Place: Lush Montana....

Montana...we had visited in 2013 summer.........lush green everywhere you lay your eyes on...

Back in California, drought was taking shape. which lasted till 2016...

Observation: Sorry state of housing in South California..

I find the housing situation in California very strange and deplorable..

Affording a house is not easy for young immigrant couples like us, with work permit ban, high health insurance, and other stuffs...

So, we live in apartments...in the past 7 years, we have lived in 4 different apartments in 4 different cities....rents rose with each relocation..we had happy memories in all of them, but also unpleasant once......

I can manage in a small place, but other nuisances..especially those pose health risk are intolerable.

The first one in Costa Mesa....I don't remember much bad things about it..though it was near the airport, and every few minutes, the roaring sound of takeoff would punctuate the silence..and a tiny mouse started making my kitchen filthy towards the end......

The second was in San Diego...This place was the worst..when endless number of German cockroaches emerged after months of moving into the apartment...live or dead, both ways, these bugs are allergenic....and I got severely sick...immune activation, inflammation..symptoms of asthma, brain itching, depression, amenorrhea, polycystic ovary syndrome, multiple sclerosis, you name it.....also, the apartment was near the I-15. Sometimes carbon monoxide would be generated and it would force its way into the house, waking us up from sleep at night...scary it was!.

My spouse made sure to rent a nice place in a leafy suburb for our third relocation...and it was posh Irvine..but not altogether problem-free. I hated when the fragrant laundry smell from the dryers choked the air..They should have found another way to dispose of the smell..in front of a grave problem like air pollution all other aesthetic investments are meaningless..

The fourth was in Mission Viejo..we took it for its vicinity to my workplace, despite knowing its location next to a busy intersection..but soon other, unthinkable issues emerged..a ugly pickup truck laden with pool cleaning stuffs would be parked every day next to the backyard; the neighbors residing upstairs would dump water in their balcony which splattered on my patio; the water pipe in the bedroom leaked soaking the carpet.....the outside AC unit fan motor would loudly whir and stop continuously....the noise and smell of leaf blower, lawn mower, trash truck, U haul truck....all within a period of 3 months!

Hate the state of housing here...

Observation: Fate of the bee hive.....

Last week I discovered a beehive on the Cassia tree in the premise of my workplace, under which I take my lunch..

(It's the picture of another hive in a fig tree.)

It was nice to see the hive form..in few hours it had grown triple in size, by the laborious bees.......

But it was scary as well...the other day, in a hiking trip, a friend had been bitten in the thigh, and I am allergic to cockroach, so I hold added risk..

But, they have the right to build  a hive where they want....and I thought, they will maintain the hive for  awhile and then move away.....

But, some other people in the adjacent buildings have noticed it as well...and bee removal service has been called..

After the weekend, when I came to work, the hive was gone..

I felt mixed feelings...bee threat is gone, but why must we remove all other organisms from our path?

Are not the bees not innocuous if not provoked?

We can decimate the forest, their habitat...but when they encroach in our space, they are not tolerated, even for few days......

Thought: Realizing inner strength......

We often underestimate our strength.......because human life in modern time is rather stable....we took many things for granted....

I used to rely too much on my spouse, until we had a tiff over something important..

I was appalled by his behavior and lack of respect for my wish....and decided to be as independent as much possible..

Before this incident, I used to take his help even in opening the child-proof cap of my vitamin bottle...and his driving for reaching to and from my workplace...

But with few attempts I could open the cap...and started walking to and from work, even at night (since I don't have a car yet)....

I had forgotten how I used to travel alone across the country often changing multiple trains and planes..hauling my luggages...making friends all the way.

Dependent status in foreign country made me weak......

I am thankful for high academic credentials and a job....otherwise, it could me utter misery..

I ask people, especially girls to be as independent as possible....