Chinese Version
07-28-2021, Wednesday, Sunny and Cozy
July 27 is an important anniversary day for me. On July 27, 1984, it was the first and only time I went to Mount Emei for a five-day trip with three college girl friends. Mount Emei is one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, and is traditionally regarded as the bodhimaṇḍa, or place of enlightenment, of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra (普賢菩薩).
Recently, all of us got together online to recall our trip to Mount Emei back 37 years ago, which awakened our sincere youthful true feelings.
To celebrate the memory of youth from 37 years ago, I visited a seaside small town for three days.
From one of the Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China to a seaside town on the East Coast of the United States, from a 19-year-old normal university student to a 56 year old silver haired retiree, I felt my staying near the sea helped me to quietly enjoy the wealth accumulated for me across the ocean and over 37 years.
On July 27, 2021, it was pouring rain in the evening of the first day in the town. The next day was sunny and cozy.
In the early morning, I walked along the paved seaside trail, and was happily aware of no steep mountains to climb. I also experienced the solo traveler’s familiar private joy. Walking along the path by the sea, looking at many benches with inscriptions on them, I felt content, because a beautiful scenery with many benches is a good place to indulge oneself.
I walked all the way and curiously read many inscriptions on the benches. I found an emotional inscription: “Remembering Wendy Breen Kline at her favorite place: ‘Love endures all things, love never ends’”.
The inscription struck me, as if to introduce a resonant soul to me and also to convey the great love between heaven and earth, and my love of my late mother too.
With my late mother in my mind, I sat down to enjoy the beauty of this place and to feel the special thoughts of this bench. I told my flower-loving mother in my heart: “This is my first time here. The flowers along this beach on the East Coast are different from the flowers along the Santa Cruz Beach on the West Coast. Here has a lot of rugosa rose, and the Santa Cruze Beach has a lot of disphyma crassifolium. ”
After a while, an old man passing me smiled and waved. I smiled back and said: “Good morning.”
He pointed to the bench I was sitting and said, “You got the best seat!”
I felt a connection between us, so I said happily, “Yes, I know. I like what it says on the bench too.”
I continued sitting on the bench in Wendy’s favorite place, closing my eyes to recite the words about love on the bench: “Love endures all things, love never ends” and to smell the salty sea breeze blowing on my face and the smell of the soil emitted from the rain last night in the sun.
I thought of Ruth, Kara’s veterinary, a Jewish woman, who signed her poetry collection book for me: “to never ending end“, to convey the eternity of love.
I remembered the inscription on my favorite bench by the stream in Almaden Valley in San Jose California: “love is like a pebble dropped in the creek. It ripples, extending beyond our horizon. We know that love has graced us and we will treasure that forever”, which shows that love has magical powers.
I also remembered my toast at the farewell dinner table before graduating from college: “for love”, conveying my true feelings.
37 years have passed, I am thankful for the journey, from China to the United States, from the West Coast to the East Coast, with the variation of Eastern and Western cultures, which hardened my belief in love, a wealth worth to have.
Little Episodes
1. The flowers, near the ocean, I told my late mother about:
The rose along the beach in Maine in the East Coast of the United States (07-28-2021)
The disphyma crassifolium along the Santa Cruz Beach in the West Coast of the United States (05-02-2016)
The myoporum flowers on the coast side at Hurricane Point on California Route 1 (09-2018):
2. The Bench dedicated to Wendy in her favorite place, on the East Coast of the United States (07-28-2021)
3. In San Jose, California, the place and the chair with the inscription, my favorite spot in Almaden Valley (12-28-2014)
4. A toast from our group at the farewell dinner before graduating from college (07-03-1985)
Shen – for joy, Lu – for happiness, I – for love, Dai – for friendship, Geng – for four years together, Guo Fei – for a bright future, Ma Jianhua – drink more for a good sleep tonight, Cai Li – for the eternal career, Zhang Hong – for the future, Qin Tian – for the ups and downs of tomorrow, and Li Zhengchu – for one.