The tree branches are dancing with the rain and wind in the dark. It has been raining nonstop for two days now from drizzling to pouring.

The branch, which covers part of the drive way, bends down lower than before the storm. It is almost on top of my car now. I reach up to the branch and pull it toward me to see if it will break off easily, or if I need to use the chain saw to cut it. The branch bounces in my hand as if dancing with a sudden sense of life force in front of me. The beauty of the deep green leaves and the dark brown branch full of the joy of being alive, I can’t cut it down….. 

A Chinese phrase of “the most bent tree branch is like the most honorable and humble person who always bends their head”… or something like that came to my mind.  How sad that I can’t ever remember the whole phrase or that knowing my memory may or may not be correct.

Ah! If my Chinese teacher knew how deteriorating my Chinese has become, she would be very sad to have a student like me. Fortunately, she wouldn’t know. Through kind strangers and a series of events, I found out she had passed away a few years back. It was sad that I never got to talk to her again after so many years of looking for her. The sorrow of not having the opportunity to let her know that I am doing well except my Chinese, will stay with me for a long time.

The image of the big tree right outside of my childhood home has surfaced to my mind. The big branches extend to the window of my bed room. It stopped the hot sun light and gave me the gentle breeze through the summer. I love to be surrounded by trees, it must be coming from that long ago memory. My childhood home and the tree have been replaced by a high-rise for many years now! I only can feel and see it in my dreams.