You Need to Shed That

Well, spring is absolutely here.  Terribly sorry for all you North Easterners back home who have just been through your third major snow storm.  March 24^th is the day that spring arrived here in Beijing.  I went out to the gym with shorts and a light coat that has rendered me under dressed for the last few weeks.  Today, it felt as though I had a ski jacket on.  It’s hot.

In the back of a DiDi.  The driver is a young kid, with glasses.   He drives conservatively.  We’ll likely get their safe but I’ll be annoyed the whole time that he is so permissive.  The car is hot and stuffy and it is the first time all year I’ve just asked him to put the air con on.  The magnolia in front of my house didn’t need any commands.  The buds all burst open this morning, just like they’re supposed to.  Along the side of Jingmi Road the poplar’s that have been denuded since early November all now have caterpillar like buds of potential hanging from them, pulling the branches to the ground, suggesting the weight of leaves to come that will grow and soon define these trees once again till the late autumn. 

Most people outside look overdressed.  There’s a guy on a motorcycle with a leather jacket.  I’m sure he regrets having it on.  There a lady with a big winter coat.  You need to shed that sister.  The ground is still dusty, the air’s a bit thick, but the sun and the temperature are all that’s needed to properly define the day. 

A guest is in town.  I’ll go into the city to meet her.  She’s at Jingshan Park and I told her to climb to the top and turn around and enjoy the view, which she has now done.  I thought I’d be there by now, but I have this arch-conservative driver and Jingshan Park is just about the hardest place to get to, right in the middle of the old city.  I seem to remember there is a guy from Shandong by the east gate, who mans a foot-spun griddle, making paper-thin jianbing.  Spinning what can’t be spun on a stationary grill like we always otherwise have for sale from the three-wheeled motorcycle carts that roll up at morning times to ten thousand corners around the city.  If my guest is hungry and if the guy is still spins cakes five years on from our last encounter, we’ll grab one each and head north to the lakes.  Everything is OK, on a day like this.

Saturday, 03/24/18