Guchol and Talim

Honestly I don’t know what I’ve done to these two to have them shown up on the days we planned to drive to northeastern part of the island. Before the days of our planned trip, the warnings of their upcoming visits to Taiwan were constantly on the news. To avoid any clash with them, we canceled our trip and instead sitting in the house watching them did their usual dances that involved speedy wind and heavy rain.

Just as fast as their presences were known, they left quickly. I looked out of the window and wondered if I’ve dreamt the two days of excessive rain. Until I watched the news I saw the reality of their strength: Lives lost and home destroyed; roads and bridges washed away; many fruit trees were ruined so did the owners’ livelihoods. The pictures on the news spoke more than a thousand words. All of a sudden, my missed opportunity of traveling to a new place, to see the Pacific Ocean from this side of the world, seemed very insignificant.

In the midst of Guchol’s and Talim’s visits, one boy welcomed them with open arms - - literally. He stood outside, faced the sky with his arms wide open and let the rain pouring down on him. He laughed and hollered “Mama, the rain is warm!” While his relatives nervously requesting me to get him back inside the house before he gets sick, I smiled at this adventurous little guy and holler back “Yeah, isn’t it cool!?”

Everyone should have such an experience – at least once – and I forgave Guchol and Talim because of it.