no school today, there is a typhoon going on.
for some people, knobody for instance, who knows far more about hong kong and world weather than i ever will, typhoons are serious business. for the 32 people in the philippines that THIS typhoon killed, typhoons are deadly.
for hong kong residents, typhoons are a lot of rain, the wind that destroys the time consuming hair arrangement, a day off school, a day off work, the wind that blows plants off your balcony, the rain that falls in a seeminly horizontal line, the loose bamboo leaves wrapping around your face as you stand in the streets waving for a taxi and watching people rush out and grabbing empty taxi doors as they are still moving. typhoons are rarely dangerous, though.
there is a slow build up to typhoons. we have known this typhoon has been coming for several days. since our sunday morning. the weather gets close and hot and breezes flare up and pass over, as it gets closer. maybe some light rain.
typhoon signals are weird…charles and i have been here for a typhoon 10 which was a walk in the park, yet have watched some typhoons that were never rated higher than a 9 cause buildings to sway, branches to snap off trees, cars to be left stationary in three feet of water.
sebastian is very interested in typhoons, and yesterday spent a great deal of time telling ladies at the supermarket that typhoons are dangerous and you need to be at home when the typhoon gets rainy and they shouldn’t go to school. this morning, the typhoon level was at one, and so sebastian got all trussed up in his uniform. and right before he popped into the car, the level was raised to three, and so we got him infront of the television and asked him what number he saw.
three, he responded.
exactly, it is typhoon three. what happens at typhoon three?
we make cookies!
anjali is here, as are adam and annie, and they have made cookies and cards for a sick friend, and they are currently playing school in the playroom. an aberration though: superheroes are at school and saving the school from bad people that spiderman, superman, supergirl, barbie and mr incredibles and batman need to extinguish (four kids, each boy takes on two superhero identities, the girls are happy being an interchangeable barbie and supergirl), charles is at work. i am getting a deadline done. jasper is vomitting again. i caught sela and carys doing somersaults in their cots.
the typhoon is mighty, but it isn’t strong enough to upset THE ROUTINE.
