CNY and Family Tree

Happy Chinese New Year, readers! Sorry I haven't blogged for so long. My family had an extended trip in Kuantan (Dad's hometown). My grandaunts' good food, clean beaches, starry nights. . .ahh.

For some unexplainable reason, I felt urged to start recording my family tree this year. Since most of my elderly relatives (the ones who knew all my ancestors' names) were back in Kuantan, I thought it most strategically savvy to start my research while the family was balik kampung-ing this year.

Names were confusing. There were stories and insights attached to either this Great-grandfather or that great-grandfather. Apparently my great-great granfather (on my paternal grandpa's side) had ten children. I guess that was the norm in those days. Question upon question, relative upon relative, and I've just begun my search! (Sigh!)

In any case, it was an eye-opening experience, an insight into the lives and hardships and stories of the men and women who came before me in my family. To think of that great cloud of people whom I never knew, yet inseparably linked to, takes me aback. I see the pictures of my great-grandparents in a new light. How many were saved? How many years of hard work did it take for my old relatives to build up the blessings that I now enjoy? I wonder.

Chinese New Year Spirit?

The streets of Malaysia are being decked gayly with red posters and yellow Chinese calligraphy.
Rows of crimson lanterns, attached to wire, link lampost to lampost, street to street.

The air is full of the merry music that accompanies every Chinese New Year. The tv ads have been replaced with CNY greetings. TV2 is boasting of its "oriental special shows".

It's supposed to be a bad, bad, bad economical year, but the Year of the Ox in the Zodiac seems to have ushered in, along with it, a bursting festive bull market. The grocery stores are filled with banners of "Unbelievable Chinese New Year prices!" Pictures of oxen and water buffalo cover the newspapers and stampede on the barbeequed meat shops (the ones selling long yoke). Cookies are on sale agian (yaaaa!).

I think Chinese New Year's in the air.

Eagle Poem

The Eagle soared upwards.
Wind flew past his outspread wings.
Old feathers flapped a little
in the Mountain Air.

He swooped down, upon his nest,
and folded his wings relaxedly.
Then he went deeper in his rocky stronghold.

The Old Eagle perched there sadly.

Maybe it was in the way he carried himself,
or the flicker of something incomprehensible in his eye,
but that was the only thing that betrayed his fear.

Fear of Death.

He was old,
very old,
some say he was as old as the stars,
or as old as the mountains.

He was once king of the skies,
ruler of high outcrop
from the west coast to east coast.
But not for ever.

He coughed,
a sick, mournful cough.
Then a swallow turned its head.

"Alas, the king is dying!"
It smiled in comtempt,
"Liberty to swallows!
Down with you, Brute!"

THe Eagle stood up,
impassively.
But he could do little.
His beak was far from sharp,
His sight vague and blur.

With that, the swallow departed,
and another bird took his place.
It was the Eagle's son.

"What do you have to say now,
Father?"
It dripped with hate.

THe Eagle remained silent.
How had his son become so?

"Do not insult thy elder,
Be honorable to thy enemies,"
it said, mimicking its Father's voice.

"Who is thy enemy now, Father?"

The Eagle father sighed.
Had he only taught his son what was right?
What had he done wrong?

The Son retreated,
to another rock outcrop south of here.

The Eagle cried inwardly.
Agony ripped his soul
like a double-bladed knife.
To try so hard to raise
his son.
And fail.
Why?

The Eagle went backwards.
His mate swooped down proudly from the outcrop north of here.
"Here you are, Ostolrivarl.
Ex-mate."
Her voice cold as metal.

The Eagle bent its head a little.
The ex-mate continued,
"Remember the days, before I met Constofinarl?
When you would go hunting for me,
and come back with but a small sparrow in claw?
You were such a pathetic husband,
king-you-once-were."

A tear rolled down the Old Eagle's face.
"Do you not remember when I came back
with the finest soft hay from the east
to decorate your nest?
And the best cuts of meat I sacrificed for you during the famines?
Do you not remember?"

"My new husband gives me
the softest cotton from the south.
And the best slices of venison,
famine or no famine."
She flew off,
her feathers flecked gold in the evening sky.

The Old Eagle looked at last upon the wife he had loved,
remembered the swallow,
and his twisted son.
The happy days of life,
and the joys of his childhood.
Memories of youth,
Pride of Maturity.

Now, with bitter regret,
he stood up,
to the edge of his rock,
and with the last of his strength,
collapsed into the gorge below.

Death.

Tagged by mark again

Mark tagged me. I like his tags.


1. Of all the hymns and worship songs, name one of your favorites, and your most favorite line from that song.

My favorite would be "Be Thou My Vision". My favorite line? Hmm. . . I guess I like the part that goes:

Be Thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart

Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art.

2. One favorite verse/passage/chapter/book from the Bible. (Give the reference and if you're kind the verse as well.)

I like Psalms 19: 1-2

"The heavens declare the glory of God,

the skies proclaim the works of His hands.

Day after day, they pour forth speech;

Night after night, the display knowledge."

3. Are there any answered prayers that you've had?

Yes! I've been praying for more friends this year, and God has answered that request dramatically. Thank You, God!


4. Do you have a default prayer? (If yes then please type it out.)

:?

5. Has God saved your life before? (Any small thing would do)

Probably many many times, without me knowing it. In any case, I'm alive and well, and I thank God for that. I wonder are my guardian angels getitng tired (no offense, Mr./Ms. Angel who is watching me as I type this).

6.Tag at least three people.

I tag Benjamin, Whitle09, and David

Dedications

2009. It feels so strange on my tongue, rolling hard over it like a foreign name. The future lies before, vast, and unpredictable. I guess it would best to start my year with dedication, (even though New Year's Day itself is over).

Tis’ four days past New Year,
The future lies before me, so far, yet all so near.
I can’t see what’s ahead of me,
All seems not to be clear,

I know not what awaits me, beyond the turning tide,
My spyglass is no aid to me,
No new land magnified,
I wonder what’s in store for me, as the ocean waves I ride.

But Lord, please be a light for me,
And make me to all you want me to be,
Guide me and correct me,
As I sit upon your knee.

Oh Great God Almighty,
Let dedication bind,
Between just You and me,
This great new year of mine.
See me as I bow before You,
I place my little hands in Thine’s,

Ice Legend: Part Three

This is a really short part of the Polar bear story.

Everont did not sleep well that night. Maybe it was the hopeful expectation that kept him awake, or the thought of the things that the Schoolmaster had warned him about. In any case, the future seemed as up in the air as the night wind that howled like a mourning wolf above him. He shivered. Funny, he thought, that he had always dreamt of being an Ursidian kinght, battling wolf and walrus in heroic fights to defend Glorious Pernia. And now, with the chance to become the warrior of his dreams, he was so hesitant. The Schoolmaster had given him the night to think about his decision. It was hard to think, though, when your mind was tired and faraway, and when three other bears were snoring loudly in the bunks next to and below you. Everont reviewed the encounter with the Schoolmaster once more, and forced himself to make the decision that could change his life forever.

~~~~~~~~~

I'll reveal Everont's decision in part four.