beijing to san francisco

Coming home today. Sad to leave a dear friend in Beijing, excited for home. Don't we travel to get a little homesick?

Yesterday on our way home from the morning trip to the market, for peppers, bitter melon and a pomelo, WF had us follow a detour to a patch of dirt next to a worn apartment building. Not something you'd ever seek, unless you were the type. She directed me to a low bush with two white flowers, and told me to put my nose in it. I inhaled and, just for a moment, lost myself.

How was it? she asked. I said, Very nice. My vocabulary for expressing pleasure is very limited.

She said, You say everything is very nice. Doesn't it smell like your first love?

I'm going to bottle the memory of that flower and that exchange and bring it home to share with you.