The “bad gas” problem with the van turned out to be something else. Earlier today, Shu Mei drove the van to the Church for a meeting she had with the Relief Society. As President of the Relief Society, she has to attend many meetings. I lose track of what each are for. I believe that today’s was about homemaking. Anyhow, on the way back home, Shu Mei stopped and bought groceries. She noticed the problem with the van when she was almost home. Then, it died on her.

Luckily, Shu Mei was within three blocks of our home, so she didn’t have to walk far. She called her sister-in-law and a repairman. We walked to the van together. Shortly after we reached it, both the repairman (and his son) and Shu Mei’s sister-in-law arrived on the scene. The repairman didn’t know what was wrong with the van and said he would need to tow it to his garage. Luckily, he had driven a big truck to the scene for this very purpose, if need be. As he (and his son) readied the van for towing, Shu Mei and I drove with her sister-in-law to Shu Mei’s parents’ house.

We ate lunch at Shu Mei’s parents’ house. It was typical Chinese food, many vegetables, fish, and pork. In addition, there was watermelon, the yellow kind that is so popular recently. It must have a different season than the red kind, which was abundant last month. On the other hand, maybe yellow is just “in” and red is just “out”.

Shu Mei’s father let us borrow his car. Actually, her mother said that it was okay to borrow it, before asking him. She said that he was going on a trip tomorrow, anyway, and would not need it. “A trip?” I thought, “I wonder where that man is going now.” It seems that he is going somewhere every other week. I mean, just recently he got back from India. Before that, he was in Tibet. He loves to travel. Unfortunately, he does it with big Chinese groups and eats only Chinese food wherever he goes. That is somewhat sad that he does not get to experience the food of the world, as well as the sights.

Shu Mei’s mother likes to travel also. She was in Canada last week. A few weeks before that, she was on “an island off of the coast of China,” according to Shu Mei. “Hmm…” I thought, when she said that, “Aren’t we on an island off of the coast of China?” Many times, the natives here forget that Taiwan is an island. For the most part, the majority of them have traveled abroad; it is just that they are caught up in their own little world from time to time. I’m certain that Shu Mei’s parents don’t forget they are on an island, as they fly more than most of my former coworkers, airline employees, do.

Speaking of flying, we heard a sad report today. A China Airlines 747 jet crashed with 225 people aboard. It crashed into the ocean, just off the Pescadore Islands. It was flying from Taipei to Hong Kong. Apparently, there was no SOS and it looks like they have found debris and an oil deposit from the jet in the ocean. Obviously, there have been no survivors. What a sad story. Unfortunately, it is not an unfamiliar one for China Airlines, as their safety record is among the worst in the industry. Still, as the saying goes, it is safer to fly in a plane (even a Chinese Airlines planet) than to ride in a car.

This week was dominated by severe rain storms. In fact, it rained for four days nonstop. The house has had problems in the past with leaking during big storms. Last night made those leaks look like tiny dew drops in the wee morning hours, as our house became flooded by a deluge of rain water.

It occurred due to a clogged drain outside on the second-story veranda, above the kitchen. As we seldom venture outside there, we didn’t know that the drain was closed until it was too late. It was late at night when I, watching TV from the first floor living room, heard water dripping from inside the stairwell. Opening the door into the stairwell, I saw the source of the dripping. More importantly, I saw water running down over the stairs to the bottom floor where I was. It was cascading down the stairs quite rapidly.

Immediately, I woke up Shu Mei. As she began to mop up the water downstairs, I sought the source of the problem upstairs, outside in the heavy rain. As I stepped outside onto the veranda, I discovered that I was standing in about four inches of water. The water had been building up there throughout the rain, until it was high enough to go under the door and down the stairs. Armed with a flashlight and broom in one hand and an umbrella in the other, I searched for the drain.

I knew the vicinity of where it was located from seeing it before and found it in no time. Clearing away the debris that was clogging it, I allowed the water to drain once again. After that, I put a roll of window screen around it, to prevent further clogging problems. Then I went downstairs to help Shu Mei with the mopping up.

It took about two hours to clean up the water from downstairs. Today, it is still a little damp but should dry up soon as the sun has come out again. That is the way it is in Taiwan, from one extreme to another. Such is the life on a subtropical island.

Iam certain it won’t go down as one of the best Mother’s Days for Shu Mei, but it will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable. It began well, with Billy presenting her a dozen roses and a card personally signed by him, with a little help from yours truly.I’m certain it won’t go down as one of the best Mother’s Days for Shu Mei, but it will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable. It began well, with Billy presenting her a dozen roses and a card personally signed by him, with a little help from yours truly.

Shu Mei was pleased with the gift, which I said came from her two boys Billy and Tyley. Actually, Billy did pick the arrangement from a lineup the previous evening at the florist. I had snuck away with him after a family get-together at my in-laws’ house. I did it under the guise that we were going to see the parade.

There was a huge parade zigzagging through downtown Cingshuei, commemorating the return of a Daoist idol to the temple there. Several trucks adorned with colorful lights, along with a procession of bands and costumed participants paraded through the streets. From atop the Chens’ house, we had a clear vantage point of the parade route. However, being up close was a better experience, as Billy and I found out.

For months, Billy had been scared by a commercial that showed such a parade. He didn’t understand that there weren’t real dragons dancing in the streets, no matter how hard I tried to explain it. It wasn’t until he saw a group of parade participants on break last night that his fear left him. They were sitting around smoking, as most Taiwanese young men do, with their costumes half on and half off. Billy could clearly see that they were just people, like him. So, the fear left him immediately. Sometimes, we just have to see things with our own eyes to believe them.

Getting back to the happenings of today, we all got ready and went to church. During the sacrament, shortly after the blessing of the bread, Billy got sick and vomited. He had done this once before at the same time and it was rather embarrassing, having to clean it off the floor while trying to maintain reverence. This time was even more embarrassing, because he threw up on his mother, from blouse to skirt. I, with the help of two other church members, cleaned it up while the sacrament continued. Shu Mei, covered in vomit, couldn’t do anything but wait. The previous time it was just a little vomit, but this time was like a bucket-full. Shu Mei wasn’t pleased with Billy’s “extra gift” this Mother’s Day.

After I cleaned it up the best I could, I took Billy home to clean him and get Shu Mei a new set of clothes. Hurrying back, I made it before the Sacrament meeting was over. Shu Mei quickly changed clothes and taught the Sunday School lesson to the Gospel Doctrines class. The day continued without another mishap.