So this is our new view from our office here in Mount Orchid. As you can tell, it is a smoggy day and also looks like it may rain. I am so contented these days so much that the terrible air doesn't even touch me. Home, I am learning, is a sense of place for sure, but truly my pack. So for me, that is V, R, and L. It helps when they have friends over and are noisily enjoying the Wii. It helps when cookies are baking in the oven. It helps when NYPD delivers a large cheese pizza promptly at our door. It helps when Discovery has Shark Week on, but even without all of these creature comforts here in China, home is just us four + Patch, but I am not even stressing about his absence. We lived together this summer and he adjusted surprisingly well to all of the home hopping. I have every confidence that he will love us equally when we return to Portland.
I know we only have months left to this very cool international post and I am trying to drink it all in this year. Watching Vic weave in and out of traffic on his e-bike, watching Luca stop goals on the soccer pitch under my gym window, listening to tinny Chinese music in Sihai Park, noticing all of the special moon cakes on display in Vanguard and Park n Shop.
So certainly not perfect, but home, just like our real home.
