I planted rice today. This morning started out slow, as traffic was pretty much shut down due to the torch relay going through Lijiang this morning. We sat around in the courtyard with a couple of other travelers we’d met the night before, Ben and Alex, waiting to see if it would even be possible to get out of town today. As the morning passed, staff and guests began to trickle back to the hostel as the torch-related activities winded down. This led to a celebratory atmosphere in the courtyard, and Mama began taking pictures with various groups of people, regardless of their own enthusiasm for the torch et al. it was nice I guess, but mostly we just wanted to do something for the day besides hang around Lijiang. Finally, Ben was able to get Mama’s attention long enough to make arrangement for us to make a day trip out of town to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Rushed by Mama, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” we quickly walked through the cobbled streets of Old Town to our cab. At some point (I don’t recall if it was before or after we started driving), it was made clear that we would be switching cars halfway. Whatever. As long as we made it to our destination and back to Lijiang.

So, part way through we stopped at a couple of buildings nestled on the side of the road. We got out of the car and into a new one, said hello to the new driver, and off we went. Everything was ho-hum as we saw the sight (honestly, it was just ok, though most other people I know seem to rave about it), went for a quick hike, and made our way back to Lijiang. After driving for about an hour we pulled over. Our original car was parked just up the road. But where was the driver? We spotted him. In the rice paddy of course. Apparently we had gone through the process of switching cars so that the first driver (and his friend) could help their family replant the rice seedling. Ben had the bright idea to ask to help plant some. I decided to roll-up my pants and jump on the bandwagon. When else would I be able to plant rice? I rolled up my jeans and grabbed a bundle of seedlings that were out on the side of the road.

Cautiously I made my way across the field to where the planting was taking place. The likelihood of me falling in was very high, but luckily I beat the odds. As I stepped into the paddy my feet and ankles sank down into the mud and the murky water covered the bottom of my legs. Not wanting to ruin the rice harvest, I looked to the guy next to me for direction.

He motioned to pull out a small section of stalks from the bundle and then stick it into the mud. A lady came up behind me and offered me an icecream. Seedlings in one hand and mud on the other, I declined. But the locals were pros and could handle a cone and planting at the same time.

Just as I started getting the hang of sticking the plants into the mud, the guy starting tossing his in. I tried it. It was much more fun than bending over. So I finished off planting my bundle of seedlings using the “rice dart” method. Satisfied with having planted, I carefully made my way out of the field.

As Ben and I washed off the mud in the steam on the side of the road, our driver began passing us freshly picked strawberries from the patch alongside the road. In fact, he picked us a whole bag; they were delicious. As we were leaving, someone else came up with a bag full of little green nectarines. Another gift. We smiled and felt blessed by the hospitality of these farmers, and I will always remember the day I planted rice. And Matt says, “I will always remember the strawberries.”

And I will always remember Stewie Baby