A Laid Back Day (It's all relative...) - Thursday 6/21

I sit in the shade of an ancient juniper tree with a veinous and knotted truck. We know it is over 300 years old because the plaque affixed to the tortured trunk is green.   The air is warm for nine in the morning so I am glad of the shade. I am sitting on the ground and the pavement is still cool from the night.  We are on the grounds of "The Temple of Heaven" a public park.  It is pleasant. 

I am surrounded by activity:
In the shade of the juniper to my right, four elderly Chinese people -two men and two women- hackey-sack with a feathered weight.  The feather seems to slow gravity just enough to allow the four senior citizens to sustain the game. 

Behind me, "at seven-o'clock" a group of around a dozen middle aged and senior women have a boombox playing something that sounds like Chinese light-pop. There face two women who guide them through a  Chinese dance/aerobics session.  Some women wear workout clothes. Most seem to be wearing the dress that they have chosen for the day. There seems to be a lot of arm-waving. 

Just to my left, in the shade of another juniper, is a small group of men and women perched on low stools.  They sit in a circle facing each other. It seems that they are practicing for something; they have sung the same song at least four times.  It is a cheerful melody, involving an interlude with some cheering and four fist-pumps in the air. They have pleasant voices.

Off a short distance, I see the kids.   There is a calisthenics area at the edge of the park. Directly in front of it is an open paved area where there is a large congregation of people playing games. Our kids are over there. There is a game with metal rings. And a game in. which the weighted shuttlecock/hackey sack is sent back-and-forth between two partners. The aim seems to be to keep it from hitting the ground.  Some of the kids are watching the games with interest. Some have gamely joined in.

 After this we are heading into the heart of the park to visit the actual "Temple of Heaven," (more info here) a national historical monument whose grounds are occupied by this park.   After our visit in the temple, we will be going to a local shopping mall (lunch at the food court) and, this afternoon, we will visit the YongHe Temple (The Temple of the Lamas) which is an active temple and monastery with a school for Tibetan Monks.  (More info here)
 
Tonight after dinner we are doing brown sugar painting. (I have no idea what to expect, but it sounds kind of cool!  I'll try to get a video uploaded if I can get the hotspot, the VPN, and my computer all working at the same time. Lol.)