暖冬cool夏
这里一年四季温暖如春，没有酷暑没有严寒......
While people in the east coast are expecting May flowers, we in the west are reaping fruits. Thanks to California's year-round sunlight, a small yard like mine can still grow something. For years, I have experimented with various kinds of plants and flowers. Some died, and some survive and thrive. To name a few, blackberries have been bearing fruits year after year. A loquat tree, planted from a seed, is in its second year of fruiting. The dragon fruits sprawlingly climb to the top of the wall. What’s new this year is that the grapevine, purchased from Costco four or five years ago, also starts its fruit. The pearly pea-like grapes, strung along, though still green, are growing fuller and rounder day by day. Though there is only one bunch, from baren to fertile, it is a breakthrough. One bunch this year could be a precursor to the next year’s abundance.
The ripening of loquat first came around in April. The surplus March and April rains could have washed away the sweetness. The first picked loquat turned out to be a bit sour, holding back my itch of picking. And then the prolonged collection of sunlight did give rise to sweeter fruits. The overdue loquats, their skins wrinkled a bit, when peeled off, the meats inside taste like being dipped in sugar. As one after another loquat was picked and consumed, I stopped at the last one, as if keeping it on the tree would fantasize its permanent appearance. But the fear of its seeds being infested with worms soon overcame me. The plant has its own life cycle. Like it or not, it is time to part with it.
The moment we picked up the last loquat, we found the first dragon fruit flower blooming in the dusk. As I hurried out to the other side of the wall with a big camera in hand, I saw high up on the wooden trellis, nestled among the green sprawling branches, protrude a white flower, long and tube-like. The dozen arrow-shaped white petals are opening against green outer leaves, and in the middle, one female light-yellow tube is clustered by myriad golden male stamen. Then comes the second (06/02) and the third flower (06/03) in a sequel the following nights. When it suddenly dawned on me that they might need our assistance in its pollen transmission, I urged my husband to go up the ladder. With a brush, he strained himself to touch the high hanging flowers, brushing here and there, in the hope that the withered flowers will turn to dragon fruit cactus in weeks.
05/31/2020
The last day of May falls on a Sunday. The brutal death of a black guy named George Floyd is like a domino that triggered nationwide protests and riots. Unnerved we are like most people, as the looting started in the neighboring cities, we still decided to go to the beach for an outing. The freeway looked normal, so did the beach, except that none of the visitors was wearing a mask. We consciously put away our masks in the pockets, to be mingling with the crowd. Walking in my Xero shoes on the rugged trails under the cliff, with gravels, pebbles and rocks piled by the other side, I kept a distance with the others. And without masks on, we did not linger, and was on our way back after an hour or so. How I miss the days before March this year when we can freely roam and rove on the beach!
上周我们种了两棵honey crisp 苹果树，从Costco买的。 网上搜了一下，说苹果树的花是self sterile (自动不育），必须种在别的品种的苹果树 或者crabapple树附近（50尺-100尺，是蜜蜂飞行的舒服距离），让异类的花粉给它授粉，它才会结很多果子。 否则，它自己可能会结少量的果子。 不知道暖冬的火龙果是否也需要让别的果树帮忙授粉？
用“某人”是不错，我还看见城里有用 家里的反动分子的，哈哈
燕儿喜欢某人这个词就好，我不知道这个某人在英文是不是对等于somebody,其实这个somebody偶尔会带有"这样人物的"意思，比如He is somebody可以隐含的意思是"他是有来头"的:)) 谢谢燕儿临博留言，祝燕儿新周快乐!
“某人”这个称呼，我是和暖儿学的。两年前，我来文学城的时候，读暖儿的博文，看见暖儿称另一半用“某人”就觉得非常贴切合适，尊重亲切又俏皮幽默。称呼另一半，用老公，有一点点太随便；用丈夫，有一点点太书面；用先生，有一点点太正经；用领导，有一点点太革命。:-)
迪儿离我远了点，否则多枇杷籽，可以发芽种植，火龙果顺便剪一点都能插活的，只是火龙果要搭架子的，我平时不太打理的。迪儿的院子可惜了，还是种一点吧，加州阳光这么好，种什么都会长得好的。
这朵紫色的花是百香果。我是期望今年有火龙果吃的:) 迪儿周末快乐!
我第一次知道，花还有雌雄。我家花园单调乏味，也盼不到果实，真的是因为用心不够。
你的火龙果花，好像比昙花丰满厚实，别管结不结果，拿它当花养就就行了。那朵有点怪异的花，是百香果花吗。
周末快乐！
不过，我们家火龙果的花蕾还很小，而你们家的火龙果竟然已经开出美丽的花朵，有什么秘诀吗：））
另，暖冬，你的火龙果是什么颜色的，我以前是种的白色，今年种了几棵红心的，期盼着快快开花结果。
http://www.mao3.net/content/633.html
火龙果的花真是挺漂亮的，有日期的都是手机照的，所以是花好看，带点仙气:) 黄色的火龙果好像叫麒麟果，我也买过好几次，太甜了一点，整个像蜜糖啊。你故事里的金句印象太深了，不经意也学了，博人一笑。我的背影就算了，早过了拍照的年龄，偶尔来兴致了，拍出来的都进了垃圾桶了。这神仙日子可是平淡无奇的，还是听mm讲故事比较开心:) 祝mm周末快乐!
这火龙果跟昙花令箭花很像的，都是一类植物，even仙人掌花，结构都有点类似的。魏薇说的没错，这黑莓看上去更诱人，黑黑的，晶莹剔透，但吃起来真是一般般。自家的瓜果是看着长大的，真是不一样。再次谢谢你留言，祝周末快乐!
和领导一样，最喜欢枇杷，可惜我们这里连卖的都没有!
海边的片片也很赞，羡慕暖冬！
我虽然不会写英文，但还是会欣赏的。感觉暖冬的英文文章越写越顺了，这篇读来真是享受。喜欢”GROWING FULLER AND ROUNDER DAY BY DAY", "HOLDING BACK MY ITCH OF PICKING"。。。收藏起来。还有好多单词要去查查才知意思。暖冬周末愉快！
The Xero shoes are very light and comfy, except they are a bit wide. I wear them very often, and got to know why you advocate it:)). Thank you, my friend.
Also, thank you for catching the wrong word. I need to write more.
others. But I never had the luck to taste those big ones. I never tasted dragon
fruits, either. They look very exotic to me.
I think you meant "white petals."
Glad to know you wore Xeros. How did they feel?
我家枇杷今年结得早，收摊也早，不摘都缩水变色了。看到你家葡萄也结了，我家去年是第一次结。