Birthdays and China - Part 3�

2004-10-23

Celebrated Mom and my twin nieces birthday�s today. Last night at 7:30 pm my sister told me I was going to be responsible for making Mom�s cake. I didn�t really mind; baking a cake from a box is no big deal, but I do wish she�d informed me before the grocery shopping was done.

Passed out the souvenirs I�d bought when we got to my folks house. They went over pretty well, to my sister annoyance. I�d gotten terra cotta bird whistles and these funny glasses with party blower mustaches. Way too much noise.

Parasols for the girls and a canoe for my nephew. The canoe surprised the heck out of me by floating upright. Oh, and green raisins which I told them were camel boogers. What fun is being an aunt if you can�t misinform your nieces and nephews? Unfortunately, they know me too well, and were taken in for only the briefest moment.

China � Part 3

This guy was a knife sharpener. He had a radio hooked onto his cart somewhere. It kept going out and he would adjust some wires to get the signal back.

All over China there were trees and grasses growing on the roofs. For some reason that fascinates me. This is the first �growing roof� that I saw.

I love the string of garlic bulbs hanging on the left side of the picture. Someone who uses more garlic than I do!

The ubiquitous bicycle. Not so ubiquitous as before. The Chinese government is now endorsing consumerism. Auto traffic in Beijing was horrible. And not nearly as many bicycles as in the past.

These, and motorcycles, are ubiquitous. They are all over.

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