From Grits to Chopsticks

Our Chinese city recently experienced its coldest winter in 30 years, continuing a 10 year cooling trend.  The colder weather is especially hard on residents here due to the lack of indoor heating:We’re finally getting to the point where the outside temperature is warming up enough to open the windows and let the heat come inside (something we never experienced in the West):The harsh weather was especially hard on the trees and shrubs.  The workers diligently covered them up at the beginning of winter, but it wasn’t enough to prevent severe damage.  Here is a typical before and after scene in our apartment complex: Covering up the street-side shrubs didn’t help much either:
Most of the dead stuff has already been chopped off of the trees:Speaking of harsh weather, our home state of SC experienced terrible flooding last fall.  Last summer, we visited Gibson Pond Park in Lexington.  Here we are near the dam before the flooding event:During our recent visit, we took this photo of the same pond and dam after the flood:Fortunately, the cold in China is now subsiding, allowing us to shed the long underwear and push up our sleeves:
Hurray for Spring!