Bamboo Sketches
by Charity Lee Jennings
Culture Snapshot – A Dragon’s Welcome
I’ve never seen a dragon boat race but I’ve joined many Chinese people in eating zongzi, a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves, to remember the life of one of China’s greatest poets and scholars, Qu Yuan. Human nature hasn’t changed since the 3rd century BC. Qu...
Revolving Restaurants
Dumplings for lunch became a pleasant part of our lives, as did interactions with the dumpling makers. One day, low on groceries, my son and I again took the horseshoe walk to the bao zi shop, but instead of steaming dumplings we found a lock and chains. We peered...
Dumplings For Lunch
“Is he selling bao zi?” I asked Brian as I motioned to a new vendor. “Looks like it.” We both walked toward a shop as small as a closet. Excitement and apprehension knotted together in my stomach. I like trying new things, so why apprehension? The taste of the food?...
Fishing Through The Window
The houses were packed in, separated only by a narrow boardwalk on which I sat. As I sketched, I embraced the wonder of the Lim Jetty, a world beyond my own. Yet there were familiar elements. The migrant fishermen who built the jetties in Penang, Malaysia, came from...
Sketches Of The Lim Jetty
“I’m alone, in a place I don’t belong. I want to explore but my uncertainty intimidates me.” Route 101 - Penang, Malaysia I did it. I stepped onto that bus, alone, not knowing where it was going. And it led to a peaceful afternoon sitting on planks that join the...
A Mother’s Choice – Part 2
I cracked an egg and poured out the white, holding back the yoke with the other half of the shell. My daughter, Blossom, watched, eyes wide. “Can I try?” “Sure,” she made a crack but couldn’t push through so she picked at the shell, bit by bit. Once a small space of...
A Mother’s Choice
I’ll let Blossom watch a movie. An hour and a half of peace. Life hasn’t been peaceful lately. Learning to parent through the teen years, and tutoring my boys in challenging subjects like physics and pre-algebra is forcing me to new heights. Toss in visa runs every...
A Mother’s Fear
My four-year-old wheeled a suitcase through the Hong Kong airport, ahead of my toddler and me. He stepped onto the escalator, turned back, and beamed. So brave, so independent, he ascended. But his smile twisted to a frown as his suitcase twisted off the step,...
“Reaching” in Graphite
Facing The Flames
My son ran ahead, the red dirt of the road under his Thomas the Train runners, the sun reflecting off his white-blonde hair. I smiled, blissfully unaware of the danger ahead. We had found a dirt road, nearly deserted, and finally escaped the watching eyes of new...
Sink Or Soar
I peddled my bike through quiet streets and got alone with the rush of the river, or the whisper of the lake. And I somehow thought I would always be there, though I dreamt of the world beyond. Now, years later, rushing by me are seas of people. I feel the void today...
Ocean View In Watercolour
After we returned to our city of millions, where nature has been hacked away and replaced by fields of high-rises, I pulled out my paints and brought back the beauty, the peace, of Penang. Here's my painting. Click the image to see it full screen. Did you see Ocean...