A Man of Great Wisdom Appears Slow-witted

Today (Dec. 2nd in China) is my dad’s seventy-fourth birthday. His name is Liu Ruyu, meaning “appears slow-witted”. Sometimes I am puzzled why my grandfather named my dad “slow-witted”, although I have always thought that my dad was the most handsome man in our Petroleum University campus where I grew up.

I dare not say that my dad has “Great Wisdom”, but I know that he has taught me how to be organized and analytical in everything.

The university in the 70’s of China had not many food supplies for the staff, so my parents decided to raise some hens so my brother and I could have an egg each day. My dad prepared a little notebook with each hen’s name on one page. Each hen had a name according to its characteristics, such as Aloe hen, Crested hen, Skinny hen, etc. My dad would write down the date on each hen’s page if the hen laid an egg, and he also wrote down the shape, color, and texture of the egg for that entry. Then he would write the name of the hen on the egg so we were all trained to distinguish the eggs. He would analyze the frequency of the entries mathematically on a monthly basis maybe. If a hen was found with no entries on its page for a while, maybe a month or so, it will be on the dinner table one day.

Paul’s Christmas Gift

Despite the dangerously icy road, Paul was determined to drive to my home to buy the Singer sewing machine last Saturday. The young man whispered softly when I asked if he sews, “This is my Christmas gift for my girlfriend.” The handsome face showed some shyness, “She is in the fourth year of U of C and she always has to go to my mom’s place to sew.” Knowing he is in the fourth year towards a mechanical engineering degree, I decided to show him how to do the threading, how to lubricate, how to use the special foot for zippers, and how to adjust the tension. He listened quietly, knelet down and practiced carefully. Then he asked me if he can keep the thread on the machine so he can practice at home. Looking at two of my quilts on the wall, his eyes sparkled. Is he dreaming of his sweetheart enjoying the Singer? I am sure that I have found a good home for my Singer and I also found the young woman who will sew for her future home and find joy in the Singer.
Filled with joy, I walked to the nearby park and found that the pure sparkling snow was shaped beautifully by the overnight wind. I realized how much I would miss the snow and the Singer.

Bread and Rose

Sometimes I see myself in Rose, a central Alberta farmer’s wife. Task oriented, we strive to work hard and thirst for Truth in life. While both of us are human doings, we realize that we are designed by God to be human beings.

"Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!" Visiting each other became exciting events for us and our husbands, as we know our souls click, but they do not have the internet to connect us. Each visit ends with many hopes to meet again with so many unshared thoughts and stories of when we were apart. We are so different in all aspects. One is a Chinese born city girl; another is a white Canadian with French farming roots. Golfing, movie theaters, Vietnamese noodles and Chinese dumplings are as equally fascinating as November hunting, cow feeding, wood burning stoves, BBQ game meat and horse-drawn sleigh.

Rose’s bread is the best in the world. That bread is from her field, from her grinder, and from her hand. Rose’s farm house becomes my retreat place where I feel God whispers to me closely, where I feel I become a better woman, wife and mother with Rose’s influence.

Sofa

I told Joan one night that I wanted to give out my things to my best friends before we leave to Q8. She said it would be good to give them to new immigrants. Where am I going to find the new immigrants?

When I got home minutes later, my husband announced, “A pair of new immigrants will come to pick up the free sofa we listed on the web.” My mind swirled.

Liao and Xie, from China, happily accepted our sofa and lots of things we would not ship to Q8. Recognizing their accent, I found that they are from Chongqing, Sichuan, where my father was born and raised.

Seventeen years ago when I landed in Canada as a new immigrant, my newlywed husband drove us on a rainy night, because our Shanghai friend Penny had informed us that there was a free sofa in the Sandstone neighborhood. We tied the heavily soaked sofa on top of our Honda Accord and drove back, and only found the next day it was an ugly green-coloured stinky clump. This was the reason my husband decided to deliver the sofa for Liao and Xie.

Weeks later, Liao left several voice mails and invited us to their new home for an authentic Sichuan dinner! Sitting in their new, clean and warm one-bedroom apartment, we chatted freely and openly about our life experiences. After the dinner, I said, “What are your names?” We know that wherever we go, they will be our close friends.

Memory of My Singer

One of the toughest tasks of our moving to Q8 is selling the things that we are not going to ship over. My 16 year old Singer sewing machine unfortunately is on the List to Sell. With this simplest sewing machine that cost me a few hundred bucks, I made my baby quilts, baby crib sheets, baby pillow cases and baby vests for the nights. One of the baby quilts is the comforting one that is still by my elder son’s pillow. He calls it Rabbity Quilty, and being a teenager, he still rubs it and slips into sleep. With this Singer, I made seven beautiful quilts for family and friends. With this Singer, I made the window tops for our living room and the curtains for the family room. Most of the time, she sits in the basement quietly, and sings happily when I need her. Now she is for sale on Kijiji and I truly hope a beautiful woman will own my Singer and continue to find joy in her.

Ready, Set, Pause

We were informed that we’ve been granted the commercial work permit last Thursday. YAY!! Pause – the passport number on the visa is the old one! Another glitch on the adventure journey! Should we delay the fareware cheese and wine parties?

Came back from Leon and Rose’s farm yesterday, with many good memories of the hunting trips. Needless to say, the goodbyes were not easy.