Mount Vernon Bike Trail

I went to DC for my best friend's birthday, and it also happened to be restaurant week. She had mentioned that we might be riding bikes, but I didn't think much of it, and only packed dresses. When I arrived, it turned out that riding bikes meant a 9 mile bike ride. One of the friends is pregnant so she was going to drive, and I tried to go with her, but was peer pressured into staying. It turned out to be really fun though. I had forgotten how much I liked bike riding. Last time I went biking in DC we had gone through the city, and narrowly missing a bunch of cars put me off biking for some time. I like biking on trails, where there are no cars.

The lunch restaurant was an Italian place, called Filomena. Apparently President Clinton used to go there and eat their lobster pasta. Afterwards, we went to the spa at the Ritz Carlton. There was a private room for our group, and no other party was there so we had the entire locker room to ourselves. Dinner was at Nopa, which was a really good restaurant. We ate grilled octopus and cod, but now I really miss Chinese food again, after two days of not having it.

On Sunday, I helped my friend babysit a little girl who is half Korean and half American (not entirely sure what her mom's background is). She is really cute, with Asian features and blue eyes. She is two years old, and very smart. I don't interact with children much, so I tend to think of them as very fragile. "Let's hold hands," she announced, as we were about to cross the street. As we walked around the field in back, there were stepping stones, and I was worried she would fall. "I will be careful," she said. At one point she almost tripped and I gasped, and she turned to ME and said, "are you okay??" She is very considerate. When anyone has a problem, she will ask immediately "are you okay?!" You can tell that she has a really good heart. And of course, a lot of energy. 

When I meet children like that, I really hope that I will also have such a happy child one day. She wanted her father to play with her but he had to study. She was about to cry--and most kids I know would just start screaming. But I quickly said, "let's go pick some flowers and bring them back for your daddy. Daddy has to work, so we will take you to play. You like flowers right?" She nodded, and within a few minutes she was smiling. It is a blessing to have such an optimistic child, I think. Such children can look on the bright side and focus on the happy things. I do think of the people I know who blame their parents for so much--certainly there are some awful parents in the world, but I definitely have met some adults who seem to have no heart for their family. They only remember the bad things their parents did, and the mistakes. I wonder if people are born with personalities like that. Some kids are just born to be more forgiving, and others more small hearted? There isn't really an equivalent word in English, but in Chinese one says a person is small hearted when they count tiny grievances and cannot let them go. A child who is optimistic, no matter rich or poor, will manage to have a happy life, I think. 

On the bus ride home, I happened to sit next to someone who was reading the same book as me. What a funny coincidence. Now I'm on the way to Flushing to get Chinese food.