Diary of My Country Life-July 15th, 2025

The original source of this blog: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/blogs/diary-of-my-country-life

07/15/2025 Tuesday 72-88F Cloudy

It started to rain last evening, and later on it rained so hard that some highway in NJ was flooded. 

This morning before 5am, birds already began to practice their songs—perhaps because last night they missed their daily performance due to the rain so they must catch up. How did I know their practicing time? It’s very simple: They woke me up 😂.  

Since there is no need to water the vegetables and the ground is wet, I can just enjoy a free morning sitting on the porch. Then two squirrels catch my eye—one is chasing the other spiraling along a horse chestnut tree trunk. The first one jumps onto the sidewalk and runs toward north, the other one is still chasing decisively. Soon they both disappear behind the neighbor’s azalea. A while later, one squirrel (I am not sure whether the chasing one or the chased one as they all look the same to me; but there is no doubt that he must have won the ownership of this property) returns from the direction where they just vanished. But instead of following his old route, this time he swaggers along a power line, then jumps into a clump of leaves on the same horse chestnut tree. I cann’t see him, but I still can trace him—since wherever he goes, that cluster of leaves rustles and gives him away. 

My eyes follow the rustling leaves going higher and higher to the top of the tree, which is swaying in breezes, where I lose track of him. 

So that’s the animals’ world, pretty simple and straightforward—no matter whether invaders or protectors, who wins the fight, who becomes the owner. Are they being complacent? There is no such word in their world, since anyone can challenge any other anytime, and any danger can occur.

However, it doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy their lives, despite the fact that most of them have a short existence. I guess that’s what they have learned from nature: When it rains, they are supposed to lower their profiles and be patient; when it shines, they come out looking for food or playing. All they instinctively do is to survive; but compared to human beings, they are unaware of life or death so they are not bounded by it.

At this point, plants are similar to animals. Just like that bush of lilies standing in front of me: In the past years, they grew and shot out flower buds every spring; then deer always found them and munched the buds. Therefore, they turned headless and flowerless for the rest of the year. They didn’t seem to have been bothered by this frustration; they continued to sprout and shoot until this year I decided to cover them with netting. So finally, this summer I could see their impressive blossoms, tall and large; their aroma fills up the porch. 

Is this the formula to survive in nature, or in this world? Just do your thing and be there; don’t be disturbed by or overthink all the negativities because one very day, something, some miracle is going to happen, you will be called.

Of course, the lilies will fade, the squirrel may lose his next battle. We can’t live in fear. 

When it’s time for all the petals to turn yellow and raggy, still hold our heads high, as nobody can be in glamor forever.

Last Sunday I went to a nearby flea market. At a booth I happened to see a painting labeled $20 for sale. The canvas was approximate 24”*36” in size; an open filed divided by blooming flower beds was painted in an impressionistic style. I didn’t pay much attention to the details but was merely shocked by the price. It was a genuine painting, perhaps done by an anonymous painter or even a hobbyist like me. But still, $20 was too little as nowadays it costs more than $10 to buy a canvas in such size online, and this painting was framed. Since when has nameless art become so cheap? Or has it ever been pricy? It was just a brief browse; I remember the colors of that painting were pretty cheerful and the textures interesting. How could I forget to buy it although I already have many paintings painted by myself at home? 

I love landscape paintings; in particular those where little houses or gardens are nestled and one or two persons are soaking themselves in their own activities. Nature, folks, they are the basis of my aesthetic world.

Thinking of that painting, I remember that there are a few paintings which I planned to paint but haven’t done yet. I like recording the places where I travelled by painting them. My latest painting was about Sanya city, Hainan Island province in China. In the past I never saw coconut trees in person, so I didn’t particularly take a fancy to them. But since I went to Sanya, that tropical island, I was totally blown away by those trees. When their slender tall silhouette and large spiky leaves swayed in the winds, it was just glamorous! If I was caught in the rain, I hid under the tree, watching the raindrops slide along every split of the leaves but I wouldn’t get wet. I was thrilled.

That’s why I did a painting about the view I saw there: Turquoise ocean, golden beach, two fluffy coconut trees hanging three giant drupes. While I, wearing a straw hat and our mamba dress, was watching the coming tide. It’s a very simple painting; actually it was simpler than I had originally planned. Even though, I still like its simplicity; every time I see it, I feel like I could smell the ocean of that vacationland, and I wish one day a fat coconut would fall from the tree right at my feet 😅 (A video named “Hit in A Tropical Paradise” which recorded this trip as well will be posted in our YouTube channel next week).

I have more places which I want to paint, such as the Suzhou gardens I visited this April, West Lake at the end of June, the Japanese temples and so on. Alas! But right now, lounging on the porch enjoying the summer view is so nice; please forgive me for taking this whole morning off.