Daily life of an older adult: a pleasant little city outing
——After 50, give back to yourself the simple joys you knew 30 years ago
Now that you are older, you have seen all kinds of scenery in life. When outings are no longer about the soaring spirit of grand mountains and great rivers, they become instead an easily found, settling breath amid the collage of daily life. Perhaps just a cup of tea, a book, a stretch of open breeze, or the cool touch of skin on damp creek stones. Amid the hurried rush of the city, open a window of ease for yourself. At this point, going wherever you please is not impulsiveness, but a true listening and response to your own inner needs.
Pick up your EasyCard and swipe open the little-known surprise box in Taipei City; just one bus ride away, let your 50-year-old self recover the simple joys you knew by the water 30 years ago.
Surprise Box One: A Wild Little Creek Is So Close!
Take the MRT to the bustling Jiantan Station, stand on the opposite side of the Shilin Night Market, and wait for a big bus called Xiao 18 (yes, because there were really too many riders, the original "Little" 18 was upgraded to a standard-size large bus, to carry more of the small blessings of getting close to nature), then get off at a stop whose name has water flowing through it, "Bixi Bridge Station."
Before even crossing the bridge, you see on the opposite side beside the bridge, on the path down to the creek, the paper mulberry spreading its large green umbrella, greeting you with swaying coolness all over. In midsummer, the tree would also bear enthusiastic orange-red berries, reminding you of the rustic lingering charm of what was once called in Taiwanese Hokkien "deer cub tree."
That lingering charm, if you pick one and take a shallow taste, really can burst on the tip of your tongue with a faint sweetness, as well as an indescribable, unsupermarketable slight astringency and a bit of tongue-pricking. That kind, slightly wild taste.
These tiny lives have always quietly existed by the water. Scientists call them "indicator organisms," because they need the clear water quality of the upstream creek to reproduce and survive. While we think the years like water can only be recalled, they use their own existence to prove that even in Taipei City, nature still keeps a corner of time worth treasuring.
Who says there is nothing new under the sun? Even the most ordinary scenery can be chewed into new feelings and surprises.
In Taipei City, there is still a small creek close at hand, so tranquil it can serve as a home for the soul; and so astonishing it is as if time itself can rewind.
Choose an ordinary day just like any other, pick up your EasyCard, and swipe open the little-known surprise box in this city; within the distance of one MRT ride plus a bus, carefully listen to the self moving toward older life: a heart that can be as tranquil as water grass, and also as lively as aquatic insects.
※ Senior Mini-Travel Guide:
Xiao 18 bus runs 1 trip every half hour, departing from MRT Jiantan Station, ride to "Bixi Bridge Station" and get off. The creek access point is on the right hand side after crossing the bridge, reachable in 5 minutes!
The creek stones are slippery (there are occasionally fishhooks left in the water by anglers). Senior travelers are advised to wear shoes that cover the toes and have good grip.
There are no trash cans by the creek, so travelers are asked to take away everything they bring, and together cherish this rare corner of time in the city.