2018-03-08
【Aiden in English】
It's great when you can celebrate a birthday without having to go to school. Not that I'm skipping school, it's just because there is a projected foot of snow. Furthermore, it's not my birthday, but my grandmother's. She's turning 81 today, which isn’t something that occurs often. Looking out the window while I'm writing this, it doesn't appear like there's going to be school today or tomorrow. After a peaceful morning of flurries, the snowfall really ramped it into high gear. Some flakes that fell near my window were as large as quarters (that sounded really lame). Did I forget to mention that it's March? Last time I recalled, March meant spring, and spring meant warm, blossoming weather, not blankets of frozen water. Nothing wrong with that though.
A small side story regarding our school and snow days. This year, after having a few missed school days, the district decided to tax on days in June instead of eliminating our entire Spring Break. I'm thankful for that. However, their mindset was still set on ending the year early. So when it was projected for a blizzard yesterday, the school waved off all warnings and let the bus drivers deal with the road conditions as usual. I don't know how they made this decision. For one, if the school's power went out, that should be a giant flashing red light. Also, if they couldn’t notice, there was about half a foot of snow on the ground.
The bus ride back took ages, involving detours and flashing police cars all over the place. The drama ended when I got back home, only to find that power went out the same day. In addition, two school buses were flipped over by the lack of traction on turns. But why am I saying all this? Well, the district is now super sensitive to snow days, and the hint of snow will give a day off. Also, I'm surprised that none of the parents of the kids on the bus decided to sue the school.
So here I am, at home, writing this post, eating the BD cake while celebrating my grandmother's 81st birthday. Looking outside, I see my neighbors’ kids jumping around in the snow. We just shoveled our driveway at noon, which turned out to be quite a waste of time since the snowstorm continued to grow right after. A wasted thirty minutes of my life.
Can someone explain to me why snow is so poetic? It causes many pains in our lives, but songwriters continue shoving snow into bars. Perhaps it stands for the holidays, the wintery months, or the fact that it's one of the purest colors on Earth. Snow in March sounds poetic as well. But the most poetic of all is a birthday snowstorm in March.
【红霞译文】
祝寿庆生当天不必到校上学令人欣喜万分,其实并非我有意翘课,而是因为预计一英尺厚的暴雪即将来袭;再说,寿星不是我而是外婆,今天她老人家恰好八十一岁,这种天公作美的巧合可遇不可求。
写到这里我举目朝窗外张望,今明两天恐怕学校都得放假。早上雪花轻歌曼舞,之后便纷纷扬扬狂倾而下,有的竟然大如25美分硬币(听起来确实荒唐),莫非我忘记提及眼下正值初春三月?忆往昔,三月本已万物复苏春暖花开,而不该千里冰封万里雪飘,但天要落雨娘要嫁人,变化自在情理之中。
既然谈到我们学校与雪天放假,那就顺便扯点题外话。鉴于今年停课多日,学区决定要在六月份补齐学时而不再占用整个春假,我举双手赞成。即便如此,学区还打算尽早完成本学年进度,这就是为什么昨天明知暴风雪兵临城下,日常活动依旧进行,充其量向各个校车发出预警通知,让司机自行处理路障问题,我不知道校方如何决策,诸如万一停电,学校势必要配备好超级照明灯;就算校方毫不知情,可是地上积雪已达半英尺来厚。
昨个儿乘校车回家折腾了很长时间,一路上没少绕弯路兜圈子,执勤警车闪着警灯到处转悠,等我好不容易平安到家,又发现小区断电,真可谓“屋漏偏逢连夜雨,船迟又遇打头风”。其间,另有两辆校车由于失控而造成翻车,但我为何要说这个呢?没错,“一朝被蛇咬十年怕井绳”,现在学区对雪天特别敏感,只要有风吹草动立马打发学生回家待命,奇怪的是甚至没有任何翻车的学生家长起诉学校。
我囚在家里动笔书写这篇文章,一边庆祝外婆八十一岁华诞,一边吃着生日蛋糕,外面邻家孩童正在雪地上跳来跳去。中午十分,我们刚把车道清理干净,结果多此一举,因为暴风雪一直下个不停,让我白白浪费卅分钟人生。 有谁能告诉我为什么雪极富诗意?它使我们遭受种种磨难,但作曲家们却让雪的旋律如美酒般倾泻。也许雪代表假期或者冬季或者世上最纯洁的东西之一,三月的雪“诗情偏向峭寒高”,而最具诗意的当属三月生日暴风雪。 Today in History(历史上的今天): 2017 Twp Rec B-ball Quarterfinal(2017年乡村娱乐篮球四分之一赛) 2017: Montgomery County Science Research Competition—Under Pressure(巨人山郡科学研究竞赛—压力) 2012: 三年级弦乐教育(Third Grade String Edu) Grandma's 81st BD @ Golden City (金城酒家庆外婆八十一岁生日 03-04-2018)
4-Color Cold Platter (四色冷盘)
Steamed Striped Bass (蒸鲈鱼)
Seafood Bean Curd Pot (海鲜豆腐煲)
Bean Sprouts w/ Snow Crab (雪蟹脚豆苗糊)
Bird Cage of Crab, Scallops & Squid (螃蟹扇贝鱿鱼鸟巢)
Peking Roasted Duck (北京烤鸭)
Stir-Fried Lobster w/ Ginger & Scallions (葱姜炒龙虾)
Boston Cream Poke Cake (波士顿奶油蛋糕)
Strawberry Shortcake (草莓夹心蛋糕) Crosslinks(相关博文): 2017: Grandma's 80th Birthday @ Golden CIty(金城酒家庆外婆八十岁生日) 2015: Grandma's 78th BirthdayPeony @ Pavilion Asian Fusion, NJ(新州牡丹亭现代亚洲餐馆庆祝外婆78岁生日) 9th Grade(高中一年级) |