Category Archives: China 2015

Zhujiajiao

(July 10, 2015) The canal town charmed. It’s narrow stone alleys delivered commerce to buildings long architecturally forgotten. Period men in conical hats propelled their boat oars with a nifty hand twist. Atmosphere drizzled. The locals had long ago tuned into all this. All was on our offer. All at half price. In the fish nibble foot massage tanks two fish died after consuming toxic detritus under my toenail.

Foot Massage

Enough, for me anyway. “Come on Fly.”

“Where we going?”

“Left.”

I picked a pathway heading away from the canals. With strides tourism snapped back at the end of its leash. Life returned unprettily. Building techniques declined. Chickens. Laundry. “Daddy what are we looking for?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then how we are we going to find it?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out for a long time.”

A pause. Quiet. Then she reached for my hand. I took hers. And we kept going.

“Where are we going, Daddy?”

Shanghai

(July 10, 2015) The floorboards of our room in the Astor House Hotel once resembled ship decking. Tight and slick with the oil of a 1000 feet. Since 1860 I heard said. The first telephone in China answered here. The first bulb shone cialis australia over the counter.
Einstein took tea in the lobby, his mind at rest. A truism, time is an onslaught. Outside the humidity still feels brushed on like paint. But inside there is machined air. The Astors floorboards loosen and shrink in this new Ice Age. Revealing in their newly exposed seams the funeral dust of those thousand guests.

Six Weeks in China

(July 10, 2015) A six week trip to China. Without itinerary or destination. Companioned by my 12-year-old daughter variously known as Fumiko or Fly. A few stories and photos from the journey to family and friends. The idea being not to get rusty in the written word department. As I am in the midst of writing a book to be called “The Death Q” which chronicles a 750 mile hike/trail I hope to open up near Death Valley. So I’d jot down a few short stories about China and call it a day.

Till my friend Cirina Catania caught wind of my plans. Cirina has faith in the beauty of the Internet. She proselytizes powerfully. This website “Stories from Steve” is essentially her creation. Without it my PCT through hike in 2013 would be undocumented and well into the process of memory deep fade. Her idea was to post my China dispatches here on “Stories from Steve.” I couldn’t find any harm in that. So here they are. I hope there is entertainment in at least a few of them.