Color by Number

You can count 21 water tanks from our window. Abel and I counted up from 1 and back down from 21. There are 7 bus stops before I get to the stop from which I walk to work, but 8 on the way home. A metal bike basket costs 250 NT and 50 more if you would like the shop owner to install it for you. The 7-11 sells 16 ounce cans of Guinness. We live in building number 18 of the 4th alley off of Yong Kang street. 6 people have held Abel since he arrived in Taipei. 2 are his parents, 2 are restaurant owners, and 2 were people we met when we spent the morning at the Taipei Botanical Garden.

Taipei is grey and green and blue. Asphalt gives way to concrete which climbs up off the edges of the street and forms cliffs of continuous buildings from east to west and north to south. High on ledges between blue glass windows tenants place potted plants and tend to them. Fronds of green peep over the rooftop railings. Succulent tendrils drape over laundry lines. Awnings sport blankets of moss and creeping vines. From the unlikely base of concrete, green life creeps up through the cracks and crannies of this very urban city. 

The botanical garden is green and brown and sunlit. Acres of paths wind through carefully nurtured indigenous species of tree and shrub. We liked 2 of the species best: Musa acuminata- the banana herb, and Nelumbo nucifera, the lotus. Banana herb towered above us; broad blades of leaves arced from slender stems. Abel liked  the way they waved in the wind. The garden guard who held him showed Abel how the fronds feather at the edges. He liked that too. 

Lotus is a humble flower. It is a flower revered in southern Asia for its humility. 2 countries (India and Vietnam) hold the lotus as their national flower. At the center of the garden was the lotus pond- a pond of mud. Rounds of dark green leaves ringed reedy stalks on which flowers rose like flames from the oozy brown beneath to dot the surface. Flowers that rise above their mucky beginnings. Abel liked to drool and coo at the lady who held him while I counted as many flowers as I could see; 18. 

Back in our white and grey apartment, with bits of wood on tables and trim, I'm thinking a trip to the plant and flower market is in order. We will add our bits of green to the city.