Saturday, March 30, 2019

清明寄语

六头,

清明了,听说北京的柳树又露出了嫩绿的枝叶,花也都开了,一片春满人间的景象,可美了。芝加哥今冬严寒,春色晚至,却又令人有一种莫名的期待,一种深情的盼顾…

想来已经很久没能这样跟你聊天了。我常常想起你,想起我们的过去,想起一度的风华正茂和曾经的春暖花开… 没有伤感,没有悲泣,只有内心深处的一种恬静和安然。梦中几次相见,也在无言中充满默契。

这几个月我做了不少事,常常想马上告诉你,却又没有恰当的机会。首先,花了145天把我从1982年到1997年的日记都整理好了,日记本都处理了。这是你2017年11月跟我无意交谈中嘱咐我做的事,终于完成了。

第二,我挤出很多时间,把《红楼梦》仔仔细细读了四遍。这是你最喜欢的书,我从2018年7月中旬开始读,只可惜没有机会告诉你… 每每读到它我都会想起你,感受到《红楼梦》给我们每个人带来的领悟和解脱。想到你一生钟爱《红楼梦》,对人生中莫测的因缘及过往、繁华与幻灭理解深刻,这也让我对人生的起起伏伏都能淡然平静地接受了。

第三,跟你谈论多年的东北,今年初我终于下决心去了,去看雾凇、雪乡和哈尔滨的冰雪大世界;初春又去死谷看那百年不遇的沙漠洪水;到密执根湖边拍摄早春三月依依可见的冰天雪地… 五月份要去葡萄牙目睹它绝美的海岸线;九月份去阿拉斯加尽赏金秋和极光。

时间在无声中流逝,人生在努力中前行。我时而在咱们 “三兄弟” 群里发两张照片,总觉得你会看到,会跟我们一起微笑,也总觉得你依旧静静地生活在我们身边…

春天来了,想必你那里也已是阳光明媚、春意盎然、百花盛开的时节了。愿阳光伴着微笑温暖着你那美丽的世界!

汤培
2019.3.30
                                            2016.3.30 摄于北京玉渊潭公园

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Still Winter

This time, we went to chase Ice and Northern Lights in Michigan.  Spent the entire weekend there, FUN!!

The Northern Lights did not happen until after 12am on Monday, which we missed completely.  However, we did get to see a "deep winter" in late March.  Every harbor was full of floating ice - moving with the waves, fighting for their existence...

Lake Michigan, MI
March 23-24, 2019





Sunday, March 24, 2019

After the Flood (2)

Still have not had a chance to process all the photos from Death Valley... because I spent 2 LONG days this weekend in Michigan -- chasing ice and the northern lights.  Well, that's a story for another day!

Are the photos from the camera better than those from my iPhone???  Maybe not...

Death Valley, California
March 16-17, 2019






Tuesday, March 19, 2019

After the Flood

Each time coming back to civilization from Death Valley, I feel a real sense of relief.  And yet, I keep on going back - WHY???

This time, the decision was made after the record flooding in Death Valley on 3/6/2019.  But when I arrived on Saturday, 3/16/19, in short 10 days, the historical 10-mile long LAKE at the Valley vanished, completely.  It once again leads me to believe that my job is really getting in the way of many important things!!  Nonetheless, the flood left me with sceneries I've never seen before. 

No time to recount the LONG trip covering 721 miles in two days. 

No time to retrieve photos from my camera.

Please allow me to share a few photos from my iPhone.

Death Valley, California
March 16-17, 2019




Saturday, March 2, 2019

Our English Teacher

I remember mentioning to you in the past about the scary fact that Michelle's childhood notes, drawings, letters, booklets are everywhere in our house.  The blue notes below were from April 2002 when she was 11 years old, offering to be my English teacher.  This morning, I found another note of her offering English classes to Rudi back in February 2000, when she was only 9.  The note is attached, with her "not-so-perfect" little hand-writing -:))) 

It's also interesting to see how Michelle had grown to become more precise, thorough and logical from 2/2000 to 4/2002.


The English Correction Program
4/21/2002 (Age 11)
 
Dear Ms. Tang,
 
Thank you for choosing the English Correction Program!  You have chosen Grammar for your subject.  Your first class will be on Sunday, 4/28/02, at 7:00 p.m.  You will be learning mostly about how to communicate with other people using correct grammar and you will also learn the correct tenses of word (past tense, future tense, etc.).  For each class, you will need to bring with you a sheet of notebook paper and a pencil.  I suggest that you get a notebook just for English classes if you decide to take more courses.  I will bring all other necessities for the class.  For this class, there will also be certain benefits and offers with your try out course.
 
1.  This is a FREE course.
2.  You will receive coupons for a variety of things if you do well in this class.
3.  You may stop taking the class if you decide it is not right for you.
4.  I will take into consideration any suggestions you have.
5.  You will be able to have fun during classes.
6.  You will learn MORE!!!
 
Please do not be late for class and arrive with your materials.  If for any reason you cannot make it to your class for the day, please contact me before hand.
 
Sincerely,
Michelle Zhang, Teacher