The Free Radicals: Sick Child 发烧

King of moon gloomy afternoon
Losing track of word and meter
Still shaking in this tear room like a sick child
Still shaking nothing reconciled like a sick child
-Siouxsie and the Banshees

Just when I think I can't bear another whiff of the neighbor’s cigarette smoke or fried fish odors invading our house through shared ventilation, the intrusive interrogations of well meaning strangers, our finicky hot water heater that can leave you shivering mid-shower, our misshapen, discolored and abrasive towels, and the general hassle of being an expat in China, it's time to pack our bags and get Cali-bound.

Eagerly anticipating our winter escape, I centered Dumpling’s bedtime stories on all the wonderfulness we would enjoy stateside. My darling, Dumpling, California has washers and dryers that leaves your jammies gleaming white and powder fresh. Sweetie pie, you can eat creamy avocados until you are blue in the face. Little monkey girl, we can go outside without suiting you up in a marshmallowy snowsuit. We don’t even have to wear socks if we don’t want to.

Little did we know that taking that 15 hour transpacific fight put our very lives in danger. All that shared air with complete strangers! Who knows what vile viruses they carry? And some vile virus did find a home in our darling Dumpling's body.

The very evening we arrived in California, Dumpling's little body burned hot as a flaming coal. Shortly thereafter, my throat clogged with phlegm, my lungs wheezed a violent cough, and my body ached like someone had beaten me with a bat. We spent the following week hunkered down at Moomoo's, taking turns around the clock holding Dumpling as she writhed in discomfort and debating whether we should head to the ER. Yes, we had touted a one year old across multiple time zones in a cramped plane with hundreds of strangers-- a number of whom poked her with great delight-- just to spend over week under quarantine. What terrible parents we are. Understandably, Dumpling wasn't too convinced that California life was all that great.

We were not the only victims. Shortly after we arrived my mom was smote (for a second time). Then Moomoo. Then birdMAN's sister, brother in law, and their two kids. Who’s next? birdMAN's other brother-in-law and his daughter followed by birdMAN’s older brother. By the time our three weeks were up, pretty much everyone around us had caught varying degrees of illness- cold, flu, strep throat, body aches, and croup. We were all falling one by one like petals from a withering daisy.

Thankfully, our immune systems all did what they are supposed to: wage war and conquer it's viral foe. Once in good health, Dumpling did indeed enjoy California goodness. Being the socialite she is, she reveled in her cousins’ banter and loads of toys. She ate avocado until she was blue in the face. She got plenty of cozy time with Moomoo and Yaya.

So just like that, our California R and R along with February came to an end. Again we packed up Dumpling to make yet another transpacific flight, and suffered a week of recovering from jet lag. A jet lagged one year old is no fun! So looking forward to doing it again this summer (not!). I guess California avocados and dryers are worth the hassle. Let's hope we don't catch anymore viruses on the way.

Until next time California!

Chinese Word of the Blog: 发烧 fāshāo
English translation: to have a fever