暖冬cool夏
这里一年四季温暖如春，没有酷暑没有严寒......
已经记不得第几个年头(当然是记得的:-))参加公司每年一次的圣诞晚会，除了第一年是在保龄球宫里打保龄球外，后面的这些年，不是坐轮船绕着bay转一圈，就是公司包附近一个博物馆的场地让大家吃个饭，乐一乐，跳跳舞，转一转里面开放的几个厅，再有一年还去了一个附近的车展博物馆。今年又是在轮船上吃吃喝喝，看海湾边上的节日彩灯。
今年公司租了两辆大buses, 给不想开车的员工提供交通便利，后来在车上听说是因为码头边的停车场没有足够的parking位置，公司才想出这么一招。而我自然是选择坐bus去，省的操心自己找路找parking。
每年这样的party已经没有什么新意了，对我而言，就是吃顿饭，再看一遍熟悉的海湾夜景。随着晚会的深入，酒足饭饱之余，音乐响起，人们开始随着热情的音乐扭动、兴奋、叫喊，无论肥胖美丑，没有羞涩，带着几分放纵，在幽暗闪烁的灯光下自我陶醉着。我一个把酒票和赌票都给了同事的人，觉得自己更像一个旁观者，清醒地看着走着。独自一人走出船舱，欣赏着夜幕下宁静的港湾。一轮满月当空，几分皎洁几分朦胧，岸上万家灯火忽明忽暗，这时晚风阵阵徐来，不禁也吹起我心底的一丝涟漪。"再一个十年我会在哪里，还有机会站在这里看月亮吗？" 想来自己其实是幸运的，2019年12月12日的月亮，一个十年里最后的满月我是站在船头看到的，它也将随着2019年的离去留在记忆中。
又记 12/14/2019
几场雨给冬天的山峦带来一丝春意。春天残留的大片大片枯枝满目皆是，然而在枯黄下面，绿色正在慢慢延伸开来。某人拿着手机不停地拍着，一朵很小的野花也不放过，一边拍，一边自嘲到，"和尚下山，母猪赛貂蝉"。是啊，一个枯黄已经的山峦，任何生机绿色在我们眼里都是美的。
最后一张: Every cloud has a silver lining.乌云中总有一线光明。
A dark colored newly looking bus was awaiting by the road curb when I exited the company building around 5 pm. One bus with 50 seats was first arranged to take us to the boat for the Christmas Party, and later another bus was added when more people chose to take the bus instead of driving on their own. Taking the bus is preferably a better choice to me, as it is hassle free, not to worry about directions, traffic or parking.
I seated myself next to the co-worker U, a plump lady twice my size. Being fairly new to the company, she was coaxed by me to attend the party by my promise of giving her my two alcoholic drink tickets each employee is entitled to. When the bus started to crawl in the rush hour traffic, our conversations flowed on. Her background of being an immigrant from Poland to Canada, and then Canada to the U.S. made the exchange of immigration experience viable and a good topic. Her U. S green card petition took only a year, while mine almost seven painful years. But then a story of how her dad fled from communist Poland to Canada, and how after two years of separation (under the close watch and restriction of the Polish government) they were united on the free land unfolded to me. When I asked about the concentration camp in Poland, another appalling story was revealed, a story of how her grandma, a Jew, by marrying to a non-Jewish grandfather survived the atrocity, while the rest of her grandma’s whole family were herded to the camp and got killed. She said that her grandma used to tell her how the night air was filled with the strong smell when the dead bodies in the camp were burnt nightly. She told me how her mom has the habit of keeping diary, and on an impulse of that, I reached for my cell phone with my blog page, showing her my recent visit to Seattle and Oregon, mostly the pictures of course, as she could not read Chinese, and the English version is too small to read in the dimly lit bus.
At a little over 6, the bus arrived at the destination. A white color medium sized boat decked with bright white Christmas lights was anchored by. It is a three floored boat, with the top deck opening to the night wind. About thirty minutes after we boarded, the boat started moving. After a self-served dinner of beef, chicken and some vegies, people rose to the second deck, where stands of poker games were set on one side and dancing music on the other end. The music, along with the compressed noisy talks, were so deafening it almost drowned the voice from the loudspeaker, announcing the winning number for the raffles. My game ticket was also given away to a co-worker, and not much interested in the dancing in the crowd, I followed the narrow stairs up to the third floor. The sea breeze was invigoratingly fresh. Strolling on the deck, passing by a handful of employees, greeting or hugging one or two old ones, I then walked to the end and enjoyed a moment of solitude. The holiday decorated bays, in their red, blue and white lights, glowed in the dark. Occasionally, another boat in the similar glimmering vibe, glided by us. High above, a full moon perched. I stared into it for a minute or so, adoring the splendor of full moon, the final full moon (12/12/2019) in the decade.
An old co-worker approached me and suggested going down to the main deck. A flight of steep narrow stairs led us back to the second floor, where 80 percent of people thronged for games or dancing. Before we turned back in, we stopped at the front open deck. Stirred in the wind was a pungent marijuana odor someone must have smoked blatantly. Though it is legalized now to smoke it, in this context, apparently the conduct is far from being appropriate. Minutes later, an informed HR executive stepped in for an investigation, claiming that she would have fired the offender(s) if she caught them on the spot.
Inside the boat, people went on wriggling to the music. The game tables were still surrounded by players and watchers. The noises did not die down until the boat was back in the dock around 9:15 pm.
This year, the early winter rain at the end of November continued into December. When it finally cleared up this past Saturday, I dragged him along for a hike in the nearby valley that we used to frequent. It was almost 11 am when we set out, but the sun was not out yet. Under the leaden sky, the valley covered with the withered lifeless mustard from the last spring looked dull. However, in this deadly looking winter, spring is poking its head. New grasses shoot up from the ground, a few resilient wildflowers are blooming off the wilted twigs. We hiked and relished at the sight, knowing that the best is yet to come.
圣诞和新年快乐！
谢谢你仔细读我的文，每个民族都有它的苦难史，当你亲耳听到还是会震惊的。但愿世界和平美好! 小溪姐姐退休了一定要好好享受生活的，人生真的很短，一晃一年，再一晃十年。今天是平安夜，祝小溪姐姐和AE圣诞快乐平安，2020健康开心!
退出职场很多年了，当年公司圣诞是邀请配偶 or special one 一起参加圣诞Party的。也就是租个Hotel，大吃一顿，赌博，抽奖，喝酒，唱歌，跳舞。公司提供Taxi送喝醉的员工回家的。抽奖可以抽到各样礼品，礼券，包括Hotel免费里券。退休后的日子过得真快，一眨眼，又到了圣诞，感谢文城有缘遇到善良，友好，好文笔的暖冬妹妹，也祝妹妹阖家节日快乐，安康如意！
照片很棒，第四章很特别，很喜欢！
遥祝暖冬圣诞新年阖家幸福愉快乐！
女儿回来了吧？祝圣诞新年快乐！
预祝暖冬姐节日快乐！
暖冬圣诞节快乐！
公司的party一年不如一年，你们公司还真不错。
party 总是吵吵闹闹的，吃吃喝喝，唱歌跳舞，打牌喝酒，其实不搞这些，好像也没啥好热闹了。不过，暖冬有自己独特的庆祝节日方式，是完全可以理解的，喜欢清静的人很多，比如那些没去的同事基本就是：））。
你家某人是一个非常热爱生活的人，因为可以从自然界的点点滴滴里都能感受到快乐的人，必定是一个比较超脱的人了。
不是赌票吧，是抽奖的票吧。
如果是抽奖的票，怎么能送人呢？这不把运气也送人了吗，我才不干呢。
有一次在巴黎打比赛，ZTE公司赞助，然后抽奖凭那个坐号来抽。一餐桌是12个位置，有八个人没来，我就把那八张票硬是给收拢过来了，于是我就有了九个不同的号，中奖概率大大地有。
美女在台上叫号，喊着喊着就把我的号码给喊了出来。终于抽中了一个中兴公司产的当红好手机，哇噻！乐哟。
节日快乐！
值得读和欣赏
的故事很令人感慨，祝你们阖家圣诞快乐暖冬！：）
今年参加一个公司的聚会，在北岭高尔夫俱乐部。 吃喝伙食不错。 摇奖没运气。 跳舞就走人了。 我也在想明年还会参加该公司的聚会吗？：）
I never enjoyed drinking parties and I couldn't dance. Maybe I should learn. It should be good exercise.
> a flung of steep narrow stair
Did you mean "a flight of steep narrow stairs"?
> wriggling to the music
Love the expression.
祝暖冬节日快乐！
冬天的萧瑟也是别样的美，喜欢倒数第二张照片。