My parents left this morning for a 9-day vacation in China. A DA friend observed yesterday how it was interesting my parents should choose this time to visit China, given the bird flu and all. I think my parents have less to be concerned about with the bird flu than they do with their optimistic plans to CLIMB YELLOW MOUNTAIN. They bought hiking backpacks and gear and Motrin for the endeavor. Let me tell you, my parents are not active people. They don’t do the gym thing, they don’t do the running thing. They used to spend some time taking a walk around the neighborhood after dinner (during which trips I’d get an occasional phone call with my mom panting into the phone while trying to tell me something she just remembered I needed to know, such as she got a coupon in the mail for batteries that she was keeping for me for the weekend when I visited them), but I don’t think they’ve done that as of late.

When I visited them yesterday, my parents finalized their wills, showed me where all the important legal documents are kept, and packed up all their uneaten perishables for me to take home. To use up her tomatoes, celery, onions, etc., my mom made a vat of ox tail soup. That’s one of my favorite things that she cooks. I haven’t had ox tail soup for a long time, and it is so perfect for the cold weather. The stainless steel vat, which I imagined was a cauldron, was also very apropos for Halloween. I had two bowls of the soup before I knocked out on their recliner. I awoke at 1:30 a.m., picked up my gargantuan container of remaining ox tail soup and grocery bag of various exotic fruits that my mom was dumping on me, and drove home.

I will be looking forward to the soup the whole time I’m sitting at Kaiser, I’m sure.