Easily Amused » Nature/Outdoors

You Wish Your Town Had This Park

David Xia — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:18:41 +0000

Centennial Park is one of the local parks in my town. I often bike or walk there to enjoy its wildlife and scenery. I've seen snakes, deer, hawks, and tadpoles there. There's jewelweed, rhubarb, milkweed, and bittersweet vine too. At the back of the park, on top of a hill, there's a bench with a plastic container filled with journals. The container's lid reads, "A little book for your thoughts as you sit in this beautiful place." Regular townsfolk walking with their dogs, spouses, sweethearts, or simply by themselves will sit down and share their lives.

Imagine Thousands of Rats Killing You

David Xia — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:44:11 +0000

A couple of nights ago I saw a NOVA show about rats. It was terrifying. Here's why:

Tai Mo Shan, Done

David Xia — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:12:19 +0000

A sign reading "No Trespassing," a ten foot high fence wrapping all the way around, barbed wire everywhere? Sounds like an unambiguous invitation to me.

Getting Away From the Machine

David Xia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:27:27 +0000

There’s a digging machine at a construction site near my workplace in Hong Kong Central. Enormous, cylindrical, and piston-shaped, it prepares the foundation of a new building on Pedder Street by driving a sheer metal shaft at least two feet in diameter into hard, raw concrete. When steel collides with stone, the ground shakes and an ear-splitting clangor pulsates through the air as the threatening piston trembles and rises to strike again. An auditory manifestation of the city's pace of development, the piston slams into the ground again and again – a metronome beating out the urban tempo.

Homecoming

David Xia — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:47:20 +0000

The air in my hometown of Wellesley, Massachusetts has never smelled so fresh. Having been in the concrete jungle of New York City for so long, my nose has grown accustomed to the smell of frat party aftermaths, fumes from beleaguered taxi cabs, and decaying detritus spilled and neglected by trash collectors. Therefore, the air here 202 miles away from the Big Apple is an amenity I never realized I sorely missed.