My Covid test was scheduled at 11:15 in CVS. With the uncertainty in my mind, I feel down. But when my car hits road, the fleeting glimpse of the fall colors through the windows comfort my moodiness. The test is quick, I was told the result will be available online in 24 hours.
This is my 2nd experience of leaving from work since the health crisis caused by the notable virus. It is what it is, complain doesn’t help, it will only make things getting worse, I have to face the reality and think what the right things I should do later on. This is my attitude to adversity.
早上從車窗外閃過的秋色讓我不能忘懷，打算下午睡過一覺再次出門，讓秋景在我放緩了的腳步間慢慢移動。也趁著一個有借口的假期，我進行一場家門口的賞秋攝影之旅。
The aesthetics beauty of fall colors flying by my eyes in the morning have been lingering in my mind, I will take the break as an opportunity to appreciate the fall colors in the nearby neighborhoods. I will redefine it as a happy vocation. So in the afternoon, after taking a nap, I decide going outside for a walk again. I will wander in the nature, catch patches of fall colors here and there, and I will take pictures for them.
第一個吸引我目光的是公園裏獨自坐在塘邊的老人。他自帶了個黃橙色的棉墊上，手杖倚在長椅上。
The first scene catching my eyes is a senior man who is sitting on the bench beside the reed pond at the corner of the park where the trail starts. With an orange cushion under him, a cane lying on the bench next to him, his far-off gaze bring me an impression of loneliness or even sadness. I look around, under the sunshine, people are walking, running or playing, everyone seems happy. Has he seen these? Is people’s happiness meaningful to him? I hope so. I hope the sunshine, the fall colors, the people are all meaningful to him.
The 2nd scene is the two groups of senior people with four or five people in each group next to the pavilion. They sit on outdoor folding chairs in a circle with around 4 feet apart each other. Without masks on, I can see their smiley faces. The mild sunshine and gentle breeze make this middle Oct afternoon a perfect time to be with friends in nature. After going through months in panic and loneliness, these senior people need to interact with friends, they need to go back to some kind of normalcy and have some relaxing fun time.
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I spent $1 for a hard cover book, Hugh Sidey's" Portraits of the Presidents" for TIME published in 2000. here below are two paragraphs quoted from the book about the president Dwight Eisenhower(in presidency from 1953-1961) and Hurry Truman(in presidency from1945-1953)
Then there was Mamie Eisenhouwer's wonderful analysis of her hsuband's extraordianry appeal." I am not certain," she once said, " but I know that when i roll over in bed in the mornign and feel that bald head, I am sure the world is all right." We did that too.... well, sort of. We got a glimpse of that bald head and maybe a big Eisenhower grin and we felt better. 這段講的是艾森豪威爾，作為二戰英雄，在輕鬆當選美國總統後，以其天才般的統帥能力和無與倫比的人格魅力，讓他的妻子以及美國人感到安心。
Because Truman was not a social creature in Washington, many reporters had put him down as a rube(菜鳥） yet what lay under these public, often misleading ledger entries was something that biographer David Macculough mentioned time and time again: character. Truman believed in hard work. he was dead honest and without guile(奸詐）. his lack of a college degreee was misleading: McCullough reckoned that the public high school education Truman received at the turn of the century from caring and gently insistent teachers was equivalent to some college degrees today. Besides, Truman was a voracious(貪心的) reader: his poor eyesight kept him from playing sports. he claimed that he had read every one of the 2000 books in the Independence , Missouri, library before he graducated from high school in 1901.
Truman never hesitated to order the dropping of atom bombs on Japan. Nor did he ever have second thoughts. His object was to save thousands of American lives that would have been lost,according to estimates, in teh planned conventional invasion of Japan from the sea. History is stronger than ever now in its endorsement(背書） of Truman's tough decision.
這段說的是誠實勤奮的性格，讓杜魯門，這個一直隱身於羅斯福光環暗影中的副總統，在羅斯福突然辭世後，能夠接班，並順利完成他以後的總統使命。
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最近一個月發現兒子的代數差，於是開始在家教他。發了很多次火，罵得也夠狠，夠難聽，按照美國的標準，如果他告我，我會被警告言語ABUSE我的小孩。他為自己的代數水平低，也為他讓我感到失望哭過，但他沒有像初中和小學時那樣與我對抗，而是聽了我給他下的死命令：每天寫完作業後，要完成我給他另外布置的代數題。幾周下來後，見到成效，他並沒有我批的那麽笨，還有救，這讓我心中那曾經高高燃燒起的希望之火被一瓢冷水澆得奄奄一息後，再度重新被點燃。我告訴他：你必須在未來的一年時間內把舊代數練到滾瓜爛熟的地步，同時還要學習掌握好新的代數知識，否則你要想上你的目標大學沒戲。告訴他: 初級階段的代數學的是規則，到後麵就是針對目標找到對應的策略。做了PSAT/NMSQT 練習冊上的題目，發現不管英文還是數學都不難，也感歎中國的數學教育真是比美國強很多。冊上標注為”HARD“的題目，最多就算個中偏下難度的。曾經看走過來的家長說：在美國普通的孩子都可以得到A, 現在想想也不是沒道理。隻要智商中等以上，沒有注意力缺陷問題，再把心思放在學習上，確實不難做到。也讓他知道：大學不會因為你有哪些先天缺陷而降低對你的學業要求，盡管人們知道要達到同樣的學業水平，有先天神經缺陷的人要付出比正常人更多的努力。
第一次買來小包菜（brussels sprout)煮，沒想到和三層肉，洋蔥同炒，味道會如此之好。
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