The Land Where It's Already Tomorrow, Chapter 42: I Can't Stay Mad, Taipei Update, Published Paul, Out for a Spin

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It’s altogether too pleasant, in my beloved East Rift Valley, to remain angry and upset for too long. There is nothing like the patch of wildflowers at Ji An Station, or a bush of burgundy hibiscus blossoms at an unexpected train stop, or a proud-as-Lucifer ringnecked pheasant strutting about, or pagan dan pin for breakfast in Fong Lin, or 90 km/h on 11A as dawn breaks, to knock the spots off any bout of ill temper. Da bei Taiwan pi jo doesn’t do any harm either—and it’s not nearly as strong or fattening as Canadian beer.

Besides, Lao-puo rang this morning again, and she is in good spirits. Dr. Lee has her on full bed rest, and traction, for at least three days, in the hope that her disc will work its way back into alignment without any kind of further medical intervention. There are taller people than Lao-puo around (not just in the Netherlands and Kenya either), so I often call her “Shao Lao-puo”. “Little wife” is Chinese slang for “mistress”. I wonder if the traction will make her taller, so that I will have to think up another smart-alec nickname for her. Maybe cracking wise about the traction will be stretching things a bit too far. We are confident of a good outcome from this turn of events, and we hope that the forced lifestyle changes will not be too onerous on either of us.

You can tell that I write my comments gradually, over a period of days. It is now Monday, and Lao-puo is no better. In other words, the disc has not worked its way back as Dr. Lee had hoped. The bad news is that he is doing something today, and the good news is that Lao-puo may be home again as early as tomorrow.

Sister Nancy, our friend the (Buddhist) nun, flew back to Taipei today to look after Lao-puo and bring her home, and I will probably have to take to some time off later in the week to be the nurse/valet/shopper/errand boy Jeeves kind of guy.

My colleague Paul Rowe is very pleased, having been the subject of an editorial in the “Taipei Times” (English newspaper). He and I went up to the hospital yesterday to collect Lao-puo’s motorbike, and we made a little detour through the hills to Liyu Lake, then back down to Shufong and home along the highway. It was a glorious day for a ride, and I got my first sunburn of the year.

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