A Different World...

It's a different world out there...

Alaska
September 2019

 

Exit Glacier

I still remember Exit Glacier in Seward, Alaska.  In August 2006, we went there and hiked on Exit Glacier - it was huge and right next to the hiking trail...  At the time, I didn't quite understand why they named it "Exit Glacier."  Well, now I do!  When we went there again in September, I couldn't find the glacier - it's all gone, except for a small part hanging on top of the mountain.

It's hard not to be saddened by the quickly disappearing glaciers all over Alaska.

Alaska

September 2019

山色有无中...

It's a beautiful country out here...

 

江流天地外，山色有无中...

Prince William Sound, Alaska

September 13, 2019

 

 

A Giant Painting

We drove 1,709 miles in 10 days around Alaska.  It's a beautiful country out there, and we literally drove through a giant piece of painting...

This might be the first time I deliberately told myself to take it all in with my eyes instead of through my lenses.  It wasn't completely successful, but I did urge myself to not let the pointless busy work ruin the purity of the quiet nature.  

Alaska
September 2019

 

Postcards to Larry: 2005-2008

It turned out, between 12/7/2005 and 3/10/2008, when traveling around the country for work, I sent 48 postcards to my nephew Larry (aged 8-11 during those years).  My biggest accomplishment today was to digitize all of them - front and back - individually.  Attached are two summary shots, but it is each of the individual cards that recorded my footprints, detailed my notes, and showed my attention and love for my little Larry, who is now 22 years old...

You might wonder why I'd have all the cards in my possession.  When I sent them to Larry 14 years ago, I asked my sister-in-law to carefully collect all the cards.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled onto one of the emails I sent to Larry in 2006 asking if he'd received my postcards, which reminded my of this THING I did some 15 years ago...  So, earlier this week, I asked my sister-in-law to bring them to me.  Thank goodness she is very thorough and has kept all of them for me.

I am so thankful for sending these cards to Larry 13-14 years ago.  Sometimes, with time, the value of our random acts increases significantly!  

The Dancing Lights

生命在流动的光影中是永恒和无限的...

Life is eternal in the dancing light...

North Pole, Alaska

September 9, 2019

The Cracked Pot

I am on my long journey to organize all my emails from the past two decades.  Found the insightful email below from almost 13 years ago...

-----Original Message-----
From: Pei Tang [mailto:tang_pei@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:46 PM
To: Pei Tang
Subject: Cracked Pot

 

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.   One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. 

 

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.  But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled: "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"

"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.  For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.  So, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!