暖冬cool夏
這裏一年四季溫暖如春，沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
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.
聖誕和新年快樂！
謝謝你仔細讀我的文，每個民族都有它的苦難史，當你親耳聽到還是會震驚的。但願世界和平美好! 小溪姐姐退休了一定要好好享受生活的，人生真的很短，一晃一年，再一晃十年。今天是平安夜，祝小溪姐姐和AE聖誕快樂平安，2020健康開心!
退出職場很多年了，當年公司聖誕是邀請配偶 or special one 一起參加聖誕Party的。也就是租個Hotel，大吃一頓，賭博，抽獎，喝酒，唱歌，跳舞。公司提供Taxi送喝醉的員工回家的。抽獎可以抽到各樣禮品，禮券，包括Hotel免費裏券。退休後的日子過得真快，一眨眼，又到了聖誕，感謝文城有緣遇到善良，友好，好文筆的暖冬妹妹，也祝妹妹闔家節日快樂，安康如意！
照片很棒，第四章很特別，很喜歡！
遙祝暖冬聖誕新年闔家幸福愉快樂！
女兒回來了吧？祝聖誕新年快樂！
預祝暖冬姐節日快樂！
暖冬聖誕節快樂！
公司的party一年不如一年，你們公司還真不錯。
party 總是吵吵鬧鬧的，吃吃喝喝，唱歌跳舞，打牌喝酒，其實不搞這些，好像也沒啥好熱鬧了。不過，暖冬有自己獨特的慶祝節日方式，是完全可以理解的，喜歡清靜的人很多，比如那些沒去的同事基本就是：））。
你家某人是一個非常熱愛生活的人，因為可以從自然界的點點滴滴裏都能感受到快樂的人，必定是一個比較超脫的人了。
不是賭票吧，是抽獎的票吧。
如果是抽獎的票，怎麽能送人呢？這不把運氣也送人了嗎，我才不幹呢。
有一次在巴黎打比賽，ZTE公司讚助，然後抽獎憑那個坐號來抽。一餐桌是12個位置，有八個人沒來，我就把那八張票硬是給收攏過來了，於是我就有了九個不同的號，中獎概率大大地有。
美女在台上叫號，喊著喊著就把我的號碼給喊了出來。終於抽中了一個中興公司產的當紅好手機，哇噻！樂喲。
節日快樂！
值得讀和欣賞
的故事很令人感慨，祝你們闔家聖誕快樂暖冬！：）
今年參加一個公司的聚會，在北嶺高爾夫俱樂部。 吃喝夥食不錯。 搖獎沒運氣。 跳舞就走人了。 我也在想明年還會參加該公司的聚會嗎？：）
I never enjoyed drinking parties and I couldn't dance. Maybe I should learn. It should be good exercise.
> a flung of steep narrow stair
Did you mean "a flight of steep narrow stairs"?
> wriggling to the music
Love the expression.
祝暖冬節日快樂！
冬天的蕭瑟也是別樣的美，喜歡倒數第二張照片。