Bamboo Sketches
by Charity Lee JenningsGreen 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...
Hot Pot Pizza
When the days are cold, China turns to hot pot for warmth and comfort. Hot pot restaurants are plentiful and are filled with family and friends cooking meat and vegetables over a simmering pot of stock. A memorable experience. Their tasty broths and variety of...
Chinese New Year Near Disasters – Part 2
Brian humbly held our bag of sparklers as we stood, surrounded by boxes, massive fireworks, that must have been the equivalent of four months’ rent for the average person in our city. Our hostess emerged from a room that was papered gold, a massive, gaudy chandelier...
Chinese New Year Near Disasters
Buildings towered side by side and ours almost touched the chain link of an enclosed basketball court; gathering place and first stop for family firework nights. I enjoyed the shows, with one memorable exception. I watched the family arrive, place their huge...
Baby, It’s Cold Inside
When there is no central heating; when your whole family is huddled around one heater and you are wearing layer upon layer of clothing; when you can see your breathe in the bathroom and the pipes for the water heating system have frozen and burst; when all three kids...
Challenge Rewards – Part 2
I’ve been working on developing a new skill too. My challenge of choice, during the quiet week after Christmas, was to learn to make sourdough bread. Cherry Blossom wasn’t the only one to receive an instructional book for Christmas. I received Peter Reinhart’s Artisan...
Challenge Rewards
I love seeing glimpses of myself in my daughter. When she received some new art supplies this Christmas, I got a good, long look at our similarities. As she opened the watercolour paints, tearing the gift wrap off - shutting out other gifts that were scattered around,...
New Year, New Teeth!
Rather than writing resolutions, I'm sharing a New Year story with you. This is a fictional story based entirely on real events from my experiences of raising my children in China. In the middle of the afternoon, on January 3rd, Eliza, the youngest of three,...