Translated…
The sun hung, slanted on the study that faced south, the white sunlight reflected the “eighteen” on the thermometer. It was, three, in the afternoon. A little over an hour later, the sun found its hiding place between the blue and white intertwined cloudy skies, the temperature dropped to “17”, and maybe, it will, drop, slowly, down to “12”………but, it shouldn’t be like, a couple of days ago, all of a sudden, became an “8”?
——A few days ago, when my room was only eight degrees, the network roads up the mountaintops were already covered with light snow, the vegetable and the fruit farmers watched the skies, with that bitter look, and I still, refused to use the electric heaters, and, bloated, sat, right by my desk, rereading the old books by Da-Jen Liu. My cell phone had, stopped working. Other than the sound from the rain outside my house, the inside seemed especially cool, and quieted too, I’m abler to concentrate on those once-passionate issues regarding the mirages in ancient Chinese history.
This is, probably, the seventh day after the “Huge Freeze” I suppose, the fifth day of my cell phone stopped working, my alarm became mute, and so, I’d slept until I woke at 9:30, I’d gone to the study to check the reading on the thermometer: uh, “12”, it’s four degrees higher compared to yesterday when I woke up. The sun came out, the brightness illuminated to inside the house. The two yam leaves on my lanai had suffered frost bites, I’d wanted to pluck it for breakfast, but, as I’d slid open the window, the icy cold wind had, attacked my nostrils, I’d immediately, shut the sliding doors, closed the windows, went to the kitchen. There’s still a bowl of sesame chicken left over from yesterday, and I’d cooked up another ten-veggies soup with the golden yams, this brunch should, keep me filled for about half a day I suppose.
from the papers…
As I carried my bowl and my plate to the front of my desk to eat, there were news of the snowstorms and the damages the bad weather had caused all over the internet. And, it was, only two, or three days ago, when people were, chasing after the snows, and now, there were 13,500,000 milkfish that froze to death. There were those people who’d, frozen to death too, the leafy greens that suffered the freezes, the fruits that were frozen, the hard work of the farmers, frozen to hurt too………all of these news on the natural disasters, I’d not wanted to watch anymore; but, those news on the politicians, talking trash, that’s no good either, and, I’d started reading the stories, the essays on the subsection of the newspapers, the brunch for this “slow-eating style” was almost over, the temperature rose back up to “16” now, and the raging wind, stopped raging too, that made the house …
…
…
…
As I’d plucked off the damaged leaves, I’d recalled all the histories that I’d shared with the mud, the plants, and, I’d found that underneath the yam leaves, there were, some yellow yams showing their heads, seems, that I’m about, to have a harvest again soon. This sort of harvest, has NO adventures, and, compared to climbing up onto the lanai, to pluck off those pomelo fruits, it’s, a whole lot less risky. Ahhhhhhhhhh, even IF I’d gotten to the age that I’d gotten warned by my neighbors to NOT to that anymore, but, I’d still gotten calls, from the many adventures that my life has to offer me; yes, getting called by all of those adventures, is an enjoyment of sorts also.———Uh, they’re also, something that must be done too!
And so, this, is how someone becomes a green thumb, after her retirement, and, she’d found the wonders of nature, calling out to her, and, she’d answered the calls of nature, and, became a green thumb.
Life, the Obstacle Course 