Niannianyouyu

The woman pictured above is not Chinese. Madoka is Japanese and advised me on the way forward at one point, putting a lot of energy into her adjustment of my path, and I thank her and still think about her. She visited my sister and is wearing a New Weird America teeshirt. In Chinese the word for abundance sounds like fish. The title of this post means “year after year of fish/plenty.” Its a benediction for the Chinese New Year. In the year of the rabbit I will take a thousand mile hop.

The following is from a New Haven Advocate article by Jialu Chen that explains the picture above: “Can you hear the rumbling in the distance? The greatest annual human migration in the world is occurring, at this very moment, as 700 million Chinese scramble to make it home for Chinese New Year. Going home is not easy. Some have been known to purchase standing-room-only tickets for week-long trains or motorcycle through the snow. But to not go home is to forgo the most meaningful of human connections — returning to your family. To not go home is to miss out on the great Chinese New Year feast… the dish Tony Chin, a snappy man, is most excited about is flambéed chicken and shrimp served in fresh pineapple. A whole pineapple is cut in half and scooped out to create two bowls, artfully arranged to resemble two birds (which represent “soul mates,” says Chin) and served flaming on a large platter.”