Lindy’s Wuxi Photo Journal

Below are the first set of pictures from the collection that Lindy sent me from her new home in China. They're wonderful, and I love her captions. I'll post a set from time to time when I'm not too lazy. I lost the captions to the pictures for a while, but then I found them again. I'm not good at arranging pictures artfully, so here they are all in a row.

About ten feet from my door the workmen were burning bamboo to heat this vat of tar. They are always very considerate of me, stopping work and lining the sidewalk until I pass. We say nee-how to one another and then laugh about it. They are very interested in what I wear, especially my watch. Not a bad way to start the day, though I can see that it will get old after just a bit.

This is the little path I take if I want to walk out to the main gate. Of course, I can have a car meet me at my apartment but it’s a nice walk. The grounds are well landscaped and I see lots of people on my way. You can see the gate house there in the distance, just to the right of the light pole.

The sky in Wuxi is not really that blue. I’ve helped it along. Usually the sky is white or light brown, reflecting the smog. Occasionally a little blue peeps through. At least that’s what I’ve been told. I am waiting.

This is the little store, located right here in the compound. It has only a few items but one of them is Diet Coke! The primary enterprise of the store is delivering water to the community. You may know that the water in China is contaminated by heavy metals and I imagine a few other things too. It’s OK for bathing and even tooth brushing. But, we all drink only bottled water or wine. Some people drink beer.

This is the little dog who lives at the store. In the previous photo he’s just outside the door. His guardians keep him clean, and I think he is well cared for, if often ignored. There are many dogs and cats in China. I would love to gather them up and take them to the vet and the groomer. Those are my middle-class western values. Not always appropriate here in China.

This is one of the security guards at Venice Gardens. It is his duty to protect us. He’s one of the nicer ones. Always smiles when calling me a car.