A Plate From Positano

The chengyu, (four-character, idiomatic expression), I’d learned this morning was a good one.  I wanted something with the idea of a car.  There were no cars when idiom’s were being fashioned.  There were chariots.  And searching for “chariot” I came across an expression that was at least visually memorable: “You’re like a Praying Mantis trying to stop a chariot.”  You ain’t got what it takes.  螳臂当车(tángbìdāngchē)

We were dining with a couple.  Afternoon scones and tea really.  Lovely.  And when the English guest would head off to add water to the tea, I’d suddenly follow the Chinese conversation in earnest.  Hoping to be able to effortlessly contribute, without budding in.   But knowing that I was only getting glimpses and that the missing pieces could make me look silly if I assumed and asserted myself incorrectly. 

Speaking with our host from Liverpool, he told me about his hometown, which I was very interested to learn about.  Chinese have, apparently become big investors.  Later he mentioned briefly that he'd had a family member who'd fought Rommel in North Africa and I wanted to introduce the name of Wilfred Thessinger to the discussion.  That's the only other person I could think of besides Patton who fought Rommel in the desert.  But I couldn’t remember that name.  I kept conflating it with “Owen Lattimore” who was had nothing to do with Rommel and the Middle-east.  But that’s not who I wanted. 

In their bathroom my mind finally release Wilfred's name.  On top of the toilet they had a plate from Positano on the Amalfi Coast.  Back at the table, on the wall there was a picture of mountains in Iceland and another poster of Luxor in Egypt and I asked about each of these items and other hints on the wall that the artwork afforded, like the clipper ship painting above the mantle piece, whenever there was a lull in the conversation.  These were all reminders for them certainly but, as I hope happens in my house they were there to stimulate conversation with guests like myself as well.  Each item we spoke to yielded something fascinating.  The ship, for example was sailed by a forefather and the painting done by a Chinese crew member.  

Saturday, 02/23/19