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.

Forever is Now

Ecclesiastes 3 is my favourite chapter of the whole Bible. The beginning reads:

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted…

The poetic list spells out the inevitability of the different facets of life. I think it is beautifully written but is dark and sad. I hate when people quote the twentieth verse in funerals: All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

3 for HK$100

It was almost 7:00 pm. I was glad that the shop was still open; otherwise, I would have had to come again for the third time the next day.

I was browsing and overheard the shop lady, likely the owner, having lively chatter about her commodities with a middle-aged woman.

“This one is better than the others, and it’s more expensive,” the shop lady explained to the middle-aged woman while pointing her finger in my direction.

Ebbs and flows

My hiking friends have teased me about my compact camera for the last few years. One of them, who used to be a photographer, reminded me that the camera was discontinued in 2016. I mocked him that I had made a very good decision to buy it in early 2015 then. Another one remarked that nobody would use such a ‘historical’ camera anymore and suggested I get an iPhone or the new HUAWEI, as they produced images better than the real thing. I chuckled and told her that I could not convince myself to spend that kind of money on a mobile phone.

In October 2023, during a hike, the shutter button of the camera occasionally failed to respond. I was embarrassed because my friends had to hold their poses whenever it misbehaved, and I had to restart the camera. I finally announced that it was going to retire soon. This camera had served me well, beyond my expectations, and it was about time to get a new one.

The Last Photograph

Finally, I got a WhatsApp message from a Miss Chan from the funeral parlour this afternoon. It came at the right time, and I was grateful for that.

This morning, I thought I had done something really stupid when I looked at a photo on the computer and was thinking about deleting it for good. Miss Chan was asking for a photo. It is the photo of Uncle Nine, the only photo I took for him when I visited him at an elderly home.