It sat at the edge of my breakfast plate, pink and raw, waiting, waiting.

It sat at the edge of my breakfast plate, pink and raw, waiting, waiting.

The issue of sushi doesn't come up in every day conversation. I mean, why would it right? No one ever asks, How are you? You eat sushi? Unless you're an Asian fisherman or sell sushi as a day job. I digress.

Along with the rest of breakfast, a pretty pink cylinder of sushi sat at the edge of my plate this morning. I had seen a similar thing in Beijing, but couldn't find the right moment to give it a try. Today was that day and I'll tell you, it wasn't bad. Pretty good as a matter of fact. I can't say I'd make sushi a regular staple of my diet, but I'll probably go back for more.

Today (Wednesday) was the 2½ hour drive out to the orphanage in Huai'an, another "city" in the Jiangsu Province. I'll state right here that I'm living in the moment, here for the experience, good, bad, disappointing or otherwise. You really have to live that way so you won't miss the interesting things in front of you while you're disappointed because something else wasn't what you expected. See where this is going? You've probably already read Nancy's bit from today, so I'll give you my brief perspective.

It was a white day. Gray clouds hung above us all day, draining the color out of the world and made the orphanage more haunting than it probably is on sunny days.

The ride was long, but the scenery has added to the world-building I'm doing for this new (dystopian society) novel (series?) set on an alternate earth where the main city is divided into nine rings from the Middle Ring (or Divine Truth), where the royal palace is, to the Warrior's Heart, the 9th ring made up of the poorest folk. Each ring closer to the center is wealthier than the one before. One of the main characters lives in the eighth ring, Skyward Eagle, and works with many poor and criminals to build a wall around the fifth ring, Everlasting Beauty, to protect the important and the rich. There is no rebellion because everyone lives for the emperor (a new emperor has recently come into power and has demanded the building of the wall) and accepts their fate, except a few "freedom fighters" led by the mysterious White Fox (another main character), a woman no one's ever seen, but fights against the emperor, who she believes is possessed by evil spirits, to free the lower class. I think it will be an interesting mix of Chinese and Western cultures, with maybe a hint of magic.

We passed many stone farmhouses, some in clusters, others standing on their own. Though they were obviously poor, it added inspiration for the story and I took a lot of photos.

Nancy and I took turns holding Ben: She held him in the ride out, I had him on the ride home.

We got lost. After we got off the highway, we (our driver, tour guide, Nancy, Ben, and I) drove in circles trying to find the orphanage. Seems they either changed the street names, built new roads, or the streets have no names (we were "where the streets have no names"). Interesting sights and more story fodder. Felt good to stretch my imagination as we drove around. After asking three people we finally pulled onto a tiny, muddy side street in the middle of a construction zone and found the orphanage.

Whatever we were told about the orphanage couldn't prepare us for the drab concrete and glass building. The courtyard was a few straggly trees and concrete with a couple of colorful yard toys (slide, swings). The stairs up to the second floor were bare cement and the whole place felt like an institution.

But when we met the staff and met the kids, we felt the love these people have for the children. They were all so excited to meet Ben, and we got to meet his favorite nanny, Gao Ping. We also met some of his friends and got some great photos of the kids.

Then we went to see the new orphanage, which turned out to be a social services set of buildings still under construction. It will be an orphanage as well as a senior home. I couldn't help but think they would round up the poor and bring them here. On one hand, they'd probably get better food and health care, on the other hand, they'd be consolidated in a state-run facility, left to spend the rest of their lives there.

We were tired after all that and decided to head back to Nanjing instead of finding lunch in the area. For some reason, our guide maintains the belief that we don't like Chinese food. Perhaps it came from the first night, when we went to several restaurants and couldn't find anything appealing to eat. Call me fussy, but I'm not into squid, eel, or pigeon, as delicious as they might be. I`m going to try to ask our guide where the Yig Noodle place is so we can get something different for dinner. Yes, I said Yig Noodle. You Cthulhu folks know what I'm talking about.

We played with Ben for a while, who's found his tickle spots. God, that kid's got the cutest smile and the best little laugh. Thank God there isn't a limited amount of cuteness handed out when kids are born, because as Ben's got so much cute in him, there'd be a lot of ugly kids out there! But I'm sure all parents say that.

Overall, I'm amazed at how well Ben's adjusted to being with us and very pleased he's taken to us as fast as he has. He's such a great kid.

Lastly, I've started a mix (of course) of baby songs, so if anyone knows any, please feel free to pass them along. So far I've got two: Beautiful Boy by John Lennon and When You Dream by Barenaked Ladies.

Well, it's late (12:51 am) and we're going to a local park tomorrow, so long as Ben's feeling well (you know he has a bit of a cold) and the weather's good.

Until next time…

Love, Joy, and Peace,
Gary . . .