Analect 2.524x

3 July 2009. Gray morning, mild...

Mother and daughter across the way, hand and hand for just a few steps, then turning to cross the street. The normal accoutrements--her toussled hair, mild face, the child's hands one upon the other, as with an acolyte in a Taoist shrine somewhere in the Heng Shan. Everything balanced on tall red poles, tucked unevenly into face of yellow cliff. Jutting roofs with ashen blue-gray tiles. Two small figures make the ascent, their hands on a narrow parapet. Only one looks back...