Pulling up Roots

If we lived superficially and didn’t put down roots, this process of packing up and moving back would be so much easier. But I think the experience itself would have been like a pencil sketch instead of the oil painting it was.

Our sweet friend Kerry in Taitung just had wisdom teeth pulled, and we went swimming in the river to rinse off the heat together. She had a swollen jaw, and was miserable. I instantly thought ‘that’s how it feels!’ Only the tooth is a dimensional lump of love and friends and memories that is lodged just where the ribs come together.

Julia, the Taoist missionary who has been teaching McKinley to play the Chinese cello, the er-hu, was able to find us a way to ship things home that didn’t cost $2000. One friend made us a crate, and Thursday morning, came to the house and we filled it to the brim. Then we brought it to the shipper who would truck it to Kaoshiung. There, another friend of hers arranged for the crate to go on a boat to New York. It will arrive a few days after we get home, and who knows what the final cost will be, but it will be significantly less than the other options. (“Sure, we can Fed-Ex your suitcase”)