The weekend before Halloween, I ventured to Nantou City. I’ve lived in Taichung over two years and somehow throughout that entire time period, I had yet to go to Nantou. I’d been to Sun Moon Lake, driven through Caotun, but I hadn’t stopped in Nantou. Thus, when my friend from Nantou invited me to see her, the answer was obvious: I was totally going no matter what.
From what people told me, I had these vague assumptions about what I’d see: a mountain town, small and quaint village, and maybe no major western restaurants or stores aside from the familiar Family Mart or 7/11. I was half right. Being far from the expansive size Taichung is, there were little to no western stores I recognized and there were still convenience stores on nearly every corner. But it wasn’t a mountain town. It was, actually, bigger than I imagined.
The first night, we went to familiar territory: Sun Moon Lake. It’s one of my favorite places in Taiwan, mostly because of the beautiful natural views. It’s high into the mountains and at night, you can see the stars. And we were lucky enough to buy some stinky tofu, sit on the pier, and watch as the fireworks lit up the sky among hundreds of other spectators. I was told it happens only in the month of October, so we were lucky to have witnessed it when we came to visit.
On the second day, we went to the mountains again, except we embarked on a journey to the Sky Bridge. I’d been to several suspension bridges in Taiwan before, many out in Dakeng, but the Nantou Sky Bridge was much bigger. We had to drive for about thirty minutes, buy our tickets, and then we joined the other dozen people there to take in the views. Situated just above the tree tops, the sounds of the forest around us filled our ears and there was green as far as the eye could see. At the foot of the mountain, the high speed rail track was visible, just a little ways away from Changhua. I have so many pictures on that bridge, and honestly, I could have stayed there all day!
We finished out our day at a petting zoo, where animals roamed around the area. Some in cages, some not. A horse liked me a little too much, an alpaca ignored me when it realized I didn’t have any vegetables to offer it, but nonetheless, it was fun to see the animals before we came across some hammocks, where we laid down and overlooked the valley beneath us. All in all, after buying some treats and spending some time away from my home city, it was a rejuvenating weekend.
Up on that sky bridge that Sunday, I found myself a tiny fish in a huge ocean. After spending a few weeks feeling overwhelmed and worried about trivial matters, feeling my heart race as I admired the view reminded me of how much silly importance we place on the small stuff. It’s not about all the inconveniences, but about the simplest of moments, like laying in a hammock, feeling the warm breeze and hearing the animals sing in the trees above you, and just being among nature, the purest of energies in this world.
When all else fails, sometimes what you need is a trip to a place that reminds you just how minuscule a part we play in this world. We are among millions of other moving parts, but as the saying goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. We may have occupy a very small space on this earth, but that does not determine our impact. We can decide the magnitude of our impact by focusing our energy towards tasks of more significance, or we can mix with the masses. It is, and always has been, up to us.
