My Covid test was scheduled at 11:15 in CVS. With the uncertainty in my mind, I feel down. But when my car hits road, the fleeting glimpse of the fall colors through the windows comfort my moodiness. The test is quick, I was told the result will be available online in 24 hours.
This is my 2nd experience of leaving from work since the health crisis caused by the notable virus. It is what it is, complain doesn’t help, it will only make things getting worse, I have to face the reality and think what the right things I should do later on. This is my attitude to adversity.
早上从车窗外闪过的秋色让我不能忘怀，打算下午睡过一觉再次出门，让秋景在我放缓了的脚步间慢慢移动。也趁着一个有借口的假期，我进行一场家门口的赏秋摄影之旅。
The aesthetics beauty of fall colors flying by my eyes in the morning have been lingering in my mind, I will take the break as an opportunity to appreciate the fall colors in the nearby neighborhoods. I will redefine it as a happy vocation. So in the afternoon, after taking a nap, I decide going outside for a walk again. I will wander in the nature, catch patches of fall colors here and there, and I will take pictures for them.
第一个吸引我目光的是公园里独自坐在塘边的老人。他自带了个黄橙色的棉垫上，手杖倚在长椅上。
The first scene catching my eyes is a senior man who is sitting on the bench beside the reed pond at the corner of the park where the trail starts. With an orange cushion under him, a cane lying on the bench next to him, his far-off gaze bring me an impression of loneliness or even sadness. I look around, under the sunshine, people are walking, running or playing, everyone seems happy. Has he seen these? Is people’s happiness meaningful to him? I hope so. I hope the sunshine, the fall colors, the people are all meaningful to him.
The 2nd scene is the two groups of senior people with four or five people in each group next to the pavilion. They sit on outdoor folding chairs in a circle with around 4 feet apart each other. Without masks on, I can see their smiley faces. The mild sunshine and gentle breeze make this middle Oct afternoon a perfect time to be with friends in nature. After going through months in panic and loneliness, these senior people need to interact with friends, they need to go back to some kind of normalcy and have some relaxing fun time.
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I spent $1 for a hard cover book, Hugh Sidey's" Portraits of the Presidents" for TIME published in 2000. here below are two paragraphs quoted from the book about the president Dwight Eisenhower(in presidency from 1953-1961) and Hurry Truman(in presidency from1945-1953)
Then there was Mamie Eisenhouwer's wonderful analysis of her hsuband's extraordianry appeal." I am not certain," she once said, " but I know that when i roll over in bed in the mornign and feel that bald head, I am sure the world is all right." We did that too.... well, sort of. We got a glimpse of that bald head and maybe a big Eisenhower grin and we felt better. 这段讲的是艾森豪威尔，作为二战英雄，在轻松当选美国总统后，以其天才般的统帅能力和无与伦比的人格魅力，让他的妻子以及美国人感到安心。
Because Truman was not a social creature in Washington, many reporters had put him down as a rube(菜鸟） yet what lay under these public, often misleading ledger entries was something that biographer David Macculough mentioned time and time again: character. Truman believed in hard work. he was dead honest and without guile(奸诈）. his lack of a college degreee was misleading: McCullough reckoned that the public high school education Truman received at the turn of the century from caring and gently insistent teachers was equivalent to some college degrees today. Besides, Truman was a voracious(贪心的) reader: his poor eyesight kept him from playing sports. he claimed that he had read every one of the 2000 books in the Independence , Missouri, library before he graducated from high school in 1901.
Truman never hesitated to order the dropping of atom bombs on Japan. Nor did he ever have second thoughts. His object was to save thousands of American lives that would have been lost,according to estimates, in teh planned conventional invasion of Japan from the sea. History is stronger than ever now in its endorsement(背书） of Truman's tough decision.
这段说的是诚实勤奋的性格，让杜鲁门，这个一直隐身于罗斯福光环暗影中的副总统，在罗斯福突然辞世后，能够接班，并顺利完成他以后的总统使命。
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最近一个月发现儿子的代数差，于是开始在家教他。发了很多次火，骂得也够狠，够难听，按照美国的标准，如果他告我，我会被警告言语ABUSE我的小孩。他为自己的代数水平低，也为他让我感到失望哭过，但他没有像初中和小学时那样与我对抗，而是听了我给他下的死命令：每天写完作业后，要完成我给他另外布置的代数题。几周下来后，见到成效，他并没有我批的那么笨，还有救，这让我心中那曾经高高燃烧起的希望之火被一瓢冷水浇得奄奄一息后，再度重新被点燃。我告诉他：你必须在未来的一年时间内把旧代数练到滚瓜烂熟的地步，同时还要学习掌握好新的代数知识，否则你要想上你的目标大学没戏。告诉他: 初级阶段的代数学的是规则，到后面就是针对目标找到对应的策略。做了PSAT/NMSQT 练习册上的题目，发现不管英文还是数学都不难，也感叹中国的数学教育真是比美国强很多。册上标注为”HARD“的题目，最多就算个中偏下难度的。曾经看走过来的家长说：在美国普通的孩子都可以得到A, 现在想想也不是没道理。只要智商中等以上，没有注意力缺陷问题，再把心思放在学习上，确实不难做到。也让他知道：大学不会因为你有哪些先天缺陷而降低对你的学业要求，尽管人们知道要达到同样的学业水平，有先天神经缺陷的人要付出比正常人更多的努力。
第一次买来小包菜（brussels sprout)煮，没想到和三层肉，洋葱同炒，味道会如此之好。
