China: Day One - You Are Not Alone

We are going to China--actually, we are in China, to adopt two special needs girls.  I haven't been blogging because nothing has been happening.  However, now that I am in China, there is a lot to think about, so there is a lot write about.

We went canoeing on Mother’s Day.  We do this every Mother’s Day because it is absolutely my favorite thing to do.

We almost didn’t go.  It rained non-stop the week before and the river was running ridiculously high.  It’s normally two to three feet deep.  On Friday it was at eight feet and falling.  On Saturday it was at seven feet.  Sunday morning, it was six feet and the flow rate, which is normally about 1,000 gallons per minute, was at 4,000.  So we debated almost endlessly whether it was a good idea to take the group canoeing.  The group included our two handicapped sons, the new neighbor and some family friends. 

In the end, we went and I’m so glad we did.  We were on the Shenandoah River.  The weather was perfect and the river was beautiful.  There is a line in The Wind in the Willows where Ratty declares to Mole that the river is “ever changing and ever the same.”  I think about that line every time we push off.  We keep going back to that same stretch of river, but we never canoe the same river twice.  This time all the islands were covered over.  The rocks that make up my class 1-2 rapids were well underwater and the water was flowing so fast, we hardly had to paddle.  The work of the day merely involved keeping the boats upright. 

I love canoeing.  I love the gentle rocking of the water, the rhythmic motion of the paddles, the stretches of rapids followed by pools of calm water.    I love the sound of the paddles in the water and the waves splashing against the side of the boat.  I love hearing the wind in the trees, the birds and my kids (usually whining, but this is love).  I love that there are no working electronics involved.  And, most especially, I love being alone amidst a vast space. We did not see one other soul on that river on Sunday.  We were completely alone.

It was a day full of moments that I just wanted to soak in.

Unfortunately, I’m having a hard time getting back there.  I wrote the above on the plane, halfway through our 13 hour flight to China.  There is no vast space here.  I am left to daydreaming about solitude.   Sadly, I can only remember seconds of that trip, but not minutes.  I so wish I could somehow close my eyes and re-live hours of my life, but all I can manage is moments.

Now I am in Beijing.  There are people EVERYWHERE.  I can’t even guess how far we would have to drive to find that kind of solitude.

But, I am getting ahead of myself….

We left for the airport Tuesday morning about six am.  We took our four older kids with us, but we left our two youngest (Ruslan and Will) at home with our friend Cindy.  If you have read much of this blog, you will know that Ruslan is adopted from Ukraine and is an extremely difficult child.  He is self-obsessed, compulsive, stubborn, neurotic, whiny, manipulative and endlessly annoying.  Really. He drives me crazy.  Nevertheless, I love him dearly and there I was fighting back tears as we said goodbye.  Bill just stood there shaking his head in disbelief.  I told him that he should be grateful.  The fact that I love Ruslan means that Bill might display similar traits and yet I could still love him deeply as well.  What other husbands dwell in such freedom? 

The only other noteworthy event from the morning was that I kept flashing back to my childhood when I would constantly roam through the house to seek and collect crayons, paper and toys in preparation for long trips.  On this morning, I  was roaming through the house to seek and collect pairs of bifocals.  I think I gathered about five pairs of glasses, which is not enough, but it will have to do.  I suspect Cindy noticed what I was collecting and hid some pairs for herself.  …traitor.  

Our flight took off at noon and we landed in Beijing early Wednesday morning at 2am US Eastern Standard Time, which was 2:00pm Wednesday afternoon, Beijing time.  FYI, we had an 80 mph tail wind, we were travelling 600 to 800 mph, at an altitude of 35,000 feet.  The total distance was about 7,000 miles, over the arctic and  the outside temperature bottomed out at NEGATIVE 51 degrees.

Bill met someone on the plane who was part of a tour group that is doing a race on the Great Wall of China.  There is a marathon, a half marathon and a 7k Fun Run—something like 4.5 miles.  I don’t have any interest in marathons, but I could do that 7K.  Oh yeah.  I need to find out about this.

But, for now, we are in our hotel.  Here is some pictures of our current view.

I really am glad to be here, as long as I don't start thinking about that river.