暖冬cool夏
這裏一年四季溫暖如春，沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
Sal, born and raised in a big family in Philippines, immigrated here when he was a teenager. He has seven brothers and sisters, most of them now in the states. However his parents both passed away, his mom died of stroke many years ago.
Sal is 44 years old this year, but like most Asians, he looks younger than his age. Young as he is, he had a heart attack last year and was admitted to ICU for a few days. He has recovered well since. When asked what he thought caused the heart attack, he attributed it to his unhealthy diet, fatty meat in particular as most Filipinos like to eat. His penchant for red meat is the culprit for his chronic gout, culminating in the heart attack.
Sal has an autistic daughter from his first marriage. A picture of his daughter from preschool is displayed at his cubicle wall, along with other small ones, in which he and his wife were cuddling and kissing her in the middle. The girl’s stiff half-smiling face somehow reminded me of a down-syndrome child. Sal told me that at the age of 14, his daughter still sleeps with the parents, afraid of being left alone in her own bed. She lives in her own little world, singing but not talking much, playing with animals but not the kids of her age.
Sal’s ex-wife lives two-hours-drive away. Every Friday afternoon Sal would be driving on the busy highway to pick up her daughter for the weekend and then drive another two hours to send her back. Sal and his new wife live in a one-bedroom apartment. When we were locked down and asked to work from home during the pandemic, Sal still came to office. His apartment is too small for two of them working side by side peacefully. He thought of upgrading to a two-bedroom, but then he said he needed to save for rainy days and for his daughter’s future. As a father of a girl with autism, Sal knows he would have to tend her whenever and wherever. Perhaps to retire in Philippines is a good choice, said he with a smile.
10/18/2021
Another rain came this early morning. As I got up from a warm cozy bed, pulled apart the curtains and lifted the windowpane, crisp air gushed in. The freshly rain-washed eucalyptus tree branches were swaying in the wind, its bell-shaped flowers dancing with the dangling leaves. The street next to it was wet and quiet, with a few cars parked by the sides. As I stood there inhaling, I heard the familiar chittering sounds of hummingbirds. They must be the same hummingbirds that frequent my backyard.
In the common area, there are a few giant eucalyptus trees lining up in front of our homes, towering over and dropping leaves and gumnuts on the roofs. Next to my first floor kitchen window and the second floor bedroom window is the most beautiful one, blooming with pink flowers amid lush leaves. Its barks are rough and peeling off though, as new layer inside grows and hardens each year. Tinged with a touch of waxy silver color, the leaves are evergreen, the extract of which, in the form of scented oil, is believed to have some herbal healing effect. As the sun came out around noon, I stepped out the door with a camera. As I zoomed in on the fluffy flowers, a few vibrating bees came into sight. They were humming and feasting on the rich nectar. Their presence made me think of hummingbirds—if they ever feed on this kind of nectar too. Though hummingbirds still visit my backyard every day vying for the sugar water in the feeder, the aggressive one still chasing the rest, the battle for food is far less fierce. It could be these blooming eucalyptus flowers that suffice them. Nevertheless, nature provides more varied flavors or nutrients than a sugar-water feeder. And as more rains are on the way, an extravagant spring is blissfully expected.
枇杷樹開始開花了
eucalyptus flowers
這樹是澳大利亞樹種，所以極有可能就是你說的考拉愛吃的那種，我也沒有細查。是看到一位網友寫到才想起自己門前就有。謝謝魏薇的閱讀，周末快樂!
關於down,很多年前在一家公司上班，一位老美的小孩就得了down,我們有參加過為唐氏綜合征孩子舉辦的"走路"募捐(整個公司組織去的)，後來斷斷續續也聽說了有人為募捐舉辦的一些類似長跑一樣的活動。這些孩子可憐，這些父母偉大的，唐西也是個很有愛心的人，你說得極是，提醒的對，我們要多參加慈善活動，我們的每一份付出都是給他們增添溫暖。謝謝唐西的來訪，祝秋安!
菲律賓有不少西班牙血統，說不準這哥們的姓就是西班牙的。拉丁血統天生的，悠遊自在，安分守己，快樂最重要。
今年剛去參加了一次”唐氏組合征”高爾夫球比賽，參賽的人之多，空前的，出乎我的想象。大家都為這些被”Down”的患者們伸出了援助之手。
賽後自己特意了解了一下Down的原因，還明白了許多。
據說不少高齡產婦容易出Down，難怪醫生在臨產前都推薦做Down測試，然後夫婦再做決定。
見過不少美女產出了Down孩，一生就這樣處在了一個要更多關懷孩子的境地，自己失去了不少。
但麵對此類的狀況，做為家長也隻有用上更積極的心態來麵對，因為Down孩們特別需要關愛，一個擁抱，一個握手都給他們帶來一陣快樂和幸福感。
我們這些正常人，除了慶幸之外，隻要有機會就伸出手，支援一下，做些慈善活吧。
Salamat！
和點點一樣我也在海外看見了。英文字體大多了，謝謝暖冬！：）
是的，這是桉樹的花，一般不太見到它們開花的，碰巧門口這顆陽光好開花了，每次就到它們隨枝條起舞，都很享受。祝燕兒秋好！
很多國人都是對自己（配偶）和子女要求太高。兩年前在子女壇上看到一個為小中搞的一個相親群，入群的條件之一是，小中男（女）必須被美國top50（最初還是top 25) 的大學錄取的。
苦難，會使人穿越時空，極其迅速地蛻變成智者。每個人都有慧根，苦難，是慧根長大強壯的養分。
女兒回家後讀書時間明顯少了。不過，與女兒的交流比較多，這個更重要。
紅色的火龍果就是要比白肉的小，成熟時間好像也長一些。我除了第一波寄給女兒的六個還比較像樣，後來第二波長出來的都比較小，有些跟雞蛋差不多大，到現在都沒有紅。紅肉的花苞最近又有幾個冒出來，估計會長得很慢很慢。營養和陽光都很重要的，陽光更重要。
這是桉樹開得花，比較少見，碰巧在家門口有一棵，近看很獨特。
謝謝小小留言鼓勵，晚安!
暖冬心態好，佩服你能靜下心來看書學習，英文這麽好了，還想著進一步提高，要像暖冬學習，真心話哦：））
哦，對了，還想跟暖冬說呢，這次外出歸來，收獲了不少成熟的火龍果，有白心的，紅心的，隻是紅心的個頭都比較小，奇怪？暖冬你種的火龍果有沒有這種現象？還是我這缺什麽？
暖冬辛苦，今天晚了，不用刻意回複，等以後有空時聊幾句就行，暖冬別太累，多多保重！：））
是的，小人物，也是很無奈的，我現在每星期去公司兩天幾乎都能碰到他，活著不容易啊。他也想多賺錢的，也在動腦筋，事實擺著呢，他女兒以後要有人照顧，沒有錢都難的。
聽說這個星期或是下個星期還要下雨呢，盼多點雨，明年好春景。謝謝秋水，我得幹活去了。秋水晚安!
得到的啟示我們都要積極樂觀知足和感恩~~~謝謝暖冬親的故事分享！
暖冬那裏下雨啦，我們今天也下了點零星小雨，看預報接下來的幾天都有雨，開心：）粉色花好看，文筆優美！讓我們一起期待下一個美麗的春天：）暖冬周中愉快！
The eucalyptus flower is not dazzling at the first sight, overshadowed by the leafy branches. But it is unique, and it is said to be very nectar-rich.
Thanks, my friend, for being there. I will try to practise more, good or bad:))
It was a great story! Indeed, we can always find seemingly ordinary people
carrying unimaginable load with silent strength, people like Sal. He reminded me
of this line from the 1992 movie "The Gladiator":
Death smiles at us all and all one can do is to smile back.
Great to see the eucalyptus flowers outside your window! They look prettier than
what I imagined.
One suggestion on English writing. Just keep rewriting according to a few
principles, e.g., "Omit needless words." from William Strunk's little book. Good
luck!
暖冬的文好讓人感慨，你和女兒的對話真是觸動我的心扉。紅紅的eucalyptus flowers真奇妙。暖冬的英文好棒 ，不愧是英文專業的，可以把英文字體弄大一點，更容易讀。：）
大自然給人的啟發太多了，去海邊走一趟，看tidepool,那些生活在漲潮退潮岩石縫裏的貝殼類動物也是熟知生存法則的，這樣才能生存下去，所謂的適者生存。這個也可以寫一篇:) 好久沒寫英文了，筆頭很硬，就當練習，謝謝Oncemm的閱讀。祝秋好!