Stanley’s blogworld

This November - being the big nature lover that I am - I have closely watched the arrival of autumn in our city with great interest. Watching the subtle daily changes in the weather has for me been one of the few highlights of this month.
The other “biggy” has been moving into a new place - Carrie and I finally left our little one-bedroom apartment for a bigger two-bedroom apartment.

When we arrived in Nanjing last February we were greeted with the icy cold winter and its record snow falls. At the time I thought the weather way to harsh for my southern hemispherian weather preferences. It was quite literally “a baptism of snow and ice”. Since then we saw the beautifull pink and white plum blossoms and mild weather of spring and the long hot, humid and sweat-dripping days of summer. I can with out any doubt in my mind declare spring and autumn my two favorite seasons in Nanjing.

During this November the autumn days have brought with it not only much cooler weather, but also beautiful sunny blue skies. I have recently rediscovered the simplicity and beauty of the haiku in a Jack Kerouac novel I borrowed from Kyle (fellow English teacher) called “Dharma Bums”. I even tried my own hand at writing a haiku after some inspiration from a walk around the Ming Xiao Ling area of the Zhong Shan mountain and forrest area. It goes like this:

Orange brown yellows
rusteling leaves on trees high
a clear blue sky sun

On Zhong Shan there there are rows of trees lining the road up the mountain and there are parks with forests and brown-and-orange leaves scattered everywhere.

In the city especially near Xuan Wu city gate and the lake one can see many beautiful colorful trees with autumn reds and oranges, yellows and tinges of green.
The green summer lush has gradually dissapeared before our eyes and every day it is getting cooler and colder.

We also moved into a bigger apartment at the end of this month. This is in anticipation of the arrival of the soon to be new member of our family. Carrie’s mom will probably come and stay with us around the time of the little one’s arrival, and I also hope and expect my family to come and visit some time next year. Exciting times are lying ahead.

I am still teaching a few part-time jobs together with my regular lessons. These have recently become a little wearisome at times, but I still enjoy and appreciate the added experience and pleasure of teaching at different locations. My Sinopec and Huawei students are a great pleasure to work with and I am very glad I have the oppurtunity to teach them.

Recently I have also again rediscovered the great guitar sounds of one of my all time favorites, Dire Straits. I really enjoy tracks like “So far away” and “Sultans of swing”. It feels like I have been listening to their music all my life. They keep on being a recurring theme.

I write these words with a lot of appreciation in my heart and the knowledge that we have received countless blessings to our lives.

My chosen quote for this month:

“There are three things, the wonder of which overcomes me, even four things outside my knowledge:
The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a snake on a rock; the way of a ship in the heart of the
sea; and the way of a man with a girl.” - Book of Proverbs