November 2, 2011
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Call of Nature
The pressure of the job was taking its toll – the old boss had taken some of his own pressure out on me, and was giving me a hard time for something that, in all truth, I personally had no control over. Having returned from the cold confines that Europe has to offer during the early months of the year, to the cool and rather uncomfortable climate that is Taiwan before spring brings the sunshine and warmth back, I decided to take a sickie.
Joanne, in the final days of her pregnancy, decided that was a great idea and also took a day off work. With Taipei’s Flora Expo in the final few weeks, we decided not to go to the mainstream exhibition area, but instead head out to the mountains where Joanne thought she knew there would be blossoms.
It just so happened that it was close to Shenkung, so we headed in for some food, especially my favourite and staple ma la cho tofu, before jumping back in to the Nissan and heading up the mountain a tad.
My navigator was not completely sure that she knew the way, but I was ok with that. We were relaxing, which was what I needed. It was not raining, but there was a lot of moisture in the air, which made it quite a foggy drive, despite the low altitude. After a relatively short climb, we saw some white blossoms, and then further on some more, mixed in with pinks. We continued driving, Joanne believing that there was more further up the mountain. There wasn’t.
So we turned back, and parked the car where there were several others, some people getting back in to their cars, others just arriving. The air was filled with a light scent of flowers, although Joanne’s sense of smell was perhaps not as keen as mine, as she did not notice.
We took a walk through the low hanging trees, enjoying the beauty of the blooming and colourful flowers, knowing that very soon Lyndon would be arriving. The excitement of being parents added to the pleasure and relaxation we were feeling from this very short sojourn in the bosom of mother nature.
As we drove back down the mountain, and started our way home once more, we smiled. We had seen one of the lesser visited Flora Expo sites, away from the throngs and masses that were happier to visit the all too convenient locations inside Taipei City itself. Somehow the pressure and frustration of the office had been left behind, albeit for a little while.
And the pressure of parenthood was just a couple of weeks away.
