Remember those first frosty mornings of the season when you would walk outside and see the leaves on the ground dusted with white, with the air feeling crisp and cold?   If you had a garden and you were growing a few pumpkins for the holidays, you would have seen this white coat of frost on the pumpkins as well.  It felt that way this morning in Houston when I went out before daybreak to get the morning newspaper.  It wasn't cold enough for the frost to be there, but the feeling was still in the air.

There are pictures on the website for Cici's school that show something better than frost.  The pictures were taken last week when it was snowing.  The football field was completely covered with snow, and some of the sudents were walking around the perimeter of the field.  One person was photographed while lying on the ground in a short sleeved shirt and shorts, making a snow angel.  A few of the students posed for the camera with huge flakes of snow caught in their hair.

But I grew up in the hills where snow would be several inches deep, sometimes many more, and it was an adventure trying to navigate up and down the hills on the snow packed roads.  There were no snow plows to clear the roads, so studded tires or chains were needed if you wanted to get out and about.  It was no longer an adventure when the snow turned into ice;  then it was downright foolhardy to be out on the roads.

Ping and Cici have memories (and pictures) of playing in the snow in Zibo City, located in Shandong Province.  This is Ping's hometown, and it is the town where Cici was born.  But the city where Cici grew up is like Houston.  There is no expectation of snow in Guangzhou.  One of these days, after Cici graduates from college and law school, Ping and I plan to spend a fair amount of time in Zibo City and Guangzhou.  That is still some ten years away, but it is not too soon to be thinking about it.

So on days like today that remind me of frost on the pumpkin, my thoughts turn to the plans we have made for enjoying our time together in the future.  You will become famous, Ping tells me.  She knows that I want to stay active even when we are in China.  She has therefore mapped out a plan for me.  There is an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school very near our home in Guangzhou.  The parents of the students will want you, the American lawyer, to teach English to their children, Ping tells me.  You can be as busy as you want to be, because everyone will come to know about you and will seek out your help for their children.

I guess if that is true, then my time working with Cici is training me for my future.