Valentine’s Day - 缝毡鞋

几年前的Valentines Day 子谋送我一双毛毡的拖鞋做礼物。整只鞋就是一片毡，没有接缝，所以鞋型浑圆，看上去朴实舒适。两只鞋的鞋口外侧各嵌着一颗红色的心型毛毡，配在洁净的白鞋上，令人眼前一亮。 我平常爱脚冷，情人节收到如此生动浪漫又暖心的礼物，自是十分感动。

鞋子很舒服，几年来我在家里一直穿。 大概因为羊毛透气性好，穿上它脚上并不怎么感觉有汗，大夏天我也穿着它们。

后来，鞋子越来越旧了，颜色不再洁白，鞋面上落的灰尘和毛毡混在一起，成了毛毡的一部分。鞋底上的一层薄薄的羊皮也被磨得黑光发亮。再后来，几处缝羊皮的线开始断掉。刚开始只是开个小口，并无大碍。等到囗子越来越大，羊皮几乎能在鞋底乎拉拉拍打出声了，便影响走路了。

有一天在Costco 看到卖软底拖鞋，便买了一双。 毡鞋被收进鞋架的最下角。 一时的难以割舍是自然的，但心里知道，丢掉它是早晚的事。

仅管新拖鞋有着同样的功能，也同样舒适，可是不知什么原因没穿几天，我就开始怀念旧毡鞋了。今天早上收拾鞋架时看到它们，就像是看到久违的老友，于是决定试着把它缝好。

有些事情你不做时觉得很难，真正做起来，其实也没想象中那么复杂。 针线盒里没有粗线，我就把细线合起来，选针鼻较大的针，穿进去，正合适。羊皮上的针孔还在，而毛毡上穿针也没有想象的难，我也不用费心研究顶针的用法了。先把针扎进羊皮，再从毛毡上穿出，抽针前把线绕到针后，最后把线拉紧。这是小时候学过的一种方法，我就这么一试，竟然和原来的针脚一模一样！

不一会儿，两只鞋子都缝好了。

Killington Eastern

比基尼美眉无疑是滑雪山上最靓丽的风景线；而最令人钦佩的是背着大包穿着滑雪板往山上爬的美女（省了一笔可观的缆车钱，还有很好的减肥效果呢！）。还有一帮人，下了刚朵拉不穿上雪板往山下滑，而是扛着傢伙往山后的小道儿爬，路牌指着一条双黑的道儿，名曰Cat Walk, 大概意思是要有山猫的技术才敢去的道吧。

清明时节雨纷纷

Two days ago, we all sat by the kitchen table eating our last meal of the weekend and trying not to think about the coming week of working/ school days. 

Looking forward to the weather can always be an exception. Zimo swiped through his phone and said, " we are getting lots of rain on Tuesday. " 

"Is it guaranteed to rain on Qingming?" I shook my head in disbelieve. 

"It's always gloomy and grey on that day." Erman said

We were both surprised. Not only because she knows the thing but also the as-a-matter-of-fact way she said it. 

She made me think more about the name of this special day.

"It is called Clear and Bright, but..." 

"The actual day is the opposite. " she finished my sentence. "Is it the day you go and sweep the tomb stone?" she asked. 

Then I remembered I had told her about the memorial ceremonies a long time ago. I'd probably cited her the famous poem about Qingming. 

She didn't ask me what we were supposed to eat on this day. ( She memories Chinese festivals by each traditional food.) She probably knew that the pig, cow and lamb are sacrifices. 

I took a day off work today but still got up early this morning. Breakfast was ready when Zimo and Erman got down stairs. The aroma of coffee and crepe wafted through the kitchen made me feel warm and cozy even though it was raining outside. 

I looked through the patio door. The recent warm temperature and rain had melted most of the snow. Only a patch of white left in a small shady area at the corner of the fence. Pretty soon the crocuses would come out and after that the backyard would burst into bloom of the colors of the rainbow. After all "April rains bring May Flowers".