疫情期间两人看了不少《西瓜视频》，真可谓不出家门而知古今中外天下事。自从知道玩自媒体可以赚钱，人们跃跃欲试，各显神通，纷纷把自己身边的人和物拍成视频。视频的内容上及天文地理，下至柴米油盐，从自家孩子吃法、说话、玩耍，到挖掘自家门口的奇珍异草，从美食，美景，到世界经济趋势格局分析; 从玩玉石，玩收藏到古玩古物鉴定，从风景如画的中国新疆到异国风情风俗的介绍。一句话，只有你想不到没有你找不到的。每看完一个视频，更多相应的视频马上推荐过来，让人目不暇接，而我们也趁机留心视频下方的点击率和粉丝量，借此了解大众的口味和喜爱。最近几乎每期必看的"小哥儿在非洲"，短短几分钟的视频让我们看到非洲一家人的生活和真实面貌，不禁感叹人其实是生而不平等的，有人可以生在 Bill Gates家，而有人却只能生在非洲穷人家，家徒四壁，吃不好穿不暖。
It’s been almost a year since the pandemic hijacked us. Life becomes mostly a grinding cycle of working at home, eating and sleeping. Like a chicken tired of being encircled in a coop to lay eggs every day, I yearn for outdoor life, where I can roam on a free ranch and to be enveloped in the sun-drenched nature.
Come late February, my imagination of the valley becomes wilder. I remember the undulating hills start putting on green in mid-February, dotted with blooming golden poppies here and there, though more poppies explode in March. Then comes April, time for wild mustard flowers to put on the show, setting the whole valley ablaze with its brightening yellow. But when yesterday we arrived at the destination, an old trail we haven’t been on for more than a year, my excitement fizzled. Tinted with some greenness, the dominant color throughout the ranch is still lifelessly brown. The densely clusters of the last-year’s dead stalks of mustard only reminded us how they were once vibrant and vigorous.
The trail is purposely made one-way, and a placard of reminding people to keep 6 feet apart stood at the entrance. It’s high noon time and only a few visitors were visible on the trail. I took off the mask, to immerse myself in the warm breeze. The temperature must be above 70F. We walked at our leisure, stepping aside for some brisk hikers or bikers. But as the trail narrows, flanked by the newly added barbed-wired fences on both sides, we found no place to yield but to hasten our steps to keep the proper distance. So, at the end of the short trail, without much to see, we decided to turn back.
What highlighted the scene that day was a huge cluster of cacti. Though no budding flowers were seen, nor any new sprout, this cacti family, with its resilience and vitality, erects strikingly against the parched land.
回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : Thanks, my friend, for reading and comments. Your comments matter:)), as we have the same fondness of the language. I know your dream of your last day could be like the lady runner who rested after finishing the marathon:).
I did a brief research on "canola" and "mustard". From the pictures online they look the same. But then I found sentences like "canola is in the mustard family, and mustard oil is healthier than canola oil":) I guess they are just similar.
Thanks for liking the words. The word "grinding" is recently acquired, from a magazine. (I love "The Economist", by the way). I like the word "fizzle" too, the opposite of "sizzle", which here can be replaced by the words like ebb, dwindle, or retreat maybe.
Thanks again, my friend. I heard spring has come in the North. Enjoy!
7grizzly 发表评论于
> 走的时候最好也不要拖泥带水
That's so true and I think one needs to consciously strive for it.
Your description of the wild mustard reminded me of a tract of land near where I live. It used to boast acres of vivid yellow flowers and I thought they were canola. From the images of their blossoms, it's hard for me to tell.
Nice use of words. I liked "grinding," "fizzle," "ablaze," etc.
回复 '魏薇' 的评论 : 魏微好！早上在看股票,上班，刚刚开完会，给你回复，让你等了。
Thanks for your reading and comments. I must say your English amazingly progresses, 让我刮目了：））
1. CA is well-known for its year-round sunshine and warmth, and summer is pleasant too. But drought is also common here, and for 12 months in a year, the valleys or hills are only green for around two months, and the greenness actually hinges on the rainfall in the winter. Last winter we saw very low precipitation, and that may explain the bare hilltop this spring.
2. Golden poppy is our state flower:)) I don't know the difference between this poppy and the one that we extract for opium. I was told they are not the same. But if you see the grandiose pictures we took in 2019 below
https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/70796/201904/18542.html , you won't be surprised why it is our state flower:))
3. Thanks for reading so carefully, and for pointing out the word "grinding". I actually learned from a magazine. I was just impressed like you.
Thanks again for your input and writing in English. Keep up the good job, and take care too!
魏薇 发表评论于
It's a very pleasant experience by reading this essay even There are a few vocabularies I don't know. Why the hill was blanketed with green in middle of Feb last year, but not this year? I googled the flower "poppy" since it is the first time I heard the name. It surprised me because poppy is a big family, PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM, a flower in this family,is the source of opium. Obviously it's a Spanish, this help me understand why South American countries are big resource of drugs.
70F, that's the temperature of spring or even early summer in CT. Yesterday and today the highest daily temperature climbed to 50F, a spring-feeling weather, people were excited about it. will write more later. "Grinding" is an vividly and creative word to express your feeling since you were locked down for quite a long time for the pandemic. Take care.
