Huanghuacheng, China

Despite the obvious appeal of traveling to the third largest city in the world (Shanghai being the largest), with its 25 million residents, 5 million cars, and an expanse which takes about five hours to cross through, Beijing was to be our home for the rest of our trip, and the launching pad for our trip to the Great Wall.

The Great Wall was built initially by the Chinese emperor, the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to protect his newly borne Qin Dynasty in the 3rd C. B.C. It traverses over 13,170 miles of Chinese landscape, and has withstood and been constructed, repaired and demolished over 2000 years. Millions of slaves were used to build the Wall, using rammed earth technique. And while the Wall never really served as a true deterrent against warring attacks, it did serve as psychological warfare to those who threatened the Empire. Truly, to this day, the length of it boggles the mind and compels the viewer to see the Chinese as something otherworldly in their quest for securing their homeland. The amount of effort it took to build it just cannot be calculated. But we can try. 

Here's some facts about the Great Wall: 

• The Wall linked 15 provinces of China
• Only 8.2 percent of the Wall built during the Ming Dynasty remains intact, 74.1 percent is in poor condition, and in some sections only the foundation remains (www.dailymail.co.uk)
• It is generally built from east-to-west line historically built to protect against invasions against nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. 
• Besides defense, the Great Wall served as a port of call for the Silk Road, allowing the Chinese to charge duties to transport goods through the Empire. (thanks, Wikipedia)
• The Wall is built shorter on the interior Wall, with an average height of around 20 ft in some places, and the exterior Wall is built much higher, at around 60 ft, to again avoid infiltration by invaders. 

Along the wall are watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations and signal fire pots.

The plan for our first full day in Beijing was to go see the Wall. Beloved had hired a driver, Mike, who picked us up. By the way, breakfast at the hotel was delicious....beyond the requisite boiled rolls and Chinese vegetable dishes (still delicious) there was more European flavors represented. I discovered this amazing granola/oatmeal combination whose name is escaping me. It's oatmeal, apple juice and yogurt and it's refrigerated overnight and then served with cut up Granny Smith apples in the morning. That and two cups of coffee in the morning was my constitution. There was a proper name for it, but if you Google 'overnight oatmeal' there is tons of different combinations you can try. 

The drive to Huanghuacheng was about an hour in length, we were driven there by Mike in a minivan, and at first I thought he was trying to shine us on. The roads we were taking were not main thoroughfares for the trip, but little dusty dirty country roads for the most part. We past by many agricultural fields of (guess what)

corn

Mike was yet a charming host and was very helpful in getting us to our destination, which was a relatively unknown section of the Great Wall that we were TOLD not many tourists knew about. The minivan stopped in front of this dilapidated house on this asphalt roadway, across the street was a low row of reddish buildings and one separate building which looked like a storefront. 

this was the public restroom for tourists. No window or electricity so door must be kept open to see.

Embroidered tablecloth hanging on the line.

Our first close-up view of the Wall.

Bridge we needed to cross to get to the trail.

Beautiful dog

Beautiful dog left in horrible living conditions :(

The dog lived in a suspended cage with his one sole constant companion a pig

 Doe shows Mike the new camera filters she bought for her iPhone. That and her selfie stick made for some pretty spectacular pictures.

 hiking down to the river

 I think this was some sort of restaurant. It was empty.

 Not at all unstable was this suspended bridge. Mama brought up the rear ;)

 walked past some homes in the hillside above the restaurant.

 My daughter standing by the Great Wall of China. :)

 Trail leading up to the Wall. This was about a twenty-minute hike at a steady incline.

 Steps on the Great Wall. The steps were quite tall, about 7-8 inches high, taller than your average stair step.

 My babies. What a great experience for us to share together.

 Careful Tank that's a death fall behind you...

 Guard station, one of many posted along this section of the Wall.

The amount of trash at each of the guard stations were beyond comprehension. Apparently no one thinks to either clean up for themselves or the fees we paid do not go towards maintenance...

 Dutch men traveling who took pictures of our family for us. They were being picked up at 6 oclock by their driver and had planned on traveling

The children and Beloved chose to hike up a section of the Wall that I did not trust. It was a vertical climb with broken steps and crumbling chunks of concrete that would drop and shatter at intermittent times. So he climbed up with the kids to the next guard station/outpost. It took about 30 minutes.

Beloved said he was glad he was in front of Bumpo because the stones were crumbling and breaking off leaving shards of step to use on the decline.

Despite all of the pictures, you just couldn't capture the experience. Even today, nearly a full year later (yes dears, this post is a long time coming) I still can't really process the fact that we were there. With our family. And that among of the Seven Great Wonders of the World, the HIWMCA crew has tackled one.

Taking down the treehouse

Dreamt that he kept coming into our backyard and looking at a treehouse we had started to build.
The first time he came he just walked around the structure, looking at it.
The second time he came and methodically started taking it apart.
We would call him and tell him to stop but the next day he would be back, taking the sides off the base.
The sun was to the west and everything was sort of a golden color like out of a picture book.
I never felt afraid or upset. (I knew Beloved would calmly call him and tell him stop, but he would come back the next day and start pulling things off. Like he couldn't listen. He couldn't help himself.)
 Just a little sad that everyday he would come back and try to take our treehouse apart.
Freud would have a field day with that dream...

Freedom is one man, two guns, three hours, fifty people dead

That is what your government wants you to believe
Freedom is a dirty word

If the US government has more weaponry in its arsenal
more than
the next six sovereign nations
combined
and they have
all of the information

and they say "Give us your guns
because we want to protect you.
We will protect you."
and they already have all of the guns
more than the six next nations combined
and they have all of the information
they knew about Hasan
before
they knew about San Bernandino
before
they knew about Tsaernaev brothers
before
they knew about Matteen before
they had all of the details
all of the information
and they did nothing
they let Matteen have a gun
even though he was on a watch-list

they let Hasan work at a military base
and they did nothing
but they knew everything
but they tell us to
"give us your guns we will take care of you"
but they have everything
and they know everything
and still
they do nothing
Why
do they demand that we trust them
to protect us
all of us
gay Christian
 male
female
child
adult

but they do nothing
against one man
with two guns
 who had three hours
three hours

three hours
one man
two guns
three hours

fifty lives lost.

We cannot trust the government arithmetic.
We cannot trust them to protect us

we must learn to protect ourselves.
Because if a country
that has everything
all of the guns
more than six sovereign nations combined
all of the information
spy networks around the world
injected in every orifice
of every nation

and one man
can destroy it
and with all of our
information
and our intelligence
and our firepower
and our police force
and our patriotism
They give this man
three hours
This is what Freedom looks like
they'll claim

Freedom is
three hours
and two guns
and one man
killing fifty people

Freedom doesn't mean protecting us
even though
they knew everything
things we didn't know
they did nothing
what
happens when
they have
everything
we
have

They may do nothing
History will show they will do
nothing
but for us it will be
our everything

#prayforOrlando #stopislamistviolence

"Keep a green tree in your heart...

and perhaps the singing bird will come." --Chinese proverb.

It was one of those mornings where I worried we might hurt someone.

Beloved left me at 5:30 am to head to campus to finish writing up a Final. He said he reset the alarm for 6:25. So when I woke up to the dog rustling in her pen I thought I had beat the alarm. Wrong. The alarm had been gonging for 35 minutes. Oh snap.

Literally one of those mornings when I did not have time to make our bed. Studies have shown people who make their beds every morning tend to be more organized and live happier lifestyles. Well I don't know about more organized. I like to have the bed made so I can dump the laundry on it from the dryer and then have it sit there on a flat surface until that night when I dump it onto the floor (kidding! just kidding!) Beloved and I have a rule whoever gets out of bed last makes the bed. Oh the comedy that ensues on weekend mornings!

Thankfully both children are up. Tank is incredibly fully capable of feeding himself now in the mornings. God is good.  Bumpo was up and fussing with her outfit and her hair.

"Those shoes make you look like a duck" says her loving and ever-mindful older brother.
"Tannnk that's not very nice. Bunp your shoes are adorable."
"Thanks Mom."
Tank: "Well Mom your shoes make YOU look like a duck, too!"
I think I may have said something like "Well your mouth makes you sound like a turd" but I hope they didn't hear that.

Being the ever vigilant mother against school lunches, I slapped together two separate lunches but spent the next ten minutes trying to find paper bags (Item 1 on my shopping list for today, apparently!) Multiple conversations ensued "I NEED YOU TO FIND ME A BAG FOR YOUR LUNCH". Bumpo graciously tossed down a TJ Maxx bag, which snagged in the wreath at the bottom of the stairs. Still eternally grateful for her. Tank and I had a few more interactions where I sternly suggested he find me a lunch bag. I think he just really wanted me to give him cash for lunch, but seeing as that would entail me digging through sticky car cushions for change, I insisted on the bag item. Finally he tugged a large canvas grocery shopping bag, the size of a large bag of cat food (check Item 2 on the shopping list!) and said "here use this".

God I love that kid. No compunction whatsoever about using a bag that large for a pitiful slapped-together homemade lunch.

As I am heading out the door to take Tank off to school (his classes start 10 minutes earlier than his sister's) I hear a plaintive wail "Wait what? Where's Dad? Who's taking me to school?!"

"I am. I'll be right back!"
"Wait you should have left like two minutes ago, Mom? I'm gonna be late!"
"No you won't."

Then the panic sets in. Where are my keys. Where.are.my.keys. I make a quick round 'round the house for my purse. Thankfully I spot my purse on the couch, where I had jettisoned it last night. I had to switch cars because my baby, my Suburban, is in the shop getting maintenance. See this all started last night. The world shifted because I had to leave my car in the shop.

"MOM WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!" another plaintive wail from the upstairs.

Then I said the two words I never like to say.

I told her to Shut up. I told her to Shut up and then when she argued again I told her to Shut up. Again. Oh I was in a rare form this morning.

She's 13. Thirteen. Which is really no excuse.

I need to be the adult in this scenario. I need to show restraint and poise and calmness under pressure. Which all flew out the window when for a third time she told me I needed to leave. I need to model self-control.

"Mom you better leave right now!" (Gah she sounds just like her mother. )

"FINE I AM LEAVING RIGHT NOW BUT I AM GOING TO DRIVE REALLY REALLY SLOW."

Aw yeah. Rill mature Mom. If it's any consolation I'm still embarrassed that I told her to shut up.

Got Tank dropped off at school (seriously people? You've had children in the public school system for nearly a decade, if not more. Who parks head-first in the drop off lane? Who? Who? I'm looking at YOU Lincoln Navigator!)

Make all two traffic lights back to the house all the while having an internal conversation about driving safely and not striking some student who is jaywalking across Conifer from the gas station. I swear those children need to wear bright orange safety vests. With the trees from the gas station landscaping and the nearby apartment complex they are truly invisible until they appear magically in the center of the road. I am duly paranoid about students jaywalking against the traffic on Conifer. ( I yelled at a cat once for running out in front of us on the road. I was shaking as I pulled the car over to the side, got out to check and see if I'd hit it, and saw it cowering in the tall grass in the field by the roadside. I walked over to it, said "You dumb cat! I almost hit you!" and then got back in my car to drive away. But hey I didn't tell it to Shut up at least).

Make it home. Pull up to the front of our house honk the horn once and here comes Bumpo in her duck shoes and her Texas Tech tshirt.
"Youre going to need to write me a late pass, Mom." (Me: I don't have a bra on. I don't go inside any public building without a bra on.)

"No I'm not you have ten minutes till your first class." (It's either that or I go home and put on some underpinnings).

"No Mom the bell rings at 7:30. It's a passing period. You have to be in class by 7:40."
(I say nothing but internally tell myself, did I not just say that myself?)

Make the traffic light, praising Jesus all the way through and turn right onto the street to school.

"Mom. You can slow down now."

Now keep this in mind. I'm not driving my Burb. I'm driving Tank's Jeep. The turquoise one from the 90's. It is a fun little car to toodle around in. Whenever you press the accelerator it makes this fun "rumrummmrumrumrummrummmm" sound. Makes it seem like you really are a pioneer. It only sounds a little less refined than my Suburban. I'm driving no less unsafely in this vehicle.

"Mom do I look okay?"
"Yes honey I think you look cute. I think your shoes are cute. You don't look like a duck."
"Thanks Mom. I was going to be self-conscious about that all day."

Then we have a brief discussion about what the term "consider the source" really means when someone insults you.

Get Nat to the front of her school, she jumps out says 'bye Mom, and I say "Bye Nat. Love you. Jesus bless you.' Like I always do.

Get nearly sideswiped by a silver Prius with a Bernie 2016 bumper sticker on it (Jesus bless you too!) and  head out.

Then it happens.

I hear a bird singing. Literally the clouds parted and the sun shone right on my turquoise Jeep and I hear this robin trill out this joyous little song. It was glorious. I settled back in my seat and felt like this literal weight be lifted off of my chest. Like someone had been pressing on my shoulders all morning and they backed away.

I took a deep cleansing breath, drove my car back to Lemay Ave, and headed home. Made it through another morning.

I am grateful for mornings like this. So often we need some sort of release from the stress. Be it yoga or a long run or a good workout at the gym. And I am going to go out with my dog later for a few miles.
But I am grateful for that bird. I am grateful that it chose that particular moment to sing so loudly that I could hear it through my closed window of my car as I was driving home. I am grateful that I could hear it, that I could appreciate it, and I could believe that the little bird was a sign that things get better.
That despite mornings with 'shoes like make you look like duck' comments and unmade beds, and canvas grocery sacks for lunch bags, that God still provides moments like this for us to cherish.  I am grateful that I could sense the peace that came from being alone in the car on the way home, that I could be with my kids on their short drives to school, and that the sun is out and it is going to be a glorious day.