Hyacinth in Spring 2026


 

I wish to be the Jizo, 地蔵, the guardian deity, sheltered in blossoms. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reading for Kids (VII)

Image
  Today is the first reading-for-kids event this academic year. I did not go to T's class but ventured into a different group.  I chose to read "Monkey Puzzle" by Julia Donaldson. The story has been a superb delight to me since I first read it. The twist in the story is a smart scientific turn.  I even gave it as a Christmas present to T's cousin, but I wonder if she and her dad appreciated the humor in the story. Just like today, every audience seemed to have followed along to know the fact that the kind butterfly continues to make mistakes, but I couldn't be sure whether the audience understood the reason behind the butterfly's mistakes.
Read more

"Do you think you are the greatest person in the world?"

Image
Around 4 pm yesterday afternoon, Y asked me if she could have snacks and watch TV. I gave her a negative answer, given that she had watched a movie with her dad in the early afternoon. Her TV allowance had been spent for the day. She was persistent, begging, nagging, complaining, and then blaming in the end. Our conversation went on and went astray as below.  -------------------------------------------------------- Y: Why can't I watch TV?  Mom: You've seen a movie with dad today, and the movie was about 2 hours. You can have snacks though.  Y: Mom is stupid!!! （ママはバカ！） M: I don't think so. I am probably the smartest in this household.  Y: Mom is stupid!　（ママは「ㄅㄨㄣˋ」（笨）蛋） M: Ok, let's see. Who can drive a car in our family?  Y: Mom. (Emphatically.) M: Who can cook in our family? Y: Mom, and sometimes dad.  M: Who can speak mandarin? Y: Mom and I and T.  M: Who takes you to ballet lessons?  Y: Mom.  M: Who takes you to piano lessons?  Y: Mo...
Read more

Reading for Kids (IX)

Image
 Today, I read Ten Eggs  in Taiwanese to a group of first-graders in the elementary school. I have read this particular book several times, especially if it is the first encounter between me and the children. I somehow improved my reciting skills every time, and managed to come up with more ideas about how to make the listening fun for the audience.  This time I used plastic eggs as props. Whenever there is an egg flying away, I threw an egg to the audience. The first-year graders were very responsive, as other mother-readers have told me, and excited about catching the flying eggs, 10 in total.  Y helped me make the last Easter egg the night before. 
Read more