暖冬cool夏
這裏一年四季溫暖如春，沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
十一月了，日子飛快，很快又該是年底了。記一點十月的零星瑣碎事吧。
繼去年第一次枇杷結果(共十幾粒而已)，今年的枇杷長勢喜人。十月初就開始抽出不少花蕊，抽的早的現在已經開始開花了。中間我剪了不少枝條，希望能集中養分，讓明年的枇杷碩果累累。
十月中突然來了興致，第一次給自己曬了一些紫薯粉和紅薯幹。紫薯粉備著以後做糕點點綴用，紅薯幹當零食吃，健康美味。今天(11/2/2019)又蒸了，切了，曬了一些，雖然麻煩了些，但總說是比買的健康。這星期四公司的potluck做了應景南瓜餅，裏麵是紅豆餡的，都一起來露個臉，show一show了:)
十月中的Santa Ana wind曾經帶來90度的高溫，熱風肆虐，幹燥的空氣好像劃一根就會燃燒起來似的。緊接又是山火，三處火災，包括Getty附近的大火。今年秋天異常幹燥，期盼雨水的早日降臨!
10/26去車行給舊車換了刹車和機油，希望這輛舊車能長長久久，再開上些年。
另外個人要加強鍛煉，控製血壓，同時督促某人一起鍛煉。秋天了，雖然白天的氣溫尚有七十多度，早晚還是涼的，天日也短了，六點鍾天就開始黑了。明天改冬令時了。
The auto repair shop was already open by the time I arrived there around 8:10 am. It is an old shop owned by an honest Chinese guy Henry, 16 miles away from where I live. Except for oil change that I would do locally, I’ve come here for any other mechanical problems for my old car for the past several years. This time I need a new brake, and a due oil change.
The shop is located on a roadside right after an intersection, with a dip before a battered wrought iron gate. Inside the gate are a covered mechanical working area for about three or four cars, and a bigger uncovered open space clustered with old dusty cars, vans or SUVs that look like being there forever. Because of these stationed cars, the driveway is very narrow, only wide enough for just two cars to come in and back off. Hearing my car’s rumbling noises, Henry, a median height guy of about 60-year-old, greeted me from behind the parked cars. He helped me back off the car, squeezed it to the side, and turned off the engine. I entered a small waiting room, seated myself on one of the five chairs and started knitting.
The waiting room is connected to an office by an open wall window, where Henry or sometimes his wife received the customers with questions and payments. Ten fifteen minutes later, in came an old dark-skin Spanish looking guy and sat on the other side. He looked at the water stand by the door and asked about the coffee, and that’s how our conversations started. We talked about the shop, how he was referred here as this was his first time. We talked about our car problems, models, and the years. He told me that the car that needed to be fixed today was going to be handed down to his son, as he himself has another one, an antique 1957 Bell sth(?) that is still worth $40,000. He then took out his cell phone and showed me a picture of his house, in front of which parked his antique car, very new-looking, clean but old-fashioned. As the conversation deepened, he then talked about his youngest daughter, whose wedding was to be held at a beach resort, and that he was going to fund $30,000 for it. I told him that in our Chinese tradition, it is the bridegroom’s family who pays for the wedding. He retorted that it was OK as he only has one daughter, and he was willing to pay. “This might be the last time I pay for the wedding. I don’t think I will have the chance to live to the day when my grandsons are married,” said the happy old man.
During our conversations, more people came in, talked to Henry, dropped the keys and left. About an hour later, the guy left too as his car was ready, leaving me and another newcomer waiting in the room. Then came in a lady who looked like an old customer of the owner, talking to him gaily regarding her daughter’s attending Olympic next year in Tokyo as a softball player for the national Italian team. We chimed in, congratulating her and asking her how her daughter, an American citizen, would play for the Italian team. Then a story about her mother-in-law being an Italian immigration, and how that enabled her daughter to be dual citizens was told. She then parted heartily among our good luck wishes.
Then alone in the waiting room, I chit chatted with Henry across the window, before my car was ready around 10:20 am. A little long the wait was, I had a happy morning, meeting and talking to people that I may never have encountered, had it not been for the small room.
我這裏太熱，隻能種種韭菜和紅薯（我們叫山芋），今年夏天太熱，不能去後院，花也死了不少。我們這兒這兩天來了零下的寒流，暖冬妹妹那裏下雨了吧？
沒想到你做美食的手藝這麽好，這次可露了一手，讓我知道了你的實力。
周末快樂！
Unlike high blood sugar, when mostly food intake and diet control will do, high blood pressure cannot be easily tamed. Say, for instance, hiking three hours in the morning will bring my blood pressure to very normal, but it won't last long. It rises again later in the afternoon or evening:(( Hopefully in his case, it works better. Thanks again, my friend.
Thanks for the tips. Now I _have_ to make them ;-)
> he is very stubborn not to see the doctor or take any medication.
I think he's wise. Life-style change is the right way.
I have high blood pressure, from my mom's gene, and have been on medication for years. He was found to have high blood pressure too, though he does not have that gene. What worries me is that he is very stubborn not to see the doctor or take any medication. So the only options are diet and exercise.
Thanks, my friend, for your echoing. Have a great new week!
- I will probably steam and dry some sweet potatoes myself,
- I can picture the car shop from your description, and
- The small space induced people to share, very Tao-ish.
It's good to know you guys keep up exercising.
No need to push too much but just get some sweat,
Every Single Day.