暖冬cool夏
這裏一年四季溫暖如春，沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
補記，三月的最後一天，南加有一個城市發生了槍擊案，至少四人死亡，據說是認識的人殺的。這世道不太平了!
Nine selected spring pictures were posted on Wechat Moments on 3/29. I purposely pointed out the striking contrast between the last two pictures: a bare slope taken in this March versus the same slope clustering with vibrantly blooming lupines shot two years ago.
3/27/2021
3/23/2019
A friend of mine living in Florida asked me why there is no flower this year. I explained that unlike many other places where spring may never fail to bring forth new life and abundance, our spring hinges on much last winter’s rainfall. Our mountains are green for about a month or so before the meagerly stored water under the surface ground dries up. The ensuing heat and drought only hastens the return of dull valleys, where only drought resistant plants or deeply-rooted oaks survive the rest of the seasons. When there is a copious rainy winter, the decade-long seeds could be shaken up from their dormancy in the underground, and in turn ushers in a rich spring. 2016 was a good year, as I witnessed, when even the flowers in the desert like Death Valley were in its rare spring super bloom. But more often than not, we are faced with lean years, when the limited rainfall stunts the growth of wild flowers and oats, and to survive they have to race against nature to seed for the next generation. It is a test of resilience.
3/27/2021
對比3/23/2019 同一個山頭，遠眺同一個山頂
3/27/2021， 當然還是有些草的。
This is the shade we rested under after a sweltering hike in the sun. While we were enjoying the breeze there, from the empty trail appeared a young man and his unleashed dog. The dog was panting hard, its long tongue hanging down outside the mouth. He disobediently walked off the trail towards us, defying his owner's instruction of "no rest". But that resistance only lasted for seconds before the dog trudged back to the sunny trail towards its next stop. Leashed or not, the dog is at its owner's hand. If I were the owner, I would have let the poor dog rest in the shade:))
We met the new neighbor Paul on the driveway last Saturday as we were driving home from the hike. He was on his roller skates, with a helmet and knee pads tightened around his head and knees. As he walked out of the then Tom’s garage and approached us, my guess that he is the husband of C whom I talked to a month ago faltered. Somehow I cannot match his young-looking face with C’s winkled one. He stopped to introduce himself that he is a nurse and that he is C’s husband. Then he tried to explain to us that to be on roller skates is to maintain his brain elasticity, as he is sixty years old this year. We both wowed, and in unison, complimented him for looking so young. But was it the reason he told us his age?
Yesterday afternoon, I got my first shot of Pfizer vaccine at a temporary walk-in site, after waiting in line and going through the process for about two hours. Last night, the left arm was so sore that I cannot lift it to cook or to wash. Luckily the soreness abated after 24 hours with no other immediate side-effects or symptoms.
暖姐該打第二針了吧？聽說第二針後反應較大，還望多保重。
我也才知道魯冰花有很多顏色的，而且形狀也不盡相同。願一凡那裏早一天春暖花開! 謝謝一凡臨帖!
謝謝魏薇閱讀，周末快樂!
暖冬周末快樂！
謝謝菲兒關於打疫苗的帖子，很有用，打第二針時會很注意的，希望大家都能很快打上，美國能從此全民免疫。菲兒應該有出遊的計劃了，我沒有的，期待著菲兒的旅行大貼。祝菲兒春好!
說到沒感覺，怕沒打，我還是第一次聽說，這次第一，第二針打下去的時候，特別是第一針當場幾乎沒有感覺，說明護士技術技術高啊：）恭喜暖冬，沒預約就打上了，排了隊，曬了太陽要注意休息，特別是第二針後，保重！
很快你就可以到處得瑟了。
我今天就已經恢複"雙臂老太婆"的身份了，傍晚都開車出去買菜了。就不指望雙臂賢夫了，自己有健康，手腳最重要，長在別人身上的不聽使喚的。謝謝閣閣來訪，祝四月春好!
這個lupine有個很好聽的中文名，魯冰花，第一次看見是在女兒上高中的學校山坡上，喜歡極了，後來又得知它就是歌曲中唱的魯冰花:)) 看來這花需要水分，今年隻看到零零星星的幾朵，很懷念從前，所以特意去找出來了。祝大漠四月春好!
正確稱呼是“獨臂賢妻”。不厚道地提醒暖冬一下，如果你在接下來的一個月都抱怨“胳膊疼”，很有可能培養出一個上得廳堂、下得廚房的雙臂賢夫。
那兩張lupine看著讓人心醉。
南加沒有北加綠，今年差太遠了，太幹了。不想了。
沒有"俏"， 沒有"情"可以打罵了，老了:)) 慣不慣都一個樣的。秋水四月春好!
山好像比前兩次綠了些，也能看到小花了，四月份應該還是有些看頭的：）
你家某人太有趣了，這也算是打情罵俏了吧，哈哈。趁機讓他多幹活，別慣著：））
"獨臂老尼"-哈哈哈。你先生幽默。
小小，我打的是pfizer,據說劑量小一些，不過你有學醫的女兒，知道的肯定比我多。我的第一針除了胳膊痛一天沒有什麽其他反應。我們這邊聽說4/15左右就徹底放開，都可以打了，小小留心一下自己附近的進展。我昨天也是碰巧朋友告訴我的。
某人就是喜歡開玩笑，平時不幹活的，離模範差之千萬裏的。南加今年還是太幹，我也是留些紀念在此，將來可以看。小小那邊如果附近有大山會好一些，疫情好一些了也出去走走吧，享受這短暫的春光吧。謝謝小小!
哈哈，暖冬對家人的稱呼太逗了，某人：）） 暖冬夫妻感情深厚，某人主動承擔家務，打球時還把一隻手放口袋裏，以示公平，很謙讓你呢，模仿丈夫，幸福的暖冬：））
爬山的pp拍的很棒，雖不像北加那麽青山綠水的，但也是野花盛開，春意盎然，走在大自然中，心情舒暢！