最有价值的工作是没有报酬的

It is true that the most important work in the world is done without a salary. When a mother staying at home cooks meals, washes dishes or changes diapers, she is in charge of another human being's well-being and future.

And an education is not about job training, or knowledge teaching. An education is the building of the soul.

与朋友聊天, 我们都为自己感到自豪. 我们为了孩子的健康, 为了孩子的成长, 所付出的努力, 会让孩子受益终生. 我们的孩子又会把他们得到的珍贵的东西传递给将来他们的孩子. 这是比挣多少钱, 做多高的官都要有价值的.

我很高兴, 孩子在健康地长大. 我很高兴, 在她的成长过程中我一直没有离开. 我也很高兴, 我的努力已经有了可喜的成果, 她是那么优秀, 快乐和健康.

flowers blooming in the moonlight

Flowers are flourishing beside the door, around the window. Delicate petals. Pleasant fragrance. Can't depict how beautiful they are.

Time like this I wish I had someone to share the moment with, to enjoy the flowers I grow.

I've realized that most part of love is to share joys together. And to give support or help at hard times. Fragile souls.

I would feel more peace and safety walking in the darkness of night, than among crowded people.

喇叭花开到了阳台的顶上

立了秋, 那三株喇叭花的藤上就迅速的长出了花蕾, 一串串的. 每天的早晨, 许多的大喇叭花向着太阳盛开着. 有一支竟沿着衣架爬到了房顶上, 无处再爬, 只好盘旋在那里, 花儿们也开成了团团的一簇.

游故宫

Even under the baking sun, there are still many tourists visiting the Forbidden City. (I don't think Forbidden City is an exact translation for this former imperial palace.)

Places like this you can see people speaking different languages, and with different skin colors. They are taking pictures with great interests.

The Palace is not a good place to live in. The more we look around, the stronger we feel this way. We have to watch out for all the stone doorsteps to every house, and all the thresholds between rooms. Rooms are not drafty. Few trees are growing there. I do have seen some pines, which seemed to be their liking, but they have small crowns as we know.

You can feel the supreme power emanating out of even the architecture. You can see ancient treasures from all over the country, although some of them look timeworn and even covered with dusts now. What had those emperors really owned? Power, jewelries, or the comfort of living in this large palace, with many women? I deeply doubt about that. And I deeply feel sorry for those women who had lived in such a place, which was nothing better than a tomb. Even as a mere material place it was not humane, to say nothing of the feudal system.

I even feel glad when I find wild grass growing in brick crevices in a patio, almost treeless like all the others.

Power is such an awful thing if you can not use it correctly. And all the treasures, the largest jade carving, the longest ivories... once someone owns them, they ruin them.

The tour makes me getting angrier. The whole history of Chinese feudalism, is totally a history of killing women and children. When power was being used to oppress people, it led to its own demise. The history decayed all the way.

那些价值连城的珍宝, 笼罩着一股破败之气. 那巨大的玉雕, 那世界上最长的象牙...一旦人们拥有了它们, 也就毁坏了它们.

封建社会的历史, 可以说就是一部迫害妇女和儿童的历史.

天行健, 君子以自强不息

It becomes my motto.

天, 即宇宙万物, 在不断的运动, 刚劲强健; 人, 应效法天, 自强不息.

之所以将其作为座右铭, 是因为我对这句话有了新的理解. 它不单是指, 人应努力进取, 不断的超越自己. 当年龄增长, 梦想淡化, 生活似乎定型的阶段, 自强不息有了不同的内涵. 那是内心的力量, 内在的鼓励, 象宇宙万物一样, 生生不息.

就象一棵大树, 我们努力的长高, 长壮. Like a tree, we are always growing taller and stronger. The power of our heart, is the power of universe.

零星的记忆 之二

多年前, 我去一家韩国人投资的公司工作. 那是我工作时间最短的一个地方. 一个月后, 投资人突然撤资, 公司就迅速解散了. 我的邻座是个虎头虎脑的小伙子, 很壮实, 也很英俊, 刚毕业没多久. 我们都做coding work, 但在不同的项目组. 不过有很多时候, 遇到难题时我们仍要互相切磋, 因为坐的近确实很方便. 他很聪明的.

有时我们不得不加班到很晚. 我们都住城市的北郊, 乘同一趟公交车, 然后他奔东, 我奔北. 车上一般没座, 如果有, 他一定是让给我坐. 多数时候我们都站着. 有一次我意识到, 他站立的位置, 离我并不很近, 但使我完全处在一种受保护的状态, 即使有紧急刹车, 其他人也不可能冲撞到我身上. 老旧的公交车在夜灯下向前开着, 他就以那样的姿势, 站在车里.

公司解散前的一周, 他辞职了. 一周后, 我也换了另一家公司工作. 随后有一段时间的早晨, 我们仍然在那个大的车站换乘同一趟车, 上车后我们仍是抢着为对方买票.

即使现在回忆起来, 他的全身仍透着一股孩子气. 也许, 他也是那样看我的, 因为他不知道我比他年龄大很多. 后来, 我搬到了城里, 就再也没见到过他. 他留了手机号, 我已经给弄丢了. 而且, 我已经忘了他的名字.

零星的记忆 之一

在很早以前的一个英语班上, 老师在黑板上写: 白领 white collar, 蓝领 blue collar, 然后回头问大家:''我们是不是都想成为~~~" 同学们异口同声:"white collar~~~" 只有我喊:"blue collar~~~" 前面的同学诧异的回头望, 一定认为我在捣乱. 不过我当时确实是想成为一个蓝领, 因为整天坐在计算机前的工作, 已经使我感到越来越违背自然.

Little House on the Prairie

have been reading the book Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I love the book so much, so does Yuan. The Ingalls family lived a life I so admire, or even envy, which I see as REAL life. I always think that real life makes people happy. In real life, I would not be sad when thinking my career is going to an end. I would not care about how beautiful or ugly I look. And I will feel more like part of Nature, like the trees, winds, or clouds...

I was even moved when Charles made a rocking chair for his wife with slender willows. What a wonderful chair that was, and full of love and warmth. It always touches my heart when a woman is honored. I think the real civilization is that when women are honored and children are loved and taken good care of, as an equal human - no one would feel so deeply as I do about it.

Yuan said her mouth almost watered when they were eating toasted prairie hens and stewed jack rabbits. She is excited she has known all the details of making a log house and stout doors.

the most beautiful egg

Our new lamp not only gives off brighter clearer light, but also creates more obvious shadows as well. My little girl noticed that. After dinner, she took an egg out of the refrigerator (a boiled, salted duck egg, btw) and placed it under the bright light. Bending her head over, she started to draw the egg with her pencil. She spent the whole evening drawing and shading this perfect egg.

wildflowers

My little girl took some pictures that look very cool. (You can NOT rely on a cellphone to make a clear picture, especially under the dazzling sun.)

Wildflowers are blooming happily this time of year. As we walking we saw so many along the roadsides and in the lawn, my little girl decided Oct 2nd to be the Wildflowers Day. I think these flowers finally got a chance to embrace the sun because mowers no longer cut them so often as in summer days.


三叶草 - Woodsorrel

Dandelion

a book

从图书馆借来一本书，《丰子恺谈名画》。喜欢他的文字，那种简单和洒透出的慈善。正如他的文字，他是一个多么简单又慈善的老人呀。Always like his words, and, what a simple and kind person he was! The first one he started with in the book, is Jean Fransois Millet(1814 - 1875).


"他心中非常难过。回到家里， 把身体躺在床上，他的眼中流出眼泪来了。"
"画中的人多么辛苦，多么善良，这样子使人人看了都要感动。"

The gleaners, the cultivators. How they moved me, since I once did exactly the same work when I was a kid.

Carnivores

My daughter is a born carnivore. And I become a carnivore too. We eat a lot of meat every day. Since it is hot in summer, we eat duck and pork. As winter sets in, we would turn to lamb and chicken. I love beef also, but can't always find prime quality at the local groceries and the nearby market.

Fortunately they sell good lamb in the market. Fresh sheep carcasses hanging neatly from wrought iron hooks, strong and pleasant aroma of raw lamb full of the whole space. Here sheep are raised on grassland, not on industry farms, so the meat is natural and very delicious.

I usually buy the whole rack of a sheep at a time, or a whole leg plus sirloin, because they don't sell in smaller cuts. The old man wearing a white cap cuts out what you want with a sharp knife. If he is not busy, he would remove the fat and lymph glands so that I can prepare more easily at home. But there are still many work left for me to do in the kitchen.

Yuan’s work

天高地阔

女儿的听写作业。有一个词是“天高地阔”。

I was simply captivated by the beauty of it. That is the special charm of our language.

天高地阔。

- Whistle While You Work (lyrics)

"Just whistle while you work
And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place
So hum a merry tune
It won't take long when there's a song to help you set the pace

 

And as you sweep the room
Imagine that the broom is someone that you love
And soon you'll find you're dancing to the tune

 

When hearts are high the time will fly so whistle while you work"

I love you too

She follows me, from one room to another, talking and talking. She is excited to tell me all the "funny" stories happened at school. A boy changed the words of a poem and made everybody laugh. I am glad they can have fun under their teacher's sharp eyes.

We have set a timer for a few things she has to do. She was willing to try, and happily found that she can do things quickly.

I should have patience to wait for her growing. Nature has its own magic. When one part slows down, it is most likely that other parts are developing. I should not be hard on her. She is such a sweet kid.

I feel like in some way, I am growing together with her.

The other day she took home two lamb strings from her school lunch, and told me they were tasty. "Why did you not eat them?" I asked and realized instantly, "You'd like ME to enjoy them?" She nodded her head. The lamb was her favourite of school lunch, and they don't supply it often.


Once we went shopping. She was only 3 or 4 that year. On the long way walking back home, we both were very tired and with all the shopping bags in my hands, I could not carry her. It started to sprinkle lightly, we had to walk fast. She walked ahead of me. She was so tired she did not speak much. And then as I looked at her face, she said to me, "It is a raindrop." She would not like me to know she was shedding tears.

Every time when I am tired and fall asleep, she would walk quietly and never make a noise. She is a sensitive kid, which I think might not be a good thing. But she is a happy girl, even in her sleep she giggles and laughs. And she gets along well with other kids, even the most spoiled ones.

It is true that kids love their parents more than we imagine. My dear little girl does. I want to say I love you too, my darling little daughter!

cuckoo

Summer is here.

"Coo-coo, coo-coo", cuckoos are singing in the air.

Yuan wakes to cuckoo's call in the morning. She is happy to begin the day on that melody, which is my favorite too.

I have seen cuckoos flying at dusk, but never seen then clearly since they are very fast. Here is another picture:

http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/information photos/mangrove-cuckoo.jpg

大地的孩子

我是一个小小的孩子
在大地的怀抱里成长

当满天的星星眨起眼睛的时候
我把脸颊贴在大地温暖的胸膛
天籁之声围绕我的梦境
露水打湿我的睫毛

当清晨的阳光抚摸我的头发
我感到凉凉的空气里
满满的爱的气息

当我赤脚在温润的土地上
自由奔跑的时候
风声如歌
我是大地的小小的孩子

(on Mother's Day)