Sampan Girl by Kee Fung Ng

Girl with Little Brother by Kee Fung Ng

Chinese Chess by Kee Fung Ng

Girl with Little Sister by Kee Fung Ng

This seems to be my China week.  I saw the Chinese cello maestro, Yo-Yo Ma, in concert (still glowing!).  Blog sistah Amy is over in China on a medical mission and blogging about it at Amy Loves China. On a more prosaic level, my siblings and I went out to a favorite Chinese restaurant, New Star. My sister Margo, a New Star patron for almost 30 years, is on a first name basis with Tom, the owner. 

While we were eating my eye was drawn to a large painting on a wall in another section. Four children are sprawled all over the bow of a junk, dangling their legs.  The children’s faces were joyfully serene.

As I walked over to get a closer look, my sister summoned Tom, who graciously answered my questions.  According to Tom, Kee Fung Ng is little known here in the states [although he does have a gallery in San Francisco] but is very well known in Hong Kong.  He felt lucky to have an original Ng painting.  They used to have another one in the store but his father liked it so much, he took it home.  Father has passed; step-mother still has painting. Exit Tom.

Googling “Kee Fung Ng” found these plates. They don’t compare to the painting in New Star, but it’s the best I can do.

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I see two of my best friends from childhood soon!  Ruthie is coming over today to spend the afternoon with me.  And Michelle (Micky to me) is stealing me away Friday for a day in downtown Chicago.  There’s something about the pulse of the inner city, particularly the Loop, that gets my countrified blood accelerating.  Will we hit the Art Institute or see the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum? I’ll let you know next week!  Both of us much prefer museums to shopping, but however we spend the time, we shall be talking and listening to one another. 

Dear, old friends are such a comfort.  We’ve been through thick and thin, hither and yon, painful moments of grief and great times of fun together.  No matter the amount of time since we’ve last talked — it takes only a moment to pick  up the threads of the relationship and be knit together.  

By Saturday evening I will be back in my own home!  My guys at home are back-packing so I won’t see them for another day after I return.  Sigh. Hat tip to Diane for quote:

An enormous part of my past does not exist without my husband. An enormous part of my present, too.  I still feel somehow that things do not really happen to me unless I have told them to him.   ~ Anna Quindlen