Can’t print the entire essay, but I’ll publish here another snippet from my second “To Shanghai with Love” essay. This one is about cycling Tianmu Shan:
Exhausted, we made our way back to the farmhouse where we took turns taking hot showers and grabbing mugs of piping hot and slightly bitter Dragon’s Well tea. Lounging on the covered porch, we watched the rain pound the bamboo forest, the trees bending without breaking. It seemed everything had become flexible, even time―before too long, dinner was served. As darkness fell, some of us took off walks. The damp earth, soft warm breeze and pitch-black night made the present stand as large and without end as the soft hug at a loved one’s breast. Bedtime barbecue was set to sizzle on the coals, beers and sweet iced tea laid out. Cheers and well wishes and happy secrets unfolded as easily and consistently as the wings of lunar moths that settled near the porch light.
I’d like a soft hug…
well written Shankie
dan
March 20th, 2007