Yaqin's Cyberspace in MSN

同样的星期二，同样的在网上追踪航班的信息，同样的在写代码的时候接到父亲从芝加哥机场打来的电话，不同的是，四月的窗外是春日连绵不绝的繁花，今天的窗外是秋天连绵不绝的细雨。

 

晚上回到家，妈妈的拖鞋静静地放在门口，客厅里静静的，楼下爸妈的房间也静静的。爸妈走时帮我压的细面条，静静地排成一排挂在架子上。爸妈走的时候特意打扫了一下，一室的窗明几净。打开冰箱，满满当当，冷冻室里是爸妈包好的饺子，冷藏室是蒸好的包子和烤好的苏式月饼。到楼上房间打开计算机，GTalk上自动登录的是爸的账号。这些点点滴滴，如同琥珀，明净地凝固着那些共度的时光。

 

我一边在电脑面前打字，一边想着，飞机现在应该是在白令海峡的上空了吧。如果飞行的高度很高，那么舷窗外仍然会是艳阳天么？心里忽然有些难过。正好老宋打电话说去打球，于是就出去打球了。

 

打完球回来，来写点爸妈在这里的点滴。

 

1. What if 中国人口能占到世界人口的120%还多

妈上网看新闻，对我和爸大声朗读：“中国60岁以上老年人口达69亿”。我很诧异：“新闻写错了吧？”妈很坚定：“网页上明明写的是69么。”爸在厨房做饭，听了这话，很认真的说，“这个数字，不仅中国人口不够，就是地球上人口都不够用的，要出去借些来才行。”我走近细看，原来是1.69亿。于是妈被我们俩嘲笑若干天。

 

2. 美国人民怎样洗脸

爸妈跟一对美国夫妇学英文。老师给的教材颇为实用。有一课专门讲了早上起来的一系列活动。“彼得起床”，“彼得洗澡”，“彼得穿衣”，“彼得煮咖啡”，“彼得吃早饭”，依此类推。妈问我：“为啥没有洗脸这个词？美国人早上不洗脸么？”我一看，教材还真没有洗脸这个词儿。于是我就搪塞说，“米国人早上洗澡的，不用洗脸。”妈妈要求我把洗脸这个词组教给她。我于是在纸上写了wash, washes, face，还写了人称代词I, you, he, she，所属代词my, your, his, her，这样就可以造句。我把句子结构给妈妈教了一遍，就听妈妈认真造句如下：

I wash your face.

You wash my face.

He washes her face.

She washes his face.

多么具有戏剧色彩的洗脸活动啊。

It was 7:55PM.  I just finished dinner with my parents.  There was a series of urgent knocks on my door.  I opened the door to see my next door neighbor, Little Qiao, standing in front of me.  She was almost crying: "Someone broke my car window ... ", and she turned to my mom and said, "... and took my purse. "  Shocked, I went out with her to the yard.  It was at dusk, and the sky was still bright blue with the last tint of the evening sun.  There it was, her Mazda with a window completely broken on the driver's side.  She told me just when she stopped the engine to park her car in the yard after getting back from grocery shopping, a young black guy knocked on her car window.  Scared, she pushed down the button to lock the door.  When she was trying to yell for help, the guy broke her window with a stone in his hand, took her purse, and ran away.

 

I gave her my cell phone to call 911.  While she was describing on the phone with more details about what happened, I noticed that she was bleeding in the right forearm.  She might have been hurt by the broken shreds of glass.  After a while, a bunch of friends came to help.   Fifteen minutes later, three police cars arrived. 

 

Now, two hours later, the police had collected the information they need, tried to track down the suspect.  I went back home.  With some hindsight, after the initial shock, it was quite a scary experience.  At least I know I won't feel secure for quite a while in the future standing in the yard after 8PM. 

 

The suspect is a young black guy in early twenties, slender build, around 5'10' to 6' tall, with a mustache.  He was wearing a white T-shirt and dark short pants (or maybe pants)  when the robbery took place.   Those who live in Middletown Memphis, please beware of this, and be careful.   If you have some more clue about the suspect, please call the police.

-------------------------
Follow up story:

The robber was caught two weeks later and sent to prison after a court trial.  His image was captured by a surveillance camera when he was fleeing after the robbery. 

The University of Memphis Police Services issued a safety alert on September 22, 2009, stating that there had been four (4) reported armed robberies since September 17th, just south of the Main Campus, in the Spottswood and Kearney area. There were two additional robberies reported earlier this month a few blocks west of campus, along the Highland Row.

在秋色连波写给儿子的博客上 (URL: http://junruo.ycool.com/)，读到这样一段话，觉得真好，试着翻译一下。

 

"寻找爱人是运气，也是学问。爱，与被爱，都可能会幸福，也可能是伤害。在这条路上，我帮不到他什么，也许能做的只是帮助他认清自己的心。

 

世界上最美好的爱是两情相悦。除此：
爱人，不强求占有。被爱，不以此炫耀。能坦然地接受，能果断的拒绝。
那么，即使不能在爱的同时被爱，爱，也是美的。"

 

I read some nice things about love on 秋色连波's blog (URL: http://junruo.ycool.com/), written for her son, and tried my translation as follows:  

 

"To find love needs luck, and also wisdom.  To love, or to be loved, there might be happiness, there might also be hurt and pain.  On this road to love, I cannot help him much, perhaps the only thing I can do is to help him to know his own heart. 

 

The best love in the world is mutual: to love while being loved.  Besides:

To love, not to be forceful;
To be loved, not to be boastful;
To accept, accept candidly and confidently;
To reject, reject concisely and explicitly;
Thus, even if we cannot be loved when we love,
Love, can still be a beautiful part of our lives. "

去河滨公园玩。妈妈很喜欢密西西比河上的钢拉索桥，拍下了不少照片。公园里有一个密西西比河的微型地势图，清清的溪水蜿蜒流淌，小孩子们在水边嬉戏。有路过的热心人，主动帮我们拍下了一张合影。

 

去越南店买了菜返回。吃过饭，大家都困了，于是东倒西歪的。

 

房东来剪草坪，壮壮小朋友穿着篮球衣，蹦蹦跳跳地来了。小家伙长得真快，已经能讲很多英文了。