Lake Michigan, Michigan
December 25, 2022
Weather Conditions:
Wind gusts = 21mph
Temp with windchill = 6F
Lake effect snow...
Highway road conditions:
Snow and ice, with low visibility
Many cars were moving with the emergency lights on...
Monday, December 26, 2022
282 Feet Below Sea Level
This is where I have once again learned how small and insignificant I am…
Death Valley
December 10, 2022
Why???
So why did I come to Death Valley 9 times over the past 10 years?
One of the reasons is - this is probably the only National Park where you can see so many different types of landscape in one place. The variety of the land formation here fascinates me!!
Death Valley
December 8-12, 2022
Friday, December 23, 2022
Sunrise Spectacular
This was the 9th time I came to Death Valley over the past 10 years. I know, it’s crazy, but I love it here. Each time, I was deeply touched by this spacious and timeless world…
Came
here with 3 other photographers this time. After the scheduled group
activities, I decided to stay for one more day to once again experience
the tremendous calmness and serenity in this vast piece of land.
The
sunrise photos I captured here involved hiking in the dark, by myself,
at 282 ft below sea level, through this treacherous area of salt and mud
(shown in the last picture) for about 30 minutes... It reminded me of
those two times when I got lost in this massive area of salt-flat at
night.
Was it scary?
Absolutely. The 30 LONG minutes were buried by the darkness and dead
silence all around me, except for the sound of my boots hitting the
salt-flat... But at least I knew I'd walk out of this place under the
bright sunlight this time!!
The
prize? I got to see one of the most spectacular sunrises in Death
Valley. Beauty is everywhere, even at 282 ft below sea level.
Death Valley, CA
December 12, 2022
Sunday, December 4, 2022
A Music CD
Have you ever had a similar experience like this? Something profound happens, you just don't have time to quietly, deeply and completely absorb it. By the time you get to it, the whole thing has become much less profound...
I
found a music CD last Monday, 11/28/2022. It was a gift my Mom gave to
me in March 2008. I remember it was her last visit to the US. Before she
went back to China, she insisted to buy a birthday gift for me... I
mean, really, INSISTED. Since I couldn't convince her to drop the idea, I
picked a music CD I really loved. Right after I got it, I immediately made a copy in fear of losing the original copy, and wrote on
the disc: "From Mom."
I
remember after my Mom went back to China, I kept on listening to the CD
for almost a year -- it touched my heart each time. Then, for some odd
reasons, it was neglected for almost 13 years... Since I have let
go of all our CD players over the years (as part of my LETTING GO
initiative), when I saw the CD labeled as "From Mom," I immediately went
to my car to listen to it. Wow, it brought back so many memories. The
music sounded so sweet and familiar, so calm and yet so full of life --
with birds singing and streams running...
Sadly,
I couldn't find the original copy of the CD. Believe me, I looked
through everything not once, not twice, but 3 times, still couldn't find
it (likely had been LET GO)...
Monday, November 21, 2022
Cypress Swamp
Cypress
Swamp is the largest naturally formed lake in South Central US and the
largest cypress forest in the world. It has total area of 25,400-acre.
It is the home to wildlife includes alligators, waterfowl, bobcats,
river otters and Bigfoot! According to the Texas Bigfoot Research
Center, it is a land of Bigfoot. There are hundreds of alleged Bigfoot
sightings since 1965, as reported in the Travel Channel documentary
"Bigfoot" in 2006.
Caddo Lake, TX
November 5-13, 2022
Monday, November 14, 2022
The World of WeChat（微信）
Looking
back on the email trail below, it was exactly 7 years ago -- the black
Friday and a bright Monday... Well, something worse happened to me
today.
After dinner, I
decided to update my iPhone iOS, which I've done countless times over
the past decade. What's different this time was -- my WeChat stopped
working under the new iOS. I had to delete the WeChat app from my phone and
reinstall a new one. Sounded simple, but the implication was
significant. I'd lose ALL my chat history, 9 years worth of history!
It's very different from spending a black Friday, a dark weekend, and
then getting everything back on Monday. This time, it's GONE!!
To
my surprise, I handled the horrifying situation with unbelievable calmness. It really didn't bother me much to lose all the
"history." It immediately reminded me of the episode below from 7 years
ago -- the panic and unease that went through my entire mental and physical systems at the time...
If nothing else, the past 7 years have taught me the importance of letting go, the importance of acceptance and 随缘...
On Monday, November 2, 2015 at 10:03:26 PM CST, Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com> wrote:
Weekend has been very quiet -- living in social isolation sometimes can be a wonderful thing!!!
I
survived the entire weekend without WeChat. My friend and I went to
the city to visit another friend, then Rudi and I went out to dinner
with my brother's family. We actually called my bother to settle on a
place to eat -- everything went back to low-tech communication
channels... It felt great.
To
give you a clue of my reflections of life with or without WeChat, I
bought the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. This is considered by
many to be the masterpiece of reflective simple living.
Looking forward to reading the book!
In
the meantime, the first thing I did this morning was to go to IT to get
my old phone back. Came home tonight and found out that my WeChat is
still in my hands -- everything I wrote, everything I have saved,
everything I meant to delete, and... everything to be read and
responded.... they are ALL BACK -- how frightening! Now, for the first
time in 2 years, I have the opportunity to choose my relationship with
WeChat -- what would I choose to do???
Stay tuned, and trust that I will do the right thing!!
From: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
To: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 11:53 PM
Subject: Re: The world of WeChat （微信）
I should title this email as "The World without WeChat"
It is hard to believe that it's been almost 2 years since I got dragged
into "The World of WeChat." Even though I passionately resisted it at
the very beginning (as evidenced by the email below), over the past few years,
WeChat has become a significant way of life for many people including
myself -- very unfortunate, but also irreversible.
So,
the sad story for today is -- my company decided to take away my perfectly
beautiful iPhone 5s and give me a brand new iPhone 6s. Why??? Because
somehow they believed it would be GOOD for me.
It took IT all day to set up my new phone. For the
entire day, I failed to function at my full capacity because everything I
needed was on my phone... When my lovely new phone finally arrived at my desk, I
shockingly discovered that my WeChat was GONE!! As painful as it seemed
at the moment, after a few hours of digesting the reality, I've gained a
whole new perspective: when you know the VERY FEW important things in
life, you can easily let go of everything else -- it's just that
simple...
I feel totally liberated now!
I feel totally liberated now!
From: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
To: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2013 10:58 PM
Subject: The world of WeChat （微信）
I
feel the need to make a record on my history book about a significant
event in my life -- I have finally entered the World of WeChat. After
48 hours of testing the water, I have confirmed that yes, it is indeed a
world of chaos -- it sucks your brain and consumes your life like you
would not believe...
The
truth is, many of my good friends kindly recommended WeChat to me a
LONG time ago. I declined only because I knew it would undoubtedly
interfere with my Zen world. But after my trip to Mongolia, it occurred
to me that this would be an effective way for me to be
in touch with my friends in China. So, before opening the WeChat
account, I decided to only add 2 of my friends from China.
Well,
as we all know, life rarely happens according to plans... What I
learned over the past 48 hours was -- if you get into a group that you
don't want to be in, suck it up -- you're on your own! Yeah, life
sucks, isn't it???
So, for those long-term 微信 lovers, this is for you:
国庆大典上，走来第57个民族。主持人这样解说：现在走过来的是微信方阵。他们身穿睡衣，肩扛枕头，左手手机，右手充电宝，身后背着一锅心灵鸡汤，胸前挂着佛经和养生秘方，个个转发着正能量，自吟着立志经典和闷骚段子，目光呆滞，神情麻木，个别的还在跳大神。主席：“同志们辛苦了！”
微信方阵响亮回答：“主席，天安门 WiFi 密码是多少？”
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Bald Cypress Trees
The intent of this trip was to photograph cypress trees
in the morning mist and dense fog. However, after 1,843 miles and over
30 mosquito bites from ears to arms to fingers to legs to toes, after
waiting for 6 days under hot and humid weather conditions (average 83F
during the day), we didn't get to see cypress trees in the dense fog...
Nonetheless, the place was absolutely gorgeous -- serene and
therapeutic.
Nature
photography is a game of luck! No complaints, no disappointments, you
take what's given to you and make the best out of it. In Buddhism, it's
called 随缘 (go with the flow).
Caddo Lake, TX
November 5-13, 2022
Sunday, October 30, 2022
Thursday, October 20, 2022
生日快乐！
六头，
生日快乐！早就想跟你聊聊，但每天忙忙碌碌就拖下来了。其实我总在想你。今天又把我们过去多年存留的生日卡看了一遍，重温那流水年华…
人生非常奇妙，我越来越体会到因缘和合及万事变迁带给我们的那种无助和无奈！有时非常悔恨我悟性底下，醒悟迟缓，竟没有机会跟你聊聊我今天的领悟与心境。只有相信你听到了那无言中的一切…
前几个星期还跟阿宝聊起你，我们又梳理了一下你2018.4.到2018.8.的病情。阿宝是个很好的医生，至今还清楚地记得我2018年春天跟她描述的你的状况。
阿宝今年7月份开始已经成为一名正式医生了。她在加州一家很好的医院工作，接触的都是重症病人。所以她小小年纪也深深体会到生死离别给人生和家庭带来的无法弥补的创伤。
今年的秋色特别美，这可不是年年都有的秋色。我从入夏时开始打网球。网球场在一个小公园里，很少有人。入秋后，去网球场的一路都是红橙黄绿，美极了。这也许是我近30年来第一次每天如此用心地关注秋色一点一滴的微妙变化，太神奇了！
我现在还是每天在家上班，节奏慢下来了，也不用到处出差了… 如果你现在能来我这里住段时间该多好呀！我们可以天天开车出去看秋色，看咱们当年从未找到过的迷人秋色！
我现在每个周末都花4-5个小时听佛经，感受很深，只可惜没法跟你分享。我渐渐领悟到，人生的智慧也许就在于能与无奈和不完美共存；懂得如何接纳缺憾；如何在快乐和坎坷的交替中活出精彩！也许那就是人生的五彩缤纷…
愿你的世界永远五彩缤纷！
汤培
2022.10.20
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Autumn Blaze Maple
本觉得自己学佛的根性不错，对物质和名誉的贪恋甚微。却不曾想，心念执着使我在漫漫的修行路上倍觉坎坷。
自去年龙卷风后，小区里每家门前得到一棵新树。去年夏末就种上了。当时让每家自己选一个树种。因为我对植物一无所知，加上夏天到处都是一片翠绿，只好随便选了一棵。
不曾想，经过去年寒冬和今年酷暑，我家门前可怜的小树死了。原本暗喜，想着死树永远小小的，也不用扫树叶，挺好！结果上周发现树上被人做了标记，还在树前插上了小旗。给村里负责人打电话，才得知好心负责的村政府发现我家树死了，打算再给我们种一棵新树。
这下子问题来了。我想要什么样的树呢？如今秋色满园，令我眼花缭乱，我可得好好选个品种！于是我给村里打电话，他们说计划给我一棵跟去年一样的树。
如果我懂得随缘、懂得万事皆空，也就随它去了！但我过去生生世世执着的恶习难改，赶紧告诉村里我想要一棵有红色秋叶的树。好心的村干部说那是枫树，便问我具体要哪种枫树。这下子问题更大了！如果生活给我选择的机会，我怎能不实实在在彻彻底底精精确确地选？于是我说想要那种有橘红色树叶的枫树。为了传递准确信息，我给大树拍了照片，还给树叶拍了特写。照片寄到村里，好心的村干部说：对不起，这种树我们已经不再种植了。你想选另外一种吗？
有时你真觉得不能辜负这些好心人给我们的人生选择… 于是我说：我正在上班，下午两点前一定告诉你。她欣然答应了。
这班还怎么上呀！我赶忙开车出去，到小区转了两圈，终于相中了一棵橘红色树叶的枫树。兴冲冲地拍下大树和树叶的特写，娴熟地传送了照片。
两分钟内，村里又来电了，问我那棵树的地址。她说村里有个数据库，每家的树种都存在数据库里了。妈呀，我哪记得门牌号，又开车出去看路名和门牌号，及时上传。
一分钟后，村里负责人来电，说那棵树叫 Autumn Blaze Maple。哇，谁能想到这些村干部如此认真负责！我赶紧上网 Google, 核实那个名字正是我要的那种枫树。终于，家门前的这棵小树算是搞定了！
坐到计算机前准备上班，我才深深地体会到：自己真是太执着了，离佛的教诲太远太远了！什么是修行？修行是在生活中的点点滴滴修正自己的行为。我在修正吗？
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