暖冬cool夏
這裏一年四季溫暖如春，沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
While people in the east coast are expecting May flowers, we in the west are reaping fruits. Thanks to California's year-round sunlight, a small yard like mine can still grow something. For years, I have experimented with various kinds of plants and flowers. Some died, and some survive and thrive. To name a few, blackberries have been bearing fruits year after year. A loquat tree, planted from a seed, is in its second year of fruiting. The dragon fruits sprawlingly climb to the top of the wall. What’s new this year is that the grapevine, purchased from Costco four or five years ago, also starts its fruit. The pearly pea-like grapes, strung along, though still green, are growing fuller and rounder day by day. Though there is only one bunch, from baren to fertile, it is a breakthrough. One bunch this year could be a precursor to the next year’s abundance.
The ripening of loquat first came around in April. The surplus March and April rains could have washed away the sweetness. The first picked loquat turned out to be a bit sour, holding back my itch of picking. And then the prolonged collection of sunlight did give rise to sweeter fruits. The overdue loquats, their skins wrinkled a bit, when peeled off, the meats inside taste like being dipped in sugar. As one after another loquat was picked and consumed, I stopped at the last one, as if keeping it on the tree would fantasize its permanent appearance. But the fear of its seeds being infested with worms soon overcame me. The plant has its own life cycle. Like it or not, it is time to part with it.
The moment we picked up the last loquat, we found the first dragon fruit flower blooming in the dusk. As I hurried out to the other side of the wall with a big camera in hand, I saw high up on the wooden trellis, nestled among the green sprawling branches, protrude a white flower, long and tube-like. The dozen arrow-shaped white petals are opening against green outer leaves, and in the middle, one female light-yellow tube is clustered by myriad golden male stamen. Then comes the second (06/02) and the third flower (06/03) in a sequel the following nights. When it suddenly dawned on me that they might need our assistance in its pollen transmission, I urged my husband to go up the ladder. With a brush, he strained himself to touch the high hanging flowers, brushing here and there, in the hope that the withered flowers will turn to dragon fruit cactus in weeks.
05/31/2020
The last day of May falls on a Sunday. The brutal death of a black guy named George Floyd is like a domino that triggered nationwide protests and riots. Unnerved we are like most people, as the looting started in the neighboring cities, we still decided to go to the beach for an outing. The freeway looked normal, so did the beach, except that none of the visitors was wearing a mask. We consciously put away our masks in the pockets, to be mingling with the crowd. Walking in my Xero shoes on the rugged trails under the cliff, with gravels, pebbles and rocks piled by the other side, I kept a distance with the others. And without masks on, we did not linger, and was on our way back after an hour or so. How I miss the days before March this year when we can freely roam and rove on the beach!
上周我們種了兩棵honey crisp 蘋果樹，從Costco買的。 網上搜了一下，說蘋果樹的花是self sterile (自動不育），必須種在別的品種的蘋果樹 或者crabapple樹附近（50尺-100尺，是蜜蜂飛行的舒服距離），讓異類的花粉給它授粉，它才會結很多果子。 否則，它自己可能會結少量的果子。 不知道暖冬的火龍果是否也需要讓別的果樹幫忙授粉？
用“某人”是不錯，我還看見城裏有用 家裏的反動分子的，哈哈
燕兒喜歡某人這個詞就好，我不知道這個某人在英文是不是對等於somebody,其實這個somebody偶爾會帶有"這樣人物的"意思，比如He is somebody可以隱含的意思是"他是有來頭"的:)) 謝謝燕兒臨博留言，祝燕兒新周快樂!
“某人”這個稱呼，我是和暖兒學的。兩年前，我來文學城的時候，讀暖兒的博文，看見暖兒稱另一半用“某人”就覺得非常貼切合適，尊重親切又俏皮幽默。稱呼另一半，用老公，有一點點太隨便；用丈夫，有一點點太書麵；用先生，有一點點太正經；用領導，有一點點太革命。:-)
迪兒離我遠了點，否則多枇杷籽，可以發芽種植，火龍果順便剪一點都能插活的，隻是火龍果要搭架子的，我平時不太打理的。迪兒的院子可惜了，還是種一點吧，加州陽光這麽好，種什麽都會長得好的。
這朵紫色的花是百香果。我是期望今年有火龍果吃的:) 迪兒周末快樂!
我第一次知道，花還有雌雄。我家花園單調乏味，也盼不到果實，真的是因為用心不夠。
你的火龍果花，好像比曇花豐滿厚實，別管結不結果，拿它當花養就就行了。那朵有點怪異的花，是百香果花嗎。
周末快樂！
不過，我們家火龍果的花蕾還很小，而你們家的火龍果竟然已經開出美麗的花朵，有什麽秘訣嗎：））
另，暖冬，你的火龍果是什麽顏色的，我以前是種的白色，今年種了幾棵紅心的，期盼著快快開花結果。
http://www.mao3.net/content/633.html
火龍果的花真是挺漂亮的，有日期的都是手機照的，所以是花好看，帶點仙氣:) 黃色的火龍果好像叫麒麟果，我也買過好幾次，太甜了一點，整個像蜜糖啊。你故事裏的金句印象太深了，不經意也學了，博人一笑。我的背影就算了，早過了拍照的年齡，偶爾來興致了，拍出來的都進了垃圾桶了。這神仙日子可是平淡無奇的，還是聽mm講故事比較開心:) 祝mm周末快樂!
這火龍果跟曇花令箭花很像的，都是一類植物，even仙人掌花，結構都有點類似的。魏薇說的沒錯，這黑莓看上去更誘人，黑黑的，晶瑩剔透，但吃起來真是一般般。自家的瓜果是看著長大的，真是不一樣。再次謝謝你留言，祝周末快樂!
和領導一樣，最喜歡枇杷，可惜我們這裏連賣的都沒有!
海邊的片片也很讚，羨慕暖冬！
我雖然不會寫英文，但還是會欣賞的。感覺暖冬的英文文章越寫越順了，這篇讀來真是享受。喜歡”GROWING FULLER AND ROUNDER DAY BY DAY", "HOLDING BACK MY ITCH OF PICKING"。。。收藏起來。還有好多單詞要去查查才知意思。暖冬周末愉快！
The Xero shoes are very light and comfy, except they are a bit wide. I wear them very often, and got to know why you advocate it:)). Thank you, my friend.
Also, thank you for catching the wrong word. I need to write more.
others. But I never had the luck to taste those big ones. I never tasted dragon
fruits, either. They look very exotic to me.
I think you meant "white petals."
Glad to know you wore Xeros. How did they feel?
我家枇杷今年結得早，收攤也早，不摘都縮水變色了。看到你家葡萄也結了，我家去年是第一次結。