"There comes a time in the late afternoon, when the children tire of their games," G.K. Chesterton wrote. "It is then that they turn to torturing the cat."It is late afternoon in America, and tired at last of our meaningless games, we're looking for a new source of excitement."
From the quote above it's obvious that Fred Clark says everything I wanted to say about this sickening little news item and says it better. Go ahead, click on the link. It's worth the time to read the whole thing.
Meanwhile, inside our daughter's GI tract we were introduced to this little beauty: giardia. A nasty fecal coliform bacteria typical of certain parts of the undeveloped world where water treatment is at best perfunctory and at worst, well, not existant. The thing is that treating for giardia is relatively simple. Dissolved metals in drinking water can be hellish to remove; viruses, extremely difficult. Bacteria? Any backpacker with a decent pump-filter can get things like giardia out of the water. Getting a giardia infection from drinking water is the sign that you're not paying attention to simple public health.
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And this from a "showpiece" orphanage in one of the largest cities in Guangdong Province. I have to be upfront and admit that between Shaomei's developmental delays and the damn giardia I'm having some truly unpleasantly Dickensian thoughts about the orphanage system in the PRC...
She is coming out of her shell a little, playing happily with her new toys and toddling around the house. We went to the Pumpkin Patch today where we brought home several of the autumnal fruit, one of which (a tiny gourd-like pumpkin) she absolutely loves. Very cute...
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Oh - and I promised to post this picture. So here's mommy and little girl getting their official blessing from the monk at the Six Banyan Temple in Guangzhou. May mother and daughter both enjoy love, health and long life!
More tomorrow - if I get enough sleep...
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