I have been carried away with the idea of national flowers after yesterday's wattle. Found another pretty silk number showing peonies from the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Alas, no hand rolled edges. The peony is the unofficial flower of The Republic of China. I may come across their official plum blossom as I delve deeper into my collection. Before I started writing today, I looked in my garden and yes, my peony has bravely struggled through the winter ground and there are tiny tight flower buds. I anticipate them bursting into full blown heads, cream with a hint of delicate pink. Nice to have something to look forward to.
Looking back, I might not have had this memory of Formosa, the beautiful island, as Taiwan was once named. My husband and I with another couple decided we would have a jolly of a long weekend, whilst living and working in Hong Kong. The four of us duly met in the old KaiTak airport, proceeded to check in, friends went through, foolish husband and I were turned away.....no temporary visas for Taiwan. We waved goodbye to our friends, shouting.....Catch up tomorrow, we hope! and hastened back to Hong Kong Island to get the necessary pieces of paper. We finally caught up with our friends the next day and did a whirlwind tour of the highlights. My outstanding memory was not of museums or city sights, but an exciting trip up into the mountains through ravines with racing torrents far below. Some of the mountain villagers looked like North American Indians. We were told the DNA of a certain tribe in Taiwan actually matched those of native Indians in the USA or Canada. Figure that out.
I wish that virus had not given itself a visa to travel the world across land, sea and air!
In the meantime, I'm enjoying my peony scarf today.
Busy Bee, Scarf Face!
Blog 9