Like Cigarette Fungus Rain

It snowed.  Finally, we had snow.  I saw a few flakes earlier in the day.  But tonight at dinner, we looked outside to see some proper precipitation.  It’s the first snow of the year and probably the first moisture from the heavens of any sort, since September.  My daughter’s both ran outside and photographed themselves amidst the flakes. 

We had a hard time parking.  I’d assumed that we’d have had the mall to ourselves but it would seem that many other people were also tired of having one more night of dumplings and had decided to venture out.  The first two or three places the kids had called were closed.  But this joint, started by the parents of one of my daughter’s old classmates, is a reasonable vegetarian restaurant here in the Shine City Mall.  With English names for dishes like “Cigarette Fungus Rain” how can you go wrong?

I’d assumed they’d have beer to drink.  Bad assumption.  They only had some kind of honey beer, whatever that is.  There were two bottles of questionable white wine on their shelf but they were priced at $60.00 per and were offered at room temperature.  I ventured out in the snow to the wine store this mall has, down around the corner.  I had no idea if it would be open or not but I was rewarded for my craven craving and managed to secure three descent bottles for less than $50.00 total from a Hebei gentleman who hadn’t made the trip home this year like a good boy should. 

Sitting there, enjoying our mock meat, veggie meifen and quite reasonable Portuguese vinho tinto, it dawned upon my wife that she’d need to exit the country soon, to comply with her visa.  In fact, she’d better leave tomorrow.  We drove home in the snow, teasing her about her lack of planning.  Our plan to go to some local temple fair tomorrow, now scuttled, didn't seem to bother the girls much. The older one suggested and I didn’t complain when she asked to watch “something by Monty Python” tonight and before long we were back in Judea with Reg, Stan, the P.F.J.

Thursday, 02/07/19