{"id":682,"date":"2009-03-13T10:40:33","date_gmt":"2009-03-13T16:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/?p=682"},"modified":"2012-11-01T13:10:35","modified_gmt":"2012-11-01T19:10:35","slug":"connecting-the-dots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/connecting-the-dots\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting the Dots"},"content":{"rendered":"

It does not seem that my various mishaps here in Taiwan have made me apprehensive about exploring or taking risks.\u00a0<\/strong> I think this is a good thing.\u00a0 For example, on a recent bike ride, I found construction blocking the bike path and signs that may or may not have meant \u201cgo this way to follow detour.\u201d\u00a0 I decided to risk it.<\/p>\n

Before I go further,<\/em> let me make it clear that NOTHING traumatic or terribly exciting happened!\u00a0 The detour actually proceeded without a hitch on the way out.\u00a0 None of the loose dogs even raised an eyebrow. (unlike when I walked Greg’s bike home)<\/a>\u00a0 I soon found myself passing a trickle of other bike riders heading in the opposite direction, verifying my \u201cinterpretation\u201d of the signs:<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

I would like to mention that these were NOT the only signs on the road, by far<\/strong>, so deciding which to follow was not as obvious as the picture might make it seem.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 However, I have since learned that, roughly translated, it means \u201cgo this way by yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The detour was not the shortest distance between two points<\/strong>, having a variety of twists and turns, passing through back street workshop areas and then rice fields.\u00a0 A few cars whizzed by, giving the impression that they were used to open roads back there.\u00a0 Since time passes differently when I am not sure where I am or if I\u2019m getting where I\u2019m going, and I didn\u2019t look at my watch,<\/em> I don\u2019t know how long the detour took, but I estimate 15 minutes.\u00a0 Then, voila!\u00a0 I was back at the bike path, cruising a section I had ridden on before.\u00a0 I decided that I must take some photos on the way back, being amused by things like the taxi drivers fishing…<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

an refreshed by the lush green and vines in bloom –<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

When I reached Guandu Temple<\/strong>, I decided to head toward home.\u00a0 That makes the ride just over an hour long.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

This is a large temple, so it takes more than one photo to give a sense of it.\u00a0 First is a picture of its center region:<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

Then looking right –<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

and left.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

I pondered for a moment<\/strong> that the MRT station that Carlie and I got lost getting out of<\/a> is near and named after this temple.\u00a0 That possibly has metaphorical connotations….\u00a0\u00a0 The portion of bike path I crashed on<\/a> is just north of here.\u00a0 So, I began to get a sense of connecting dots.\u00a0 \u201cMy\u201d section of the city and region were growing.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>
\nThere was a slight drizzle from the clouds obscuring the horizon, but when I turned around I could see the colorful tower.\u00a0<\/strong> It was comforting and familiar.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

Some of the ramshackle buildings seemed strangely picturesque and wild so close to the city.<\/strong>\u00a0 They also cause one to consider how quickly the jungle here could overtake the civilization.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

Then I passed the horses.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

The place below is also right next to the bike path, very close to city life.\u00a0 It looked lived in.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

Then it was time to try the detour on the way back –<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

I saw the same rice fields:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

This garden was just across from the field –<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

After a little bit, I came to this beautiful yard:<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

Growing under a major overpass!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought, \u201cHow strange that I would not have noticed such a lovely garden on my ride out.\u201d\u00a0<\/em> After a couple of admiring comments to the lady tending it, I headed up the road…\u00a0 Within a few yards I was at a street that I KNEW I hadn\u2019t crossed before.\u00a0 It was a busy multi-lane highway.\u00a0 Where had I gone wrong?<\/p>\n

I turned around and spotted my tower again.<\/strong>\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t too far away.\u00a0 The blue-green overpass (that you can see in the photo above) indicated I was near a section of the bike path.\u00a0 To my relief<\/em>, I only had to back track a couple of turns and a few hundred feet.\u00a0 From this direction, the bike path was more obvious.\u00a0 It heads right under the blue-green highway for a 1\/4 mile.\u00a0 That was basically the same location where I began to breathe more easily when walking Greg\u2019s bike home.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you look at the map below, the pink line indicates my bike ride of account today.\u00a0<\/strong> The purple line shows where I think I walked with Greg\u2019s bike.\u00a0 That walk took over 1 and 1\/2 hours.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been plenty of other places in Taipei and Taiwan, some on the map, some beyond, but these lines all represent detours of some sort or another.<\/p>\n

\"dots<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s detour made me think.\u00a0<\/strong> I was quite glad that I had missed my turn<\/em> and had opportunity to experience that beautiful garden.\u00a0 The other \u201cdetours\u201d were less painless, but they brought beauty of their own.\u00a0 Our relationships and experiences are deeper because of them.\u00a0 We have walked with God on paths that he knew were there and he has been quite able to get us where we are supposed to be going.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It does not seem that my various mishaps here in Taiwan have made me apprehensive about exploring or taking risks.\u00a0 I think this is a good thing.\u00a0 For example, on a recent bike ride, I found construction blocking the bike path and signs that may or may not have meant \u201cgo this way to follow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}