早春北行記之二

早春北行記之二

 

3/12/2004

"所有的鹹帶魚都運走了隻有我

還留在岸上"

 

早起，陽光燦爛，空氣清冽，不勝感激所有被賜予的。電視裏播著一部人轅泰山的老片。早餐後和朋友向東沿70去聖路易斯看GatewayArch。路途之上大型貨車延綿不斷。聖路易斯是一座滄桑的城。背負著太多的曆史和現實，底下的美麗幾乎被麵上的風塵完全掩去。很快來到Gateway Arch. 遠遠的在高速路上就可以看到她。所以查地圖實在是不太必要的。可以開車子上到頂樓的停車場。這時可以好好看她了，似乎覺得有一點纖細，然而挺拔剛強的樣子。再走兩百米就來到腳下，才發現到座基的巨大，仰天往上看，藍天白雲陽光裏她反射出一道道柔和的光線來。排隊安檢非常嚴格，宛如10/11的機場。買了票去看一部關於她的曆史介紹，才知這座城是WestExploration的起點。GatewayArch成為西進和開拓探險的標誌。最有趣的部分在後麵。排過長長的隊伍，參觀了沿途曆史的陳設，來到登頂的地方。每個vehicle就象一個小小的太空艙，彎著腰可以坐四個人。在黑暗裏聽著似乎是滑輪纜繩絞動的聲音，沿著Arch的弧形緩緩向上。步出"太空艙"，發現到了頂端的平台廳裏。細長的空間兩邊安裝著許多的玻璃窗，向外望去，一邊是老城的OldCourtHouse,一邊是RiverFront。在這達630英尺的高度，你可以覺到她是在風中輕微地搖曳。你是和鳥類在同一個高度從同一個視角望出去。It is a worthwhile trip, a worthwhile moment, a worthwhile realization. "Did you go up in the Arch?" is the first thing they will ask you if you return from your trip to St Louis. 下了Arch去當地很有名的一家中餐館，水煮魚片辣得過癮。此後去看望一位大學同學。I was indeed very happy to see my old friend after six or five years. I can not agree too much with Lin Yutang's comment on motherhood and womanhood: "She is most beautiful when she is rocking the baby in the cradle. Once a woman becomes a mom, the internal call wakes her up and striking transformation happens in her by nature. She is therefore complete and beautiful". That was exactly what I saw, no more, no less. 朋友們得其所在是為我所喜的事。    

當夜12時返回Columbia，沿途大型貨車延綿不絕。

 

"人是合群的動物，他最怕的是孤獨"， That is why they huddle together, "談無關緊要的天"。林氏斯言甚是。However, freedom, to some extent, points to independence, being alone, or even being lonely.  "Human, you are so spoiled. Look at you, what you really are. You never could be satisfied". Life is not absolute, it is only about balance.

 

言不盡此。

 

12/03/2004