out (southern Guangdong is described as hellish for heat and humidity)? Is this the South Lianjiang City railroad station?
My little sister's first boyfriend had a red Honda 50 just like the one in the front left corner of this picture. In 1975.
Another Steve McQueen wannabe. Also: note the building in the background: in Panama this sort of open-sided shed would be called a bohio. Interesting that here are two tropical locales divided by the expanse of the Pacific and both have arrived at the same solution for keeping the rain off but allowing the heat out.
Well, that's all. I love this picture of the little girl and her mommy going on their way, their colorful umbrellas fending off the sun...makes me think of another little girl, and another mommy, and my hopes to see them together real soon...
The DSL guy comes tomorrow...so hopefully I can post from home again soon. See ya then!

2 comments:

atomic mama said...

Great shots - how nice to have them. And Steve McQueen, the king of cool, baby! And one of the most famous mesothelioma victims.

Millicent said...

I really doubt Thor will call Baoxin a "rube"...though maybe a "cultchie" (sp?). That's what they call those that live "up the country" over here. Baoxin will just look at Thor and say, "Well at least I don't spend my weekends in Dufur". Touche my precious one!