Sunday, November 17, 2013

Autumn in the Country

Well, not much has changed since my last post one month ago. I'm still busy with work, and still counting down the days until Christmas. But one thing did happen after my fifth trip to Cheung Chau, this time with my high school friend Sean and his girlfriend Hannah. I began to seriously think about moving to one of Hong Kong's 'Outlying Islands' sometime this summer, after my rental contract is up. You can take a boy off an island, but you can't take the island out of a boy.

For those of you who don't know, my hometown is Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride away from Seattle. It's green, quiet and relaxed and despite occasionally complaining about nothing to do as a teenager, it was a fantastic place to call home. Even now, I'm still discovering how the island shaped the kind of person I am today. Walking around Cheung Chau, I began to imagine a life in a small island house, minutes away from the beach, with no cars in sight, and relatively reasonable rent. There I'd be, playing my guitar to the rhythm of the waves. I still consider this dream fairly unrealistic, as my job hunt may land me elsewhere and who knows what kind of logistical challenges may come with a home far from any roads. Still, as John Denver sang many years ago, "Thank God I'm a country boy!"

Autumn has some of the best weather in HK and I've tried to take advantage of it. Here are a few photos from the past couple of months. From Pui O Beach, Cheung Chau, Shing Mun/Kam Shan Country Parks and Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden.