Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Homeless Housekeeping / Employment in New York City

As can be seen here, our homeless friend has disassembled her abode to do a little housecleaning.  The umbrellas came down, things were rearranged and tidied up, and it was time to do a little laundry.  Everything done in order.  No doubt the umbrellas were put back in their place soon afterward as she faced another day.

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I finished yesterday's post with my job search in Manhattan, and the search did in fact yield results in two places:

1) At the time (1984) There was much ballyhoo in the news about how desperate they were due to a teacher shortage in New York City.  I had a Texas teaching certificate with two years of public school experience behind me, so decided to take a stab at it.  I found the proper administration building in Manhattan, and they were glad to take me on as an applicant.  After finishing the application and submitting my teaching certificate they informed me that I was hired pending a background check and other bureaucratic necessities.  Due to this process I would be able to start sometime toward late October or the beginning of November.  "Where is the opening that I would fill?", I asked.  They couldn't tell me which borough it would be - could be Manhattan, or the Bronx, or Brooklyn, or Staten Island...who knows?  Thus, due to the fact that I had no desire to start classes well after the beginning of the school year, and that I could not select Manhattan as my choice for a place to teach, I decided to just forget the whole thing and search somewhere else.  Several months after moving back to Texas I got my teaching certificate back in the mail.

2) Since I'd had limited radio and TV broadcasting experience, I thought, Why not apply at NBC Studios in midtown as a Page (Guest Relations)?  On a lark I called and spoke to the lady in charge, recounting the experience gained in the medium-sized Beaumont market.  She actually sounded excited to learn that someone applying for a Page position actually had some broadcasting experience, and encouraged me to apply, all but saying out loud that I'd be a shoe-in.  I was greatly encouraged by this, but that little voice inside that we all should listen to told me that this was not the direction my life should be taking at that time.  So, reluctantly, I decided to drop the idea and move back to Texas.  Must say that it was a smooth highway back where a girl - and ultimately two kids - awaited.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Umbrella Home (front side) / My Almost-Homeless Experiment

This view, the front door of the same "home" posted yesterday, is fascinating to me.  This is clearly a homeless person's patch of sidewalk, yet it has the same accoutrements found in any Taiwanese household:  a bucket for cleaning on the left with cleaning gloves attached to the roller cart next to it, and outdoor sandals placed conveniently to the right.  As you can see, the occupant is inside and either putting her shoes on to venture out, or taking them off to settle in.

Slightly different perspective of same below:

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Running across a scene like this, can't help but think of a time that I decided to try homelessness myself.  I'd been wandering around Manhattan for a few days while searching for a job in the summer of 1984, basing out of hotel across the Hudson in Union City, NJ, when it entered my mind that it might be interesting to sleep on a park bench one night to experience what it felt like to be homeless in the city.  During the day I walked Central Park and picked out a bench that would be suitable for the experiment.  However, as nightfall approached I had a change of mind, concluding that my station in life - that of a solidly middle-class American, never having experienced hunger and in no dire straits - would in no way compare with the circumstances of a real homeless person, so would really be a sham.  Besides, what if I took somebody else's bench?  What if I became a victim of crime, having rendered myself vulnerable to the darker side of city life?  Thus better judgment prevailed and I just went back to the hotel, getting some good rest to continue my job search the next day.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Umbrella Home (back side)

This scene was encountered near the entrance to the train station, on our way back to Taipei after our adventures in Taitung.

As mentioned in a post from an earlier trip to Taiwan, one doesn't see too much evidence of homelessness there.  But when you do see it, there is a very different characteristic when compared to similar circumstances in other countries.  Here, instead of tents or cardboard shanties, many if not most times you see abodes created from umbrellas.  Very practical when you think about it...they are very cheap and easy to maintain, disassemble quickly for house cleaning or renovation, and by their very nature the roof is waterproof.  Not surprising to see this in light of the very practical Chinese mindset.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Night Scene #3

...and here was an opportunity for a good focus-shifted series of shots, per below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Night Scene #2

This is one I couldn't pass up.  It reminded me of pictures I've seen of those fire-lit lanterns that are released by the hundreds into the night sky somewhere over in mainland China.  This pic was probably easier to take, however, because these guys were not moving anywhere.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Night Scene #1

When it got dark we took a look at some of the more popular (read: touristy) night spots, where this and the next few posts were captured.  The Bigger Cahoona handles these types of scenes admirably, as there is usually enough light to speed the shutter to acceptable levels, even hand-held.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Mystery Mansion Eastern Style

Oddly, this house has become something of a tourist attraction in Taitung.  Much like the Winchester Mystery Mansion in San Jose, California, somebody just kept on building and adding on, and this is the result.  Of course I love it because of its rustic, tumbledown appearance, but have a hard time imagining someone actually living in the place.

Other views of same below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Abandoned Motorcycle

After exploring the coastal sights near Taitung, we ventured into town, where this guy caught my eye...

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Rocky Pole / Getting Old (in some ways)

After visiting the rock formations already posted, we ended up exploring an area where the fishing vessels were based, and these artfully-placed rocks were affixed to the structural columns at a warehouse.  A little further along we encountered a score of restaurants that took advantage of the catches fresh off the boats docked nearby.  The place had the feel of a Moroccan bizarre, with the proprietors stationed outside their respective establishments imploring passersby to come inside.

Definitely see a bookmark in this one...

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I've observed that as a person ages there is much talk and angst about the gradual decline that takes place in one's memory, balance, reflexes and intellect, among other things.  So naturally, now that I'm 66 years old, I hear my share of it.  I now unfailingly use the handrail when negotiating stairs, am more careful of where my feet are placed during a walk, chew a little more slowly, and take exercise a little more seriously.  But I have no hangups when it comes to intellectual or memory decline, as this has been a fact of my life for as long as I can remember.  Nothing has changed there aside from the fact that names are now a little harder to come by.

As an example, one time during college my best childhood friend (Brent) and I went on a road trip from Beaumont to the Ozarks in northwest Arkansas.  This was the summer after my junior year in high school.  We did plenty of exploring, and got to know the area fairly well by the end of the week we were there.  There was a hilltop view that I especially remembered.

Thus, when a few years later I took a road trip there with my best college friend (Kevin) from Nacogdoches to the same place, I was eager to show him the sights.  We explored Eureka Springs, then the Bella Vista area.  In Bella Vista we drove to the top of a hill that had a great view.  I said to my friend, "This is great, but wait till I show you another view that's even better!"  So we drove around and parked near a trailhead, and hiked up to the top of this hill.  Sweeping my arm across the vista I exclaimed, "Now this is really great, isn't it?"  Kevin took one look and informed me that this was the exact same spot we were at a half hour ago!, only we climbed up the other side of the hill so in my mind the view was entirely different.  He then headed down by himself to the car, leaving me only a little bit chagrined up there by myself.  Only a little bit because Yes, we both knew that I was perfectly capable of creating such a moment.

That, plus countless other examples, leaves me feeling OK about this business of getting old, because in the ways that count not much has changed at all.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Pretty Trailside Plant

Thought of this pic from the River of Love as I snapped this photo...

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Asphalt Hibiscus

Though some of the petals are creased, could not resist a shot like this one, captured as we were walking somewhere in Taitung.  The colors are much more vivid than this similar 2016 shot taken in Seattle.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Pillow Rocks

For lack of a better term, I'm calling this a pillow rock.

The Taiwanese seem to really take a shine to rocks shaped like everyday items, per this example captured on another trip there.

Much larger expanse of pillow rocks below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Undulating Rockbed / Charlie Brown and the Barber Shop

Amazing at how this expanse of rock looks like a flowing river...

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In an effort to spend a little less time with YouTube and other screen-intensive activities, I've taken to re-reading some of the old books here in the library.  Already re-read an Einstein biography, and 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper.  And just this week started to re-read a very good biography on Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts, by David Michaelis.  In this biography we learn that Charles Schulz's dad was a well-respected barber, and some of his favorite childhood memories were going into the shop to watch his dad work.  He cut hair the old-fashion way, a given since this was the 1920's, using a single blade freshly stropped between each shave.

This stirred a barbershop memory of my own.  In the summer of 1980 I was living near Allende, Coahuila, and had driven from there to Mexico City with a friend who wanted to see his newborn son.  His wife went down there to have the baby so that her parents could help her during the required 40-day period of complete post-childbirth bed rest, along with a few things they had to do to satisfy culture and superstition.  So we drove down there, and I stayed with them about a week in La Colonia Portales. (neighborhoods in many large Mexican cities are named colonias)

My friend's father-in-law was a barber, and the family lived above his ground-floor shop.  A few things stand out in memory about my stay in that place:  1) You had to bathe and do as much as possible before 6:30 a.m., because after that the water pressure was so low that only the faucets on the first floor worked - thereafter any water used for cleaning, cooking, toilet flushing, etc., had to be hauled up in buckets; 2) I found and got to reading a small text called La Lengua y Los Hablantes, and became so engrossed they just gave it to me...a book that I still have here in the library; and 3) I had to sleep in the barber shop.

Yes, in Amarillo during the summers of 1978 and 1979 I lived in a plumbing shop, and in 1980 I slept for a time in a barber shop.

Each night the proprietor would take me downstairs onto the sidewalk and unlock the rolling door, raising it to let me in. After entering he would move the heavy barber chairs around to make room on the floor for my prostrate form.  Once everything was set up to his satisfaction he'd go outside, roll down the door and - this being Mexico City - lock it, rendering me a prisoner inside until breakfast the next morning.  I was furnished with a pad to lie on and blanket for a cover (even in summer it gets cold at night there) with a pillow, and fortunately I sleep fine on a hard surface so all was good.  Even had a restroom that was there for the customers.

Being raised in the U.S., I was intrigued with this man and the way he conducted business.  Much like Charles Schulz's dad he dressed the part, in a starched white shirt with snappy pants and dress shoes...very professional.  And, also like the elder Shulz, he gave all haircuts using a single-bladed razor, using the strop to sharpen the blade between each customer.  Seeing my interest, he asked if I wanted a haircut.  Sure, why not I said.  So he went to work, first working the razor over the leather until it was extremely sharp, then using nothing more than that blade and a comb gave me probably the best haircut I've ever had.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Dead Fish Rock Formation

A long, long time ago cooling magma bubbled atop a bed of sand to later give us this formation.  Began to see something as I snapped these pics - the concave openings at the ends of some of the lobes look a little like the open mouths of dead fish lying around, do they not?  Imagination might be required to see it here, but swinging the Bigger Cahoona to the left, a pic was captured to make the comparison a little more obvious:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Hybrid Rock Formations

An interesting hybrid formation, with igneous volcanic material surrounding some sandstone.  The size of these guys is revealed by comparing them with the leaves in the background.

Another hybrid formation below.  The unique, stratified holes in the volcanic material came together in another, unusual formation that will be featured in tomorrow's post.

The saturation was boosted in this and the following couple of posts to bring out the color in the sandstone.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Rising Sandstone Formation

We continued to trek up the coast with our companions, where we saw this area featuring vast and unusual rock formations, mostly sandstone.  It was during the week so the tourist crowd was small, enabling the people-less photos that I prefer to take.

Toyed with the color and was satisfied with the much warmer result below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Park with Banyan Trees (perhaps)

 

This was in a park within the city.  Many pics of banyan trees have been posted in the blog (in Central America, in Hawaii, and other sites in Taiwan) because of their interesting root systems, but not sure if this is the same species.  The pic below was captured from the sidewalk nearby:

 

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Formerly Japanese-Occupied Neighborhood

We went on to visit an area of Taitung that's left over from the Japanese occupation of the island.  We saw this sort of thing in several other cities, and they all had a few things in common such as this neatly manicured scene.  Most of these places have been transformed into tourist spots.

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Landlocked Ship

From the beach area where the colorful bridge was we drove past this guy...a fairly sizeable ship on land in the midst of some pretty thick vegetation.  Had to have taken some work to position it perfectly upright on a huge metal jig.

If it was meant to get attention, then it sure got ours.  What is the meaning of this, and how did it get there?  We couldn't resist following a trail through the underbrush to get a closer look:

Would've given almost anything to get up there and explore the interior, and in my younger days might well have tried to give it a shot...

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Bird on a Rock / Some Good Ol' Western Culture

Caught this on our way off of the island to which the bridge leads, as we headed back for the beach area.  I like to capture birds on top of things, as seen here and here among a few other posts.

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I've taken to listening to James Gregory lately.  Being married to a Far East culture for more than 35 years, occasionally I get a hankering for some good ol' western humor from the south, and he fits the bill perfectly.  Reminds me of a few folks I knew up in Deep East Texas, a culture I very much miss since moving to the big city in 1988.

On one of our many trips to Taiwan I became so starved for some western culture that I binge-watched McHale's Navy on YouTube for two days.  Really filled a void and provided the perfect complement to my surroundings at the time...

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, One Last Look...

What photographer could resist taking one last shot at this contrast of color, celebration of solitude, and dedication to vocation that this lady has on display.  By the time we moved on I felt as though I'd found a friend, though it's doubtful that the feeling would be mutual.  Couldn't help but wonder, though - Who is this lady, out there all by herself?  Where does she live?  Does she have kids?  Does she come here often?  How many fish are in that bucket to her left?

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Yet More of the Fisherwoman

OK, so we're not done with her yet.  Using the awesome zoom of the Bigger Cahoona's vacation walkabout lens, plus the incredible light-grabbing pixels of its full-frame sensor, I was able to capture a closeup of our friend along with her "kit", as they would say in England.

A wider, compositionally superior cropping of the exact same picture below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, More of the Fisherwoman

Had to get some more of this gal, so compositioned her atop the arch featured in yesterday's post.

Just her pole is visible below (probably noticeable only on a larger screen), along with a much wider window shot featuring our friend at bottom:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Focus-Shifted Fisherwoman

Ah...and THIS is what Jon was looking at!  What a find, this woman in her bright colors against the dark gray rocks.  Could not resist a focus-shifted shot per below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Beach Photographer

This is Jon, a photographer of such talent that all I had to do was follow him around to borrow his eye, at times standing in his exact spot to try and capture what he saw in a scene.  Interesting to me was the fact that he was satisfied with his phone camera as the primary tool on our excursions together.  A very well-traveled person, along with his bride Tammy, it was inspiring to see a couple so compatible with regard to retirement goals and lifestyle.

In tomorrow's post you'll see my efforts to emulate Jon from where he's standing below:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, More Driftwood and General Beach Shot

Some more examples of driftwood that dotted the shore.  Some people collect these, and it's easy to see why, but here it's against the law...

Here we go with a general shot of the beach.  Not sure whether those protrusions occur naturally, or whether they are eroded cement barriers placed by the government to prevent erosion:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Volcanic Rock Plus Fossils

Aside from the smooth, rounded rocks that made the beach such a neat place, there were many other wonders such as this guy, obviously of volcanic origin.  Standing next to the placid sea with gentle waves lapping the shore, it's easy to forget that this island was formed from strong and frequent earthquakes, where the very ground we were standing on was once the scene of boiling magma rivers and violently moving earth.

And on this trip we got a little taste of what that might have been like, as we were there on April 3rd when a 7.4 quake struck the eastern shore of Taiwan.  By the time it wrapped around to us, however, it was only 4.1 in magnitude.  Interesting nonetheless, as the houses, buildings and ground were noticeably shaking in Chiayi County.

Below are a couple of fossil rocks that reveal the life found here long long ago:

Taiwan 2024 - Taitung Area, Selfie Taker

Now this is something I found to be a little bit funny.  At first I wondered what she could be doing, but then I saw her posing for a selfie:

Does it strike anyone else as funny that an attractive girl should go by herself to a place, then take selfies?  I thought it odd, but it's not the first time I've seen it.  In Canada a year ago there was another girl doing the same thing, only in a very crowded environment on the shores of Lake Louise.  A very nice looking Asian girl, and quite by herself, posing for pictures with the lake as a backdrop.  Seemed like she was having a very good time.