已經記不得第幾個年頭(當然是記得的:-))參加公司每年一次的聖誕晚會，除了第一年是在保齡球宮裏打保齡球外，後麵的這些年，不是坐輪船繞著bay轉一圈，就是公司包附近一個博物館的場地讓大家吃個飯，樂一樂，跳跳舞，轉一轉裏麵開放的幾個廳，再有一年還去了一個附近的車展博物館。今年又是在輪船上吃吃喝喝，看海灣邊上的節日彩燈。

今年公司租了兩輛大buses, 給不想開車的員工提供交通便利，後來在車上聽說是因為碼頭邊的停車場沒有足夠的parking位置，公司才想出這麽一招。而我自然是選擇坐bus去，省的操心自己找路找parking。

每年這樣的party已經沒有什麽新意了，對我而言，就是吃頓飯，再看一遍熟悉的海灣夜景。隨著晚會的深入，酒足飯飽之餘，音樂響起，人們開始隨著熱情的音樂扭動、興奮、叫喊，無論肥胖美醜，沒有羞澀，帶著幾分放縱，在幽暗閃爍的燈光下自我陶醉著。我一個把酒票和賭票都給了同事的人，覺得自己更像一個旁觀者，清醒地看著走著。獨自一人走出船艙，欣賞著夜幕下寧靜的港灣。一輪滿月當空，幾分皎潔幾分朦朧，岸上萬家燈火忽明忽暗，這時晚風陣陣徐來，不禁也吹起我心底的一絲漣漪。"再一個十年我會在哪裏，還有機會站在這裏看月亮嗎？" 想來自己其實是幸運的，2019年12月12日的月亮，一個十年裏最後的滿月我是站在船頭看到的，它也將隨著2019年的離去留在記憶中。

又記 12/14/2019

幾場雨給冬天的山巒帶來一絲春意。春天殘留的大片大片枯枝滿目皆是，然而在枯黃下麵，綠色正在慢慢延伸開來。某人拿著手機不停地拍著，一朵很小的野花也不放過，一邊拍，一邊自嘲到，"和尚下山，母豬賽貂蟬"。是啊，一個枯黃已經的山巒，任何生機綠色在我們眼裏都是美的。

最後一張: Every cloud has a silver lining.烏雲中總有一線光明。

A dark colored newly looking bus was awaiting by the road curb when I exited the company building around 5 pm. One bus with 50 seats was first arranged to take us to the boat for the Christmas Party, and later another bus was added when more people chose to take the bus instead of driving on their own. Taking the bus is preferably a better choice to me, as it is hassle free, not to worry about directions, traffic or parking. 

I seated myself next to the co-worker U, a plump lady twice my size. Being fairly new to the company, she was coaxed by me to attend the party by my promise of giving her my two alcoholic drink tickets each employee is entitled to. When the bus started to crawl in the rush hour traffic, our conversations flowed on. Her background of being an immigrant from Poland to Canada, and then Canada to the U.S. made the exchange of immigration experience viable and a good topic.  Her U. S green card petition took only a year, while mine almost seven painful years.  But then a story of how her dad fled from communist Poland to Canada, and how after two years of separation (under the close watch and restriction of the Polish government) they were united on the free land unfolded to me. When I asked about the concentration camp in Poland, another appalling story was revealed, a story of how her grandma, a Jew, by marrying to a non-Jewish grandfather survived the atrocity, while the rest of her grandma’s whole family were herded to the camp and got killed.  She said that her grandma used to tell her how the night air was filled with the strong smell when the dead bodies in the camp were burnt nightly.  She told me how her mom has the habit of keeping diary, and on an impulse of that, I reached for my cell phone with my blog page, showing her my recent visit to Seattle and Oregon, mostly the pictures of course, as she could not read Chinese, and the English version is too small to read in the dimly lit bus.

At a little over 6, the bus arrived at the destination. A white color medium sized boat decked with bright white Christmas lights was anchored by. It is a three floored boat, with the top deck opening to the night wind. About thirty minutes after we boarded, the boat started moving. After a self-served dinner of beef, chicken and some vegies, people rose to the second deck, where stands of poker games were set on one side and dancing music on the other end. The music, along with the compressed noisy talks, were so deafening it almost drowned the voice from the loudspeaker, announcing the winning number for the raffles. My game ticket was also given away to a co-worker, and not much interested in the dancing in the crowd, I followed the narrow stairs up to the third floor. The sea breeze was invigoratingly fresh.  Strolling on the deck, passing by a handful of employees, greeting or hugging one or two old ones, I then walked to the end and enjoyed a moment of solitude. The holiday decorated bays, in their red, blue and white lights, glowed in the dark. Occasionally, another boat in the similar glimmering vibe, glided by us.  High above, a full moon perched. I stared into it for a minute or so, adoring the splendor of full moon, the final full moon (12/12/2019) in the decade.

An old co-worker approached me and suggested going down to the main deck. A flight of steep narrow stairs led us back to the second floor, where 80 percent of people thronged for games or dancing.  Before we turned back in, we stopped at the front open deck. Stirred in the wind was a pungent marijuana odor someone must have smoked blatantly. Though it is legalized now to smoke it, in this context, apparently the conduct is far from being appropriate. Minutes later, an informed HR executive stepped in for an investigation, claiming that she would have fired the offender(s) if she caught them on the spot.

Inside the boat, people went on wriggling to the music. The game tables were still surrounded by players and watchers. The noises did not die down until the boat was back in the dock around 9:15 pm.

This year, the early winter rain at the end of November continued into December. When it finally cleared up this past Saturday, I dragged him along for a hike in the nearby valley that we used to frequent. It was almost 11 am when we set out, but the sun was not out yet.  Under the leaden sky, the valley covered with the withered lifeless mustard from the last spring looked dull. However, in this deadly looking winter, spring is poking its head.  New grasses shoot up from the ground, a few resilient wildflowers are blooming off the wilted twigs.  We hiked and relished at the sight, knowing that the best is yet to come.