Bamboo Sketches
by Charity Lee Jennings
To The Bird And Flower Market
“Mom, we’re out of hamster food.”
“Then it’s off to the Bird and Flower Market.” A favourite stop. We’ve just returned from our three month tour of Canada and are getting settled in again.
Leaving the cloudy construction zone that is home – there has been near-constant construction around us since we moved in three years ago – and stepping into a lush Eden refreshed my soul. We immediately spotted a row of potted trees, any of which would make our space more homey.
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Forever Free
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. –Frederick Douglass Packing for our move to China, years ago, I tucked some books into our suitcase for my two little ones. I had no idea the role they would play in our family life. When we stepped off...
Longing for Home
Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests. I have said a tearful good-bye to our families and a nostalgic good-bye to my country. The airplane that I am seated on is filled with people, each with black hair and almond eyes. Canada is behind me, I am once again...
Overflowing Memories
My kids counted down the days for months. It had been two years since they had seen their cousins, which felt like eternity. It’s more than just a trip for them, it is a connection with their family, their home country, their roots. When we finally arrived they were...
Passing on the Good
With two months of our trip behind us it feels like we will soon be on the other side of the world, and Canada, the storehouse of my childhood memories, will once again be far away; nearly forgotten. One of the hardest things about living abroad is that I can’t...
On Acceptance
I never imagined I would be asked to leave the country only days after arriving, even if it was just for a short time. We were driving from Abbotsford, British Columbia to White Rock when we missed a turn. Brian decided to head toward Zero Avenue, not knowing it had...
Nature In, Crowds Out
If you can open your front door and step directly outside, you are more blessed than the millions of people that surround us in China. We step out into a tiny hallway that is shared with our neighbours, then into a crowded elevator, down to a maze of roads and narrow...
Green Grass and Gunshots
“Were those gunshots?” I said as I jolted awake. 3:27 a.m. “No,” Brian answered, sounding alert with jet lag. He drifted back to sleep but I couldn’t shake the sound. One bang, a pause and then five more consecutive bangs. The shots echoed in my head. I told myself to...
More Is Less
Peppermint tea - I’m out. I add it to the list I’ve been compiling for the past year titled, ‘To buy, in Canada’. I scan the list: chocolate chips, oven mitts, deodorant - decidedly ‘unchinese’ items. Thankfully I will be waiting only days to make these purchases, not...
False Starts
People often ask, with a twinkle in their eye, what a day in my life looks like. I shy away for fear of disappointing. The thoughts that come to mind are common, even challenging, not glamorous as I think they expect. Take this day just two weeks ago, for example: It...
Grandma’s Hope
Blossoming flowers and the sunshine of spring birthed a story of hope. I started writing: a lonely woman got a call on Good Friday reporting that her daughter had been in a car accident. She was in critical condition. The woman was faced with loss but at the end of...
Year of the Monkey
“Monkeys,” my kids squealed as they ran to the enclosure. One climbed the chain-link, peering out at us, while another scurried across a beam. “Look, a baby!” I pointed. Their eyes turned to a mother gazing down at a miniature version of herself, who clung to her...