A Present for 2026

I wonder if a person’s internal clock changes as they grow old. The year 2025 went by so quickly, and I now have one year less to live. I aimed to finish this piece of writing before the 2026 countdown, but it is now thirteen minutes past two on New Year’s Day.

Many things had occurred in 2025, yet I can only remember a few in detail. When the events of daily life begin to repeat themselves, our brains stop registering those memories with permanent addresses, and we start to forget and gradually resign to accept life is boring and, at its worst, meaningless.

The Name of Life

Last Wednesday, I returned to the neighbourhood where I used to work for twenty-five years. Down the main road, where I used to walk every Monday to Friday evening, except on public holidays, the noon sun was harsh, but the breeze kept the air light and fresh.

Several old shops have been replaced by new cafés or food takeaways, while some seem to fight on with new branding. I felt unfamiliar with the whole area, but nearly four years have passed since my last evening walk down the road from the office to take a bus.

Le Voyage

A colleague introduced me to hiking about ten years ago. Although I am not a keen enthusiast, I try hiking once a month, except during the summer. Most of the time, I am a follower in a hiking group made up of colleagues from work or their family members. Knowing my own limitations, I never challenge myself to conquer famous peaks or dangerous spots in pursuit of this hobby. Instead, the unique periods of solitude with nature during a journey are the motivation that keeps me in this pastime.

A Lady I Met At Qinghai

May is not the perfect month for traveling to Qinghai, a northwest province of the country, but I did not hesitate to accept the invitation from a friend to go there for an 18-day semi-independent tour.

I tried to invite other friends and family members to go with me. They declined outright because of their worries about their physical fitness and the risk of altitude reactions during the long journey. I guess another reason is that it is not yet a popular tourist destination. A friend has asked, ‘It’s so economically behind there; apart from deserts, what else is it famous for?’ Quite true, I knew nothing about the province either.

After a Rainstorm

This is the second rainstorm in a week. Better than the last one, the observatory issued the black rainstorm warning before dawn. Last week, I had to turn back home when the black rainstorm warning was issued after 9:00am. This time, I could have an extra hour’s sleep. Inevitably, the volunteering service session that I always enjoy has to be cancelled. It is disappointing.

Heavy rainstorms and flooding news reports have been frequent on TV for the past month. Nobody will argue that the weather has been extreme and unpredictable this year. I am not particularly interested in the causes of these extreme high temperatures, torrential rains, and thunderstorms, but getting around in such kinds of weather does cause a lot of inconvenience. Wearing a pair of wet shoes around is at the top of my annoyance list. Plans for hiking have been cancelled because my hiking friends are becoming very safety-conscious. I often end up spending the hiking time at McDonald’s having the unneeded food.