暖冬cool夏
这里一年四季温暖如春，没有酷暑没有严寒......
Sal, born and raised in a big family in Philippines, immigrated here when he was a teenager. He has seven brothers and sisters, most of them now in the states. However his parents both passed away, his mom died of stroke many years ago.
Sal is 44 years old this year, but like most Asians, he looks younger than his age. Young as he is, he had a heart attack last year and was admitted to ICU for a few days. He has recovered well since. When asked what he thought caused the heart attack, he attributed it to his unhealthy diet, fatty meat in particular as most Filipinos like to eat. His penchant for red meat is the culprit for his chronic gout, culminating in the heart attack.
Sal has an autistic daughter from his first marriage. A picture of his daughter from preschool is displayed at his cubicle wall, along with other small ones, in which he and his wife were cuddling and kissing her in the middle. The girl’s stiff half-smiling face somehow reminded me of a down-syndrome child. Sal told me that at the age of 14, his daughter still sleeps with the parents, afraid of being left alone in her own bed. She lives in her own little world, singing but not talking much, playing with animals but not the kids of her age.
Sal’s ex-wife lives two-hours-drive away. Every Friday afternoon Sal would be driving on the busy highway to pick up her daughter for the weekend and then drive another two hours to send her back. Sal and his new wife live in a one-bedroom apartment. When we were locked down and asked to work from home during the pandemic, Sal still came to office. His apartment is too small for two of them working side by side peacefully. He thought of upgrading to a two-bedroom, but then he said he needed to save for rainy days and for his daughter’s future. As a father of a girl with autism, Sal knows he would have to tend her whenever and wherever. Perhaps to retire in Philippines is a good choice, said he with a smile.
10/18/2021
Another rain came this early morning. As I got up from a warm cozy bed, pulled apart the curtains and lifted the windowpane, crisp air gushed in. The freshly rain-washed eucalyptus tree branches were swaying in the wind, its bell-shaped flowers dancing with the dangling leaves. The street next to it was wet and quiet, with a few cars parked by the sides. As I stood there inhaling, I heard the familiar chittering sounds of hummingbirds. They must be the same hummingbirds that frequent my backyard.
In the common area, there are a few giant eucalyptus trees lining up in front of our homes, towering over and dropping leaves and gumnuts on the roofs. Next to my first floor kitchen window and the second floor bedroom window is the most beautiful one, blooming with pink flowers amid lush leaves. Its barks are rough and peeling off though, as new layer inside grows and hardens each year. Tinged with a touch of waxy silver color, the leaves are evergreen, the extract of which, in the form of scented oil, is believed to have some herbal healing effect. As the sun came out around noon, I stepped out the door with a camera. As I zoomed in on the fluffy flowers, a few vibrating bees came into sight. They were humming and feasting on the rich nectar. Their presence made me think of hummingbirds—if they ever feed on this kind of nectar too. Though hummingbirds still visit my backyard every day vying for the sugar water in the feeder, the aggressive one still chasing the rest, the battle for food is far less fierce. It could be these blooming eucalyptus flowers that suffice them. Nevertheless, nature provides more varied flavors or nutrients than a sugar-water feeder. And as more rains are on the way, an extravagant spring is blissfully expected.
枇杷树开始开花了
eucalyptus flowers
这树是澳大利亚树种，所以极有可能就是你说的考拉爱吃的那种，我也没有细查。是看到一位网友写到才想起自己门前就有。谢谢魏薇的阅读，周末快乐!
关于down,很多年前在一家公司上班，一位老美的小孩就得了down,我们有参加过为唐氏综合征孩子举办的"走路"募捐(整个公司组织去的)，后来断断续续也听说了有人为募捐举办的一些类似长跑一样的活动。这些孩子可怜，这些父母伟大的，唐西也是个很有爱心的人，你说得极是，提醒的对，我们要多参加慈善活动，我们的每一份付出都是给他们增添温暖。谢谢唐西的来访，祝秋安!
菲律宾有不少西班牙血统，说不准这哥们的姓就是西班牙的。拉丁血统天生的，悠游自在，安分守己，快乐最重要。
今年刚去参加了一次”唐氏组合征”高尔夫球比赛，参赛的人之多，空前的，出乎我的想象。大家都为这些被”Down”的患者们伸出了援助之手。
赛后自己特意了解了一下Down的原因，还明白了许多。
据说不少高龄产妇容易出Down，难怪医生在临产前都推荐做Down测试，然后夫妇再做决定。
见过不少美女产出了Down孩，一生就这样处在了一个要更多关怀孩子的境地，自己失去了不少。
但面对此类的状况，做为家长也只有用上更积极的心态来面对，因为Down孩们特别需要关爱，一个拥抱，一个握手都给他们带来一阵快乐和幸福感。
我们这些正常人，除了庆幸之外，只要有机会就伸出手，支援一下，做些慈善活吧。
Salamat！
和点点一样我也在海外看见了。英文字体大多了，谢谢暖冬！：）
是的，这是桉树的花，一般不太见到它们开花的，碰巧门口这颗阳光好开花了，每次就到它们随枝条起舞，都很享受。祝燕儿秋好！
很多国人都是对自己（配偶）和子女要求太高。两年前在子女坛上看到一个为小中搞的一个相亲群，入群的条件之一是，小中男（女）必须被美国top50（最初还是top 25) 的大学录取的。
苦难，会使人穿越时空，极其迅速地蜕变成智者。每个人都有慧根，苦难，是慧根长大强壮的养分。
女儿回家后读书时间明显少了。不过，与女儿的交流比较多，这个更重要。
红色的火龙果就是要比白肉的小，成熟时间好像也长一些。我除了第一波寄给女儿的六个还比较像样，后来第二波长出来的都比较小，有些跟鸡蛋差不多大，到现在都没有红。红肉的花苞最近又有几个冒出来，估计会长得很慢很慢。营养和阳光都很重要的，阳光更重要。
这是桉树开得花，比较少见，碰巧在家门口有一棵，近看很独特。
谢谢小小留言鼓励，晚安!
暖冬心态好，佩服你能静下心来看书学习，英文这么好了，还想着进一步提高，要像暖冬学习，真心话哦：））
哦，对了，还想跟暖冬说呢，这次外出归来，收获了不少成熟的火龙果，有白心的，红心的，只是红心的个头都比较小，奇怪？暖冬你种的火龙果有没有这种现象？还是我这缺什么？
暖冬辛苦，今天晚了，不用刻意回复，等以后有空时聊几句就行，暖冬别太累，多多保重！：））
是的，小人物，也是很无奈的，我现在每星期去公司两天几乎都能碰到他，活着不容易啊。他也想多赚钱的，也在动脑筋，事实摆着呢，他女儿以后要有人照顾，没有钱都难的。
听说这个星期或是下个星期还要下雨呢，盼多点雨，明年好春景。谢谢秋水，我得干活去了。秋水晚安!
得到的启示我们都要积极乐观知足和感恩~~~谢谢暖冬亲的故事分享！
暖冬那里下雨啦，我们今天也下了点零星小雨，看预报接下来的几天都有雨，开心：）粉色花好看，文笔优美！让我们一起期待下一个美丽的春天：）暖冬周中愉快！
The eucalyptus flower is not dazzling at the first sight, overshadowed by the leafy branches. But it is unique, and it is said to be very nectar-rich.
Thanks, my friend, for being there. I will try to practise more, good or bad:))
It was a great story! Indeed, we can always find seemingly ordinary people
carrying unimaginable load with silent strength, people like Sal. He reminded me
of this line from the 1992 movie "The Gladiator":
Death smiles at us all and all one can do is to smile back.
Great to see the eucalyptus flowers outside your window! They look prettier than
what I imagined.
One suggestion on English writing. Just keep rewriting according to a few
principles, e.g., "Omit needless words." from William Strunk's little book. Good
luck!
暖冬的文好让人感慨，你和女儿的对话真是触动我的心扉。红红的eucalyptus flowers真奇妙。暖冬的英文好棒 ，不愧是英文专业的，可以把英文字体弄大一点，更容易读。：）
大自然给人的启发太多了，去海边走一趟，看tidepool,那些生活在涨潮退潮岩石缝里的贝壳类动物也是熟知生存法则的，这样才能生存下去，所谓的适者生存。这个也可以写一篇:) 好久没写英文了，笔头很硬，就当练习，谢谢Oncemm的阅读。祝秋好!