Intermezzos – Mandy Chen

Summer Flowers

I was sitting at a bus stop waiting for number 14 bus to come. There was this man getting off a 9 bus carrying a few bags. He sat down on the same bench next to me and started taking to me.

I am usually not comfortable having small talks with strangers right away, but he was holding a bouquet of flowers and that put me off guard.

“Beautiful flowers,” I said.

“Thank you! You like them?”

He looked down at his flowers, and then looked up and handed me a few, “Here.”

“Wow, thank you!”

“Nah, that’s what flowers are for,” he said, “Sharing.”

Orange Sky and Pink Snow

I took a nap this afternoon and when I woke up, I realized it was already 5pm but still bright outside.

Wow, it was beautiful.

When I was young, my dad used to tell me about all the boring adults in this world, “They never look up at the sky.” He said.

Somehow I’ve remembered this ever since, and looking up at the sky always reminds me of living in this world. There are a lot of amazing sunsets in Vancouver from time to time, and me jumping and saying “so beautiful” at sunset time has been very often. When life gets busy and tiring, sky becomes my comfort. Last year during last term – the busiest term ever – I still managed to take a bunch of photos of sky and posted them.

I hope I always remember to look up at the sky.