Flora and More-a (Flora)

Mark has observed that there are two things the Taiwanese love above all. Number One is food, and they talk about it incessantly. No, seriously: incessantly, as in "without pause or interruption." You can join pretty much any conversation between any two or more Taiwanese simply by blurting out "How chi ma?" (Is it good food?) There is a 96.3% chance that you've asked a perfectly legitimate question at exactly the right moment. The other 3.7% of the time, you'll get a really good laugh. Mark does this all the time. The Taiwanese don't just talk about food, though, they eat it every chance they get. And they will talk about food with their mouths full! In fact, they will go to a restaurant and eat one food while talking about another food as the flat screen TV in the corner plays some cooking show about a totally different food.

But since Mark isn't Taiwanese, this post is about something else. (Besides food? Ping wonders what that might be...)


The Number Two thing the Taiwanese love above all is plants, and they don't talk about them much, but they grow them EVERYWHERE!

Like Taiwan doesn't have enough plants...


(Ooh! There! See? Missed a spot!)

Indeed! There must have been a desperate plea issued by the government decrying the Alarming Dearth of Flora on the island and begging all Loyal Citizens to please, please, PLEASE plant something on the balcony, by the front door, by the back door, hanging from the awning, between the buildings, lining the front steps, at the base of the railing by the canal...

They even put hanging planters along the entire length, height and breadth of those barrier walls by construction zones. Not all of the plantings are successful, but they're there nonetheless. We went for a walk in Beitou and found a towering bamboo forest lining a fence, still in the original plastic pots after goodness knows how many years.

Any potentially arable land is being farmed for vegetables. Even in our neighborhood, nestled between the semi-paved path and the retaining wall holding back the hillside, lie several neat little plots, haphazardly fenced off to keep the dogs out. They're all either sprouting little sprigs or boisterously exuding greenery. Some of them periodically sprout bent-over creatures with rakes and shovels.

But the Taiwanese people do not do all this planting alone, unaided. The land conspires with them! There isn't a crack in the sidewalk around here with the tiniest bit of dirt that doesn't have something growing in it. It's probably blooming, too. Oh, and it's got fruit!

"How chi ma?"