Markets and Daily Bread

#2025-0930

Since Jean and I came to Hualien for a “long stay,” we have been visiting the local markets regularly to buy food. We have gone to Chongqing Traditional Market (重慶傳統市場) several times, but more often to PX Mart (全聯福利中心) and to the supermarket run by the Hualien City Farmers’ Association (花蓮市農會農民直銷站 / 花商超市).

We usually buy what we need: milk, eggs, vegetables, fruits, fish, and meat. Sometimes we treat ourselves to ice cream, yogurt, and other small delights. It seems that the three of us—Jean, our grandchild, and I—consume quite a lot of food each week. This often reminds me that human life requires not only material food but also spiritual nourishment.

That thought naturally brings me to a prayer that has guided countless hearts through the centuries—the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

   hallowed be thy Name,

   thy kingdom come,

   thy will be done,

      on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

   as we forgive those 

      who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

   but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

   and the power, and the glory,

   for ever and ever. Amen.

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1)  夜市 ● 糧 ● 下大雨     (2024)

2)  A New Chapter in Hualien     (2025)

3)  《九二咖啡》附設 Kám-á Tiàm     (2021)

After Typhoon Ragasa

#2025-0924

"Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace." 

⸺ Copied from pages 134 and 135 in The Book of Common Prayer.

Deadly Floods Hit Hualien After Typhoon Ragasa

HUALIEN, Taiwan — Deadly floods swept through Hualien County (花蓮縣) after Typhoon Ragasa (樺加沙颱風) caused a huge landslide lake on Matai’an Creek (馬太鞍溪) to overflow, sending water and debris into Guangfu Township (光復鄉) on September 23. Streets in the town center were covered by water as high as a one-story building.

By late afternoon on September 24, officials reported 17 dead*, 32 injured, and 17 missing across Taiwan, with most victims in Hualien. Many were elderly residents trapped on the first floors of homes along Dunhou Road (敦厚路) and Fozu Street (佛祖街).

The landslide lake on Matai’an Creek had grown to nearly 86 million cubic meters of water—95% of its capacity—before it gave way. Within the first hour, the lake level fell 26 meters, releasing about 60 million tons of water, equal to thousands of Olympic swimming pools.

The dam was formed after years of slope collapses, worsened by the April 2024 Hualien earthquake and heavy rains during Typhoon Wipha (薇帕颱風) in July 2025. Authorities spotted the lake by satellite in July and began monitoring, but its collapse was too powerful to stop.

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* Note: The numbers were later updated to “14 dead, 32 injured, and 46 missing” as of 10:00 p.m. on September 24, according to UDN (聯合新聞網), and to “14 dead, 52 injured, and 34 missing” as of 10:00 a.m. on September 25, according to China Times (中時新聞網). Beyond these numbers are real people and families facing loss and hardship; the floods on Martai’an Creek leave me sorrowful for all who suffer. May comfort and strength be with those who mourn and those struggling to recover.

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  Typhoon Night and My Reflections     (2025)

2)  An Outing: Matai'an Wetland     (2025)

3)  0403 花蓮地震 (Earthquakes)     (2024)

4)  The Xiaozhuilu and Shakadang Trails (Part A)     (2024)

班親會 (Parent-Teacher Meeting)

#2025-0920

Hen gaoxing jintian you jihui canjia sunzi de banqinhui (班親會) — Huodong shouce shang de zhengshi mingcheng shi "Qinzhi Jiangzuo Ji Banji Jiazhang Hui" (親職講座暨班級家長會).

Di yi ci yu 904 ban de banjidaoshi, Huang Huijun laoshi (黃惠君老師), yi dui yi miantan. Women tanle xuduo guanyu guozhongsheng jiaoyu de wenti, baokuo Yifeng (wode sunzi) muqian de xuexi qingkuang yiji jianglai ta yao hui dao Zhongbu Diqu jiudu gaozhong de jihua.

Wode zhenxin hua: Feichang ganxie Huang laoshi dui xuesheng de yongxin jiaodao; ye hen ganxie ta chongman aixin han naixin de dailing! 😆😁😃

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1)  上學的路 (Going to School...)     (2025)

2)  I Remember You, Mr. T. P. Lu     (2016)

3)  人本自然～Chatting during Lunch!     (2024)

山水間，爭豔

#2025-0919

《山水間，爭豔》

遊罷美崙山

歸來

穿過忠烈祠

越過尚志橋

俯視

美崙溪之美

美呀！

青青草地

淙淙流水

水岸邊

一路

原生種五色欒華

花正盛開

光澤甚美

細賞

那一列夏綠秋黃

忽見堤岸上

矮叢中

另有小白花

忘名 . . .

爭豔！

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  美崙山 "嶺線步道"     (2023)

2)  Stories Along Meilun Creek     (2025)

3)  不知名的草花     (2021)

4)  關山夕照     (2011)

浜辺の歌 (Hamabe no Uta)

#2025-0917

On YouTube I came across a piano and violin duet with a melody that felt incredibly familiar, yet I couldn’t recall what song it was. What could it be? What piece of music was this? . . . The lyrical tune was so vivid in my memory, yet its title and lyrics were a complete blank in my mind. How frustrating it was!

Driven by curiosity, I searched online and compared different sources. At last, I found a small clue: the piece had originally come from a Japanese popular song. It is said that the composer’s first inspiration was a “love song.” Over time, however, it was covered in different languages—including Mandarin—and even had its lyrics rewritten based on Psalm 23, turning it into a well-known hymn sung widely in churches.

At the end of this note, you’ll find a handwritten copy of Song by the Seashore alongside a printout of The Lord God Is My Shepherd that I downloaded online. Place them side by side, and you can see how the melodies, though alike in sound, lead to very different meanings and settings.

在 YouTube 上面聽到一首鋼琴和小提琴協奏的，極為熟悉的旋律，卻想不起是什麼歌曲。究竟是什麼歌？什麼曲目呢？. . . 那抒情的旋律明明熟悉得很，其歌名及歌詞，在我心中，卻誠然一片空白。煞是苦惱啊！

好奇心驅使下，我努力上網搜尋、比對。終於獲得一丁點兒答案：這首曲子，源自日本的流行歌謠；據說，最初的創作動機及靈感是「情歌」；而最終，它被翻唱成不同的語言，包括華語；甚至被改了歌詞，以詩篇 23 篇為藍本，成為一首教會裡廣為傳唱的「聖詩」。

請參看文末所附的《海濱之歌》手抄本，並一份從網路下載的《主耶和華是我牧者》翻印本，兩相對照，欣賞其中的，看似音律雷同，實則義理迴異的「情景／情境」(scenes and/or situations)。

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附註 (Notes)：The Japanese title of the song is 浜辺の歌 (Hamabe no Uta) — literally “Song of the Shore” or “Song by the Seashore.” It was created by:

• Lyrics: Kokei Ujō (鹿島鳴秋, also known as 林古渓, 1873–1965)
• Music: Tamezō Narita (成田為三, 1893–1945)

It was first published in 1916, and has since become one of Japan’s beloved shōka (school songs) and is often performed in both classical and popular arrangements.

Here’s an English rendering of Hamabe no Uta (浜辺の歌), aiming to capture the imagery and mood rather than a strict word-for-word translation:

Song by the Seashore

At dawn I wandered the quiet shore,

Where waves rose high, then broke and fell;

Their murmurs drifted evermore,

A timeless song I knew so well.

The dreams of yesterday took flight,

Upon the tide they ebbed away;

Foam and shadow, fading light,

Lost to the sea at break of day.

At dusk I walked the shore again,

My heart weighed down, my voice grew weak;

I called the name of one long gone—

Only the wind replied from the deep.

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上學的路 (Going to School...)

#2025-0915

Jiu yue chu, xuexiao kaixue hou, wo zongshi kaiche song sunzi shangxue. Dagai zai 7:15 a.m. zuoyou likai jiamen, yanzhe teding lujing, zaisong ta dao Guofeng Guozhong (國風國中) fujin de jiejiao, rang ta xiache.

Qichu, ta hui wen wo, "Ni jide huiqu de luxian ma?"

Jingyan gaosu ta — yiji wo ziji, wo shige bu tai ren lu de ren; yi bu xiaoxin, jiu mishi fangxiang le!

"Mei wenti," wo zongshi zheme huida. Wo hai bu yiju: "Tiaotiao daolu tong Luoma, bushi ma?"

All roads lead to Rome... (Tiaotiao daolu tong Luoma; shututonggui.) 

Rujin, wo yijing xiguan le: Cong jiaotang loushang de zhuchu, dao Guofeng Guozhong, meiyou wenti; cong Guofeng huidao Sheng Lujiatang (聖路加堂), geng buzai hua xia la! — Huicheng de lushang, hui jingguo yijia conglai mei guangguguo de kafei xiaowu, qiangbi-shang xiezhe: For lover of coffee! Duiyu zhe ji ge yingwen zi, wo hai man gan xingqu ne!

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