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Buds and Blooms
So many plants are blooming or budding at this time. Our garden has come to life, after some dormancy during the winter months. Spring is in full swing now, and there is so much color all around.
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Guqin assembly
Today was a major milestone in the guqin construction project. Between work and being away to the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons in Washington, DC, I hadn’t had much time to work on the pair of guqin. I spent much of this week catching up, and I got home earlier than expected this afternoon.…
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Washington, DC
The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons met in Washington, DC. On this trip, I had the chance to visit Kandus and Brad Thorp and their office at the Hope Channel in the General Conference. It was very nice to visit. Another highlight was the chance to tour the monuments at night.
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My Birthday
For my birthday, we made a simple meal of pizza topped with fresh and grilled vegetables. We also had grilled artichokes.
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Guqin bottom panel
Guqin construction has been extremely slow. I carved out the peg pool last week. I also started cutting the holes for the feet. First, I drilled pilot holes. Then, I have to convert the round holes into square ones, which is why it’s taking so much longer. This afternoon, I started but didn’t get very…
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Guqin peg pool
It’s been quite some time since I’ve worked on the instrument. Between going to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons convention in New Orleans the previous week and becoming sick two days after getting back in town, and having been on call for the past week, I didn’t get a chance. Resuming work on the…
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Guqin panels
This evening, I reached another milestone in guqin-making. For the bottom panel, I had roughly cut out the outlines on a maple board with a jigsaw and finished the finer cuts with a router. Then, I finished carving out the inside. Now, the top and bottom pieces fit nicely together. Basically, the major shaping is…
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Hollowing the guqin top
Today was a milestone in the guqin-making endeavor. After preliminarily hollowing out the inside of the top, I sanded the concavity. Then, I cut around the entire outline of one of the guqin and freed it from the original board. The next step is to plane and sand the convex upper side of the top…
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Chinese New Year
Yesterday was Chinese New Year. Many of the plants in our yard are in bloom now, and all of it added to the atmosphere yesterday. We celebrated by having company over, and to finish off the evening, we had a dumpling-making party. I took a break from making the guqin and resumed this afternoon. Progress…
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Mount Woodson
A group of us drove down to Poway and hiked up to Mount Woodson. Near the summit, there’s an outcropping called Potato Chip Rock, which is completely fitting for its name. We had a nice picnic lunch at the top. Then, we hiked back down, and a few of us decided to ignore the signs…
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Inspired to recreate the guqin
For the last month, I’ve been practicing the guqin 古琴 a little more. In time for the Prunus mume that opened and faded, I finished learning 梅花三弄 (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom). Now, I’m working on 流水 (Flowing Water), which is significantly more difficult. Anyways, I got inspired to make another guqin. The one…
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Salton Sea and Desert
It’s been so long since I’ve traveled out toward the southeast. The last time at Salton Sea was when we were all really young. The three of us went camping, and some areas were the same as I remembered, but the one thing that is now different is that the place has cleaned up amazingly…
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January Grill
Over Christmas break, we went to San Simeon and toured the Hearst Castle. There, I had picked up a brochure for their grass-fed beef, and because of the special deal, I ordered some tri-tip. Even though it’s January, the weather is perfect, and we had a barbeque. We grilled asparagus, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini,…
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New Year and Friends
So, it’s the first Monday of the new year, and it will be nice to get back to a regular schedule. The last several weeks have been filled with a lot of activities. For one, my dad had a major birthday celebration. It started out on the Tuesday before Christmas, and we planned events that…
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Dad’s Birthday and Trip
For Dad’s birthday, we went out for dinner on the actual date. Then, we planned an extended vacation, revisiting some of the familiar places that we had toured when we were much younger. It was a big combined celebration, of birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
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Jun Jun’s Farewell
Jun Jun, also known by Jack, has been in Loma Linda for the past several months. He came from the Second Hospital of Tangshan and mainly shadowed Dr. Mudge and me. For his farewell, we got together to make pizza, one of his favorite American food.
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Thanksgiving Weekend
One of the highlights was just having a simple picnic lunch right by the pond, on the deck over the vault. Also, I had the chance to visit the aquarium, Huntington Library and the new Chinese Garden, the Getty Villa, and El Matador beach near Malibu.
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Hope Channel Opening Ceremony
Kandus and Brad Thorp invited a lot of people to the opening ceremony of the Hope Channel’s production center in Loma Linda. Brad gave a nice devotional about the satellite dish and performed symbolic footwashing as well.
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Pond Construction
After several months of work, the pond is finally done and filled to the right level. Everything seems to be working well. The only thing left to do is to perfect the level mechanism to autofill and to finish some of the edging detail where there is exposed liner.
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Angelus Oaks to San Bernardino Peak
We climbed San Bernardino Peak today. The hike started from Angelus Oaks. We left Loma Linda around 6:00 am, arriving at the 1W07 trailhead forty minutes later. It was cold, but I started out in shorts, a quick-dry t-shirt, and a beanie to prevent heat loss through the head. It turned out to be fine,…
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Pond Construction Progress
Today, the high was 106 degrees F. Anyhow, it was a day for outdoor work, wrestling boulders into place around the pond. The depression had been excavated already, and months ago, I helped my dad with a homemade water level to figure out the elevation of the entire perimeter. After filling up the pond to…
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Seattle and Olympic Penninsula
I enjoyed the Western Orthopaedic Association meetings. The lectures were good, and I had an opportunity to network with some of the exhibitors as well. The association arranged a cruise tour of Tillicum Village. The best part was the cruise to and from the island. It allowed time to relax and appreciate a skyline view…
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Rainier’s Northern Loop Trail
I arrived in Seattle. The first part of the trip will be a backpacking excursion along the Northern Loop Trail of Mount Rainier National Park before joining the Western Orthopaedic Association. Sunday morning, Brad and I drove to White River Ranger Station to pick up our permits after having breakfast at IHOP. We then parked…
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Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Delegation
Dr. He Chao and Li Hong came with a delegation from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital to visit Loma Linda. We had everyone over to our place for dinner. Dr. Hadley and Donna came as well. It was good to see so many friends from Hangzhou.
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Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Graduation
Like every year, the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency graduation banquet was held at the Redlands Country Club. The graduating residents are Joe Bowen, Sam Chen, Kevin Dahl, and Chad Harbour.
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Savannah
Transiting through Atlanta, I arrive at Savannah. The rental car process is interesting. Budget, where I rented from, is closed. I get help at the Avis counter. They give me the keys, I go outside, and there’s no security. I just drive off, and then in two days, I will have returned the car without…
