Tim Tang, Tam Ting, and Bik

 

by Ann Christine Tabaka 

green tea

 Tim Tang and Tam Ting were two-year-old panda bears that were relocated from the lush green forests of the Gansu province in China, to a zoo in the eastern United States of America. They were purchased at a great price with hopes of their mating and producing young pandas. They were both healthy and beautiful specimens of their species. Their thick soft coats of white with black accents sparkled in the sunlight. When captured, they displayed all the excellent qualities that the purchasing zoo was looking for. Tam Ting was romping and playing with her sister, under her mother’s watchful eyes. Tim Tang was racing other male pandas up the mountain sides competing for the tastiest bamboo plants. All of that was to change soon.

            The long arduous airplane trips, while stuck in small cages, in the dark cargo holds was not very pleasant for either of them. They arrived at BMI airport in Baltimore one day apart. From the day they were first captured, everything was very strange to them; the sounds, the smells, the humans bustling all around jabbering. They were very confused, and could not understand a word that the furless ones were uttering. They wondered what was happening to them.

            Tam Ting hung her head low. She was very depressed because she was taken away from her mother and sister. She did not know what she did wrong to deserve this great punishment. She moped and would not respond to any stimulus. Tim Tang was furious because he was just becoming old enough to challenge other male pandas for territory and females. He ranted and raged the entire time in his small cage. Neither panda was very happy about the situation they were thrust into. No one asked them if they wanted to leave their family and homes in the mountain forests. One day they were living a normal panda life, and the next day everything was turned upside down. 

            Tim Tang and Tam Ting were cordial enough when they were first introduced to each other. They calmly exchanged pleasantries, and asked where each had lived before. They even knew a few of the same panda families. Both were too distraught to be more interested in each other, so after a short but friendly chat, each walked away to seek out their own corner of the zoo’s panda compound. The compound was set up with treed hills to climb, and a small spring with fresh running water. There was a large patch of ripe bamboo plants ready for munching on, and a section where more bamboo was being grown to replace the eaten plants. There was a small cave under the artificial hill that they could use for shelter. It was designed to look as closely to their native habitat as possible. But neither panda was fooled. They knew it wasn’t home. They decided to plot a way to escape and return to their real home.

            Many weeks passed and the pandas showed no interest in being together or mating. The zoo management and vet grew concerned. The pandas didn’t fight or spit, but they just did not show an ounce of affection towards each other. They often sat in the same area, but several feet apart with their backs turned toward each other. They would occasionally turn to speak to each other out of loneliness. Tam Ting would often ask Tim Tang, “Why would they do this to us? Do they hate our kind so much as to separate us from everything that we love?” Tim Tang would just shrug and shake his head before lying down and curling up into a ball to take a nap out of boredom.

            Three months passed, and winter was nearing. It was getting cold, but the pandas did not mind the cold. One day a tiny black and white tuxedo kitten came strolling in through the zoo’s large black iron gates. She squeezed through easily enough. She wasn’t sure where she was, or where she should go to next. She wandered around looking into all the animal pits and cages thinking to herself, “That is no way for such big magnificent animals to live.” She was too frightened to try to make friends with the huge polar bears, plus their compound was too cold and icy. She said “Hello,” then moved along.  The tigers were too scary, even though they were feline like she was, and the bison did not look much like the friendly sort. Then she came upon the panda’s compound and looked in. Tam Ting looked so sad, that the poor little kitten could not help herself. She jumped right in, sauntered up to the young panda and said “Hello, I am all alone and I would like to be your friend, if you would let me.” Tam Ting sat straight up looking surprised and replied, “Who and what are you? You look like a baby panda with your black and white coloring.” The kitten replied, “I am a cat. I do not know my name since my mother, brothers and sisters were captured two nights ago, but I escaped. I do not know where they are and I am cold and lonely.” Tam Ting lit up and asked, “May I give you a name?” The kitten thought about it for a few seconds then said, “Yes, I would be happy to have a name.” Tam Ting said, “Your eyes are the color of the rare pale jade in my homeland; I will call you Bik, which means jade in my native language.” “Oh, I love that name” the kitten announced, “I am Bik!” Then Tam Ting stopped to think for a moment. She said, “I am happy to cuddle with you and keep you warm, but we eat bamboo, and sometime an egg or some pumpkin as a treat. What do you need to eat?”  The kitten looked pensive then said, “I am a great hunter. I will keep your home free of mice and vermin, and that shall be my food.” Both seemed happy with the agreement and Bik curled up in Tam Ting’s arms and they drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

            The next morning when Tim Tang saw Tam Ting playing with Bik, he came over and asked, “What is this?” Tam Ting said, “This is my new friend Bik. See her beautiful eyes, the color of our native jade.” Tim Tang asked, “Will you be my friend too?” Bik jumped up into his arms and started to purr loudly. The three new friends romped and cuddled and had so much fun.

            Later that morning, all the visitors to the zoo crowded around the exhibit excitingly taking photos. When one of the employees saw what was happening, they sent for the zoo’s vet. The vet came immediately with her technician. They cautiously entered the compound and approached the pandas and the kitten. They were concerned that the pandas might harm the kitten, but when they got nearer, they noticed that Tam Ting was lovingly holding the kitten and it was purring. The vet tried to take the kitten, but her technician tapped her on the shoulder, and said, “Look how happy they seem. Tam Ting and the kitten both look as if they are pleading with their eyes, and Tim Tang is standing defensively behind them.” The vet nodded and decided to try talking to the animals. “May I please take the kitten for a little while, to make sure she is healthy?” The pandas did not understand her words, but the vet’s voice sounded kind and her facial expression was loving, so they handed the kitten over to the vet. The Vet said, “Well. I suppose we will need to find a name for you, won’t we?  How about Sun Li?” All three animals looked disapprovingly. Then the vet tried several more Chinese names. None of them seemed to make the animals happy. Finally, she exclaimed, “AHA, bright jade eyes, I know, how about Bik?” The kitten smiled and meowed loudly. “So, Bik it is” replied the vet, then she added, “Let’s take you back to the hospital to get you checked on, and up on all your vaccinations. Meanwhile my tech will go out to get you some proper cat food and nice warm cat bed to sleep in.”

            Bik was happy and felt right at home with her new family, even though their habits were very different from hers. She loved to snuggle with Tam Ting, and she would race up the trees with Tim Tang chasing after her, all in fun of course. Meanwhile Tim Tang and Tam Ting became more affectionate towards each other, and started to spend an unusual amount of time together. The vet and other panda experts never experienced a male-female relationship such as this before.  Usually males will mate, then move on, but this pair seemed to become a true couple. The vet wondered if Bik had something to do with it.

            The vet kept a close eye on Tam Ting, and started to notice signs that she was pregnant. The zoo owners and the vet decided to start making a list of possible names for the expected cub. One day the vet came into the compound to check on Tam Ting, and of course Bik was right there by her side, watching everything that was going on. The vet had learned that even though she and the pandas could not speak the same language, they were able to communicate quite adequately by observing each other’s facial expressions and body language. Then of course Bik would always chime in vocally as if she was translating for the pandas. The vet started to read off names for the baby panda. Both Tam Ting and Bik seemed uninterested until she said “Ling-Ling.” Both Tam Ting and Bik sat up erect with their ears perked up. They seemed to smile as they looked at each other and nodded. Yes, the vet was amazed, but they actually nodded at each other. Then they both turned towards her in unison and nodded again. “Well, I guess that is it then. The baby’s name will be Ling-Ling” the vet responded.  She walked away wondering if what just happened really did happen.

            Five months later a tiny female baby panda was born. Tam Ting was a very proud and devoted mother, and kept Ling-Ling safely hidden from the public at first. The vet and her technician checked in on the family several times each day. When Ling-Ling was ready to come out into the compound, she became the star attraction of the zoo. Hordes of visitors would gather around the panda compound to see little Ling-Ling and her parents. But, the biggest attraction of all was the strange little nanny. Bik was constantly with little Ling-Ling, grooming her and carefully guarding her, like any good nanny would do.

 About the author 

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry, won Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year, is internationally published, and won poetry awards from numerous publications. Her bio is featured in the “Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020 & 2021.” She has published 14 poetry books

A Piece of the Land I Came From

 

by Ann Christine Tabaka

Leroux Jezynowka Polish blackberry brandy

Most of her life, Anna grew up not knowing any family, except her immediate one. Her father was a stern and angry man, he was very private about his life. Teodor was born in a coal mining town in Pennsylvania, but grew up in war-torn Poland during from 1910 to 1925. His mother Anna (her namesake) took him back to her family village to show him off, which was the tradition among the Polish settlers that came to America. Shortly after arriving in Poland, his brother Wawrzyniec was born in the small rural village outside of the town of Sokołów Podlaski, in 1911. When they were finally able to return to America in 1925, they did not know any English, and had very little schooling because of the war. They were put in second grade since they knew so little. All the other children made fun of them, because they were so much older. Teodor left school in 7^th grade because he was so embarrassed. He never did continue his education, and did menial labor his entire  life.

 

Anna had two older brothers. They were much older than she was, and left the house as soon as they were old enough to do so. Teodor was a harsh father and would be violent much of the time. The only other family Anna knew was her paternal grandmother, Anna, whom she always called Babci. Her paternal grandfather (Dziadek in Polish), Adam died when she was two years old. Her “Uncle Larry” died at his own hands before she was born. Her mother Marion was given away at birth, so she never knew anything about her maternal family, not even her adoptive one. Teodor did not want any contact with anyone from his heritage. He was an American now, and none of his children would even be allowed to learn the Polish language. This made things very hard since they were close to their Babci, and she spoke very little English. Of course, Marion and Teodor would speak Polish whenever they did not want the children to understand what they were saying.

 

Years passed, and everyone in the immediate family left, so they grew apart. Teodor died early from his disease, and Anna worked hard to improve her life and become a career woman. She thought very little about family or heritage, since she never knew anything about hers. Anna had her own family now. She was always a little envious of how close her husband’s family was, and how much they knew about their history, but there was no use being too-upset about something she never had in the first place. She remained very close with her mother, and her middle brother, but her oldest brother and his family had distanced himself from everyone when their father was still alive, and they never became close again. That is, until Teodor, Jr. passed away in his late 40s, and one of his daughters contacted Anna to ask her a favor.

 

One of Anna’s nieces, Carolyn, asked if I knew anything about her father, Teodor Jr.’s side of the family. Carolyn’s son was doing a school genealogy project, and they found information on her mother’s family back several hundred years, but had nothing for her father. Anna knew nothing about the family history, but said that she would see what she could do.

 

Anna’s mother, Marion, had been suffering from stroke induced dementia for several years, and it was getting worse. Anna and her husband had to place Marion someplace where she would be safe and get the medical care she needed. They had to sell her old ruin of a house and move her to an assisted living situation. It was a long painful battle to go through all the clutter Marion had accumulated over the years. Dementia has a way of making its victim collect things: newspapers, charity mail requests, old grocery receipts, etc. It took Anna many hours of many weeks, into many months, to go through as much of her mother’s precious collections as she had the energy to manage. She now knows that she threw out many things that she regrets today. It came down to survival once again, as she hauled out huge trash bags full of papers that she didn’t even give a second glance to. She was in emotional pain because of my mother’s situation, and physically exhausted from the labor of clearing out the house. But still somehow, she managed to mindlessly throw a number of items into several boxes to take to her house. She didn’t even remember what she took or why she took them. She still thinks her Babcia was watching over her shoulder, whispering in her ear to “save that photograph and keep those pieces of paper.” 

 

Anna was later surprised when looking through the boxes to find out that she had actually saved some important items that she was eternally grateful for. Because of those few precious documents and pictures, she was able to start searching for who her ancestors were. She was going to help Teodor Jr.’s kids find their father’s family after all.

 

Over the next three years Anna wrote to every Hall of Records, and church she could contact from the information that she had on birth, marriage, and death certificates that she had found at her mother’s house. It was an arduous task researching addresses, typing letters, and paying all the fees. Fifteen dollars, here, twenty dollars there, twenty-five dollars, and so on, and many times with no results at all. But, in those times when she did have a certified document sent back to her, she felt as if she hit a gold mine. Anna was elated – she had FAMILY! Family all over the USA, in Poland, and many other countries as well. 

 

Writing to Poland was the hardest part. She had the names of villages and relatives from some of the documents that she obtained in America, but so many of the Polish villages had changed names during the many wars it underwent. Not to mention Anna could not read or write Polish. Thank goodness that Anna lived in the late twentieth century, and thank goodness for computers.  She found Polish Genealogy websites on the Internet. They were extremely helpful, and even had form letters she could print out and start sending to Poland. Little did Ann know that that was just the beginning of her troubles. Now, she had to find someone to translate the replies, and to convert US dollars into Polish money. Because of the Polish Genealogy sites, Anna found Christina, who lived in Warsaw. Christina was born in the USA, but her parents were from Slavic countries, so Christina decided to get her degrees in languages, Polish, and five other foreign languages. Christina moved to Warsaw and did translations for the University there. Christina was a language whiz, and very knowledgeable about Polish customs and history.

 

The Polish genealogy mailing list discussed many different subjects that pertain to all things Polish. Someone on the list was asking about the origin of a piece of amber jewelry that an ancestor had. They wanted to know what part of Poland most amber came from. Until that particular post, Anna was not aware that most amber was from Poland and the area around the Baltic Sea. She was never interested in amber before. She was more interested in rubies and precious gemstones. Anna’s Babcia always treasured her strand of amber beads, but Anna never thought much of that “brown” necklace. All of a sudden, Anna was curious to know more about amber. She began to think it would be nice to have a piece of jewelry that came from the land of her ancestors, a “piece of the land she came from.” 

 

Amber is the fossilized resin of ancient trees, which formed through a natural polymerization of the original organic compounds. Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30-90 million years old. Jewelry made from amber comes in several colors, including butterscotch, cognac, cherry, and green. It can be transparent or opaque, polished or rough, faceted or free form.  Many amber pieces have been carved and inlaid to make cameos. Sometimes, it even has a fossilized ancient insect or piece of vegetation encased inside it. Best of all, amber jewelry is relatively inexpensive.

 

Now Anna wanted some amber jewelry for herself.  She also thought it would be nice to purchase some amber earrings as a thank you gift for her Polish coworker who had been translating all those letters for her before she found Christina. She decided to ask her new found friend in Poland if she could recommend a place to buy some authentic Polish amber jewelry.  

 

Christina seemed delighted. In fact, she informed Anna that the very day she asked her, she had just gone out and purchased her very first piece of amber jewelry for herself. It was a green amber stone in silver pendant. She thought it was extraordinary that Anna had asked her on that exact day. She mentioned that she does not usually buy jewelry for herself, so it was a special treat. 

 

Christina lives in Warsaw’s Old Town. She told Anna there are many shops there that sell amber.  She offered to pick something out for Anna in one of the shops and send it to her. She mentioned that the amber and silver jewelry in Poland was less expensive than what could be found in the USA. Anna could pay her for it afterwards. Anna wasn’t sure if she wanted a more traditional necklace of beads, the type that her Babci wore, or something more modern. She started to look around the Internet, and found so many styles of necklaces and pendants, that she decided she might eventually have to have several. Anna sent pictures of a few styles that she liked to Christina, and told her to choose something she would like herself. She figured that anyone named Christina from Slavic background had to have good taste. After all, Anna’s middle name was Christine also.

 

Christina decided that the green amber pendant that she had bought for herself must have been meant for Anna. She said it was fate, since Anna had asked her about amber on the very same day that she purchased it. So now Anna had a “piece of the land she came from” actually purchased in Poland. What made it even more special is that Christina had worn it once already.  So, when Anna wore the amber, she felt as if she was actually touching her dear friend Christina.

 

And so began another chapter for Anna. So much had happened in the past three years. Finally, at the age of fifty, Anna had family, and she held a tiny piece of Poland in her hand. As she lovingly touched to precious pendant on her silver chain, Anna wondered what new and exciting things awaited her around the next corner.

 

About the author

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry. Winner of Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year. Her bio is featured in the “Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020 and 2021,” published by Sweetycat Press. She is the author of 14 poetry books. 

Christmas Past

 by Ann Christine Tabaka

festive milkshake

 

I can clearly remember Christmases when I was young, and it would snow, and snow, and snow! Snow covered everything in November and December. It was beautiful and glorious, and so much fun. I loved to play in the snow. I still love to play in the snow at almost 70 years old. Oh how I loved to sled down the hill in our back yard, onto the frozen creek, and smashing into the embankment wall on the other side. All the neighborhood kids would come over to sled down our little hill. It seemed so big at the time. But, years later when I returned to my mother’s house, I realized how small it really was.

 

We were poor, but my mother worked to support us because of my father’s disease. She worked in Woolworth’s Five & Ten. After school, I used to love to take the bus that traversed the Pike, and then walk the two miles down to the Merchandise Mart where the stores were. When I was growing up it was the only group of stores outside of the downtown area. Now they are called strip malls. Woolworth’s was a place of magic to me, with toys, and clothes, and a soda fountain. So many fond memories. My first hot dog, my first soda, my first milkshake, and TV celebrities from the local Philadelphia area would visit to sign autographs. I met Sally Star and Big Chief Half Town. Such a thrill for a little kid. 

 

We always had to have a real live tree. I loved the aroma and the old ornaments that my Babci gave us from Poland. Delicate glass Santas, snowmen, and angels. I would make paper strips into rings and construct colorful chains to add to the decorations. Colored lights, silvery tinsel, and all the other wonderful treats for the eye. A train that was so old, it was held together by masking tape was placed under the tree every year. If you had the pellet to put in the chimney, and added water, it would puff real smoke as it chugged around the tree. Lights would flicker on and off in the passenger cars so that you could see the silhouettes of the riders. We were so poor, that we rarely got any presents except for the hand-me-down clothes from our older cousins. I remember one special year, when I wanted a toy sewing machine that really worked to make clothes for the used Barbie doll that a neighbor gave me when her daughter got the newest model. It was late Christmas Eve, and I was sure that I would never get it. My mom and dad bundled up and left the house at five in the evening. Back then, stores used to close at five, but would stay open until six during Christmas time to give customers extra time to shop. I was the most excited kid in the entire world when they came back home with a small metal sewing machine that actually worked when you turned the wheel by hand. It is one Christmas that I will never forget as long as my mind still works to remember. 

 

My father passed away from his illness when I was 14. My mother still worked at Woolworth's.  My father left us with so many unpaid bills that she had no choice. Creditors were always knocking at our door. Both my brothers were so much older than I was, and they had moved away years ago. It was just mom and me now. I was just starting high school. It was the sixties, and everything was now Mod and modern. So, my mother decided that a real Christmas tree was too much work for a single woman with a daughter. The day that she came home with that silver aluminum tree I was shocked. At least it wasn’t pink aluminum, which was also in vogue back then. For the first time in forever, we had real gifts and a real celebration. My mother was finally free from abuse and we were going to have a good life from now on. Shortly after that, she left Woolworth's and started at Kennard’s Department store where they sent her to school and she worked her way up to the head of the department. She was super smart even though she had to leave school in the ninth grade to go to work because of the Great Depression. My brothers always teased that they had the education and degrees, but mom was smarter, and ended up making more money than any of us. She eventually worked at Sears & Roebucks, and worked her way even further up in the retail world.

Years passed, and we had less and less snow in our area. When we did have snow, it was in late January, maybe even February, but never for Christmas. A White Christmas was a thing of the past in my part of the world. How I missed the sledding and playing in the snow. My mother grew older, and feebler. She had multiple small strokes, multi infarct dementia followed. I was clearing out our old house so that I could move her to a place that could care for her. Up in the unfinished attic, I came upon a tattered faded box that was falling apart. I carefully opened it to find that silver aluminum tree. It was a tad bend up from being stored away for so many years, but it was just as gaudy and shiny as it ever was. It brought back so many memories, memories that are worth keeping. Remember to keep Christmas in your heart every day. Happy Christmas Everyone! May you have much snow to play in!    

About the author

Ann Christine Tabaka, Poet & Writer - Pushcart Prize in Poetry Nominee

Website: https://annchristinetabaka.com/

---

https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-Tabaka/e/B06XF2PWSK?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1564488528&sr=8-1