正月初九

#2017-0205

今天，農曆正月初九，對我及家人而言，是個很特別的
難以忘懷（或不願忘記）的日子。

傳說中，農曆正月初九是「天公」的生日；天公指的是民間信仰中的玉皇大帝。

兩年多之前，我並不在乎這個日子的意義----天公是誰呢？
他（或者，祂）距離我這樣一個凡人，實在太遙遠了。或許
天老爺，是個「遙」不可及的存在；
天公誕，是個「遠」而模糊的概念。

而今天（農曆正月初九）巧得很，是星期天，我一如往常
上教堂，參加主曆 2017年「顯現節後第五主日」的聖餐禮拜..............

我今天特別用心祈禱。
既然覺得「天公」離我甚遠，於是
默默地、認真而懇切地，
我投身於主耶穌的懷抱，讓自己更加親近這位早已認識我（甚至揀選了我）的「天父」。

我向「三位一體」的神禱告，懇求祂的聖靈，與我們同在，也與先父的靈魂同在，
特別從那日----農曆歲次乙未［羊］年正月初九，到如今，
且從今日，直到永永遠遠。

--------- Written by Mookoo Liang on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017

相關文章 (See also)：

1) Father, We Miss You 照片特輯 [A]    and/or    Father, We Miss You 照片特輯 [B]

2) （對於父親的）印象、思念、和祝禱 . . . . [1/3]    and    [2/3]    and    [3/3]

3) First Part of My Family Tale -- a story written by Mookoo Liang in April, 2001

Making a Tour Bus Lantern

#2017-0202

Before we had supper James (whose nickname is Little Bee) asked me if I could help him when he did his homework this evening. I was curious about what he was going to do, because he had rarely asked me for help with homework. Usually, he asked his mom or his grandma for help!

"Teacher says everybody is to make a lantern," said my grandson James.

"What kind of lantern to make?" I asked.

"Any kind of it would be okay, but making a lantern is difficult, isn't it?"

"Well, you've now asked the right person -- I'll think about it and ... anyway, I'll give you a big helping hand!"

And we started to enjoy our dinner. After dinner we went to a nearby stationery-and-toy store together (to get a short hand-held plastic stick with two small batteries inside and with a tiny bulb hanging at one end of the stick) and we returned home (with that special stick) and started working together to make a lantern. Look! Our product turned out to be a Tour Bus lantern (See photos). The main structure of the Tour Bus was simply a paper box that had originally been used for nougat (See the notes far below, which are quoted from: http://blogs.teachersammy.com/Blogs/entry/describing-nougats-in-English#.WJP_q0a7rIU).

以下中文註釋取自（感謝 Sammy 老師）：

http://blogs.teachersammy.com/Blogs/entry/describing-nougats-in-English#.WJP_q0a7rIU

「牛軋糖」的英文講法是 nougat [ˋnugɑ] (原始法文唸法) / [ˋnugət] (一般美式唸法)。它因為是糖果，而且像麵包、蛋糕一樣，原始的狀態是一大塊沒有形狀的，所以也像 candy, bread, cake 一樣，在指這種食物是是不可數名詞。假如要說自己很喜歡牛軋糖，只能說 I love nougat. 而不能用複數 I love nougats. 問人家想不想來塊牛軋糖時，則是說 Would you like some nougat? 或是 Would you like a piece of nougat?

要注意的是，不要把這個字和指「雞塊」或塊狀物的 nugget 搞混了。它們拚法很像但畢竟不同，發音也不一樣。nugget 是唸 [ˋnʌgɪt]，而且是可數名詞。速食店賣的雞塊叫 chicken nugget(s)；黃金的金條也是用這個字，叫 gold nugget(s)。因為它是可數名詞，所以在講自己喜歡這種食物時就要用複數：I love chicken nuggets. 而在問別人要不要時也一樣，是說 Would you like some chicken nuggets? / Would you like a chicken nugget? 

以上中文註釋取自（感謝 Sammy 老師）：

http://blogs.teachersammy.com/Blogs/entry/describing-nougats-in-English#.WJP_q0a7rIU

請自行點閱相關的連結：關於 Sammy 老師 以及 Teacher Sammy's Integral English Training

A Few Pictures: 雞年的祝福

#2017-0201

Here are a few pictures that I would like to keep in my personal blog.

The first one was taken in front of my house; the next five were taken at Da Han Cha Yu (大漢茶語), a restaurant in Caotun, where my mother and all her children and some of her grandchildren and relations met for a special meal on the second day of the first lunar month (第 2 至 6 張照片：農曆大年初二團聚餐會).

And the final two pictures were taken at Hua Xian Niao Chao (花現鳥巢), a restaurant in Dajia, where my mother-in-law and all her children and most of her grandchildren and some relatives met for dinner today -- the fifth day of the first month according to the Chinese lunar calendar (最後兩張照片：大年初五團聚餐會).

Oh, Lord God Almighty! May you bless all of us -- including all who are seen in these pictures and those who are reading this article, so that everybody will be healthy, wealthy, and very happy in this Year of the Rooster! (雞年的祝福：良機「更」多 -------- 更健康、更富足、更喜樂！)

雙孫拜年 (片長 58 秒)

#2017-0127

雙孫拜年：新年快樂！大吉大利！好運旺旺來！......

拍攝於 2017 年 1 月 27 日（農曆大年除夕）

My Mother-in-Law Comes to A-Ta-Bu

#2017-0125

My mother-in-law came with my sister-in-law this morning. The latter was taking the former to an eye doctor and, on their way to the doctor's workplace (Modern Eye Clinic, in Caotun), they came to visit us at where we live -- Wufeng (霧峰).

Wufeng, literally meaning foggy mountain(s), has a traditional Taiwanese name, "A-Ta-Bu" (阿罩霧).

And my wife and I invited them to Farmer (法蔓田園咖啡) for lunch. And we strongly suggested that after lunch they spend a few moments seeing how much our neighborhood has been beautified recently. We are lucky, indeed, to have a new park (called 本堂公園) established in our community. In this park the traditional name of Wufeng, 阿罩霧, can be seen on a mountain-shaped wall and also on the slope of an earth-piled hill (See photos far below: #9, #10, and #11).

After seeing this new park with the traditional name 阿罩霧 in it, my mother-in-law and her two daughters left for Caotun immediately. Walking home by myself, I prayed in silence: I do hope that doctors at Modern Eye Clinic in Caotun provide good advice and needed help to my mother-in-law, as I privately prayed.

駱駝同學會：The Camel Class Reunion, 2017

#2017-0124

Four years ago the Camel Class Reunion was hosted by us, the "Camel Brothers" living in Central Taiwan. (See: 2013 Luotuo Tongxuehui, Part I and Part II.)

Then, three years ago, another Reunion was hosted by those Camel Brothers who lived in the northern Taiwan. (See: 2014 Luotuo Tongxuehui.)

And then, due to private issues, I failed to attend such annual Camel Reunions in 2015 and 2016, which were hosted by those who lived in the southern parts of Taiwan. But this year (2017), as one of the Camel Brothers who live in the central Taiwan, I not only attended the Reunion on January 22 and 23, but had also cooperated with my "close Brothers of Taichung" to complete all the preparatory work (for example, see #2016-1107) before we played host to this important event. (See photos below.)

=  =  =  Day One  =  =  =

元月 22 日星期日
10:00 – 10:30 a.m. 報到
報到地點：石岡水壩停車場
（石岡水壩 地址：台中市石岡區豐勢路1238號。）
à 報到時，領取手冊、繳交費用、登記晚餐菜色…….。
10:30 – 11:40 a.m. 參觀石岡壩
泡茶，聊天！
11:40—12:00 a.m. 車隊前往東勢「阿木大眾餐館」
12:00 – 14:10 午餐 在東勢「阿木大眾餐館」
（餐館地址：東勢區中山路69號。）
à 午餐時有抽獎活動喔！
14:10 – 14:40 車隊前往「東勢林場」賓館
14:40 – 16:00 進住賓館（分配住宿、休息、自由活動）
16:00 – 17:30 林場生態導覽（一）
à 傍晚時分，在林場志工的導引下，輕鬆散步，欣賞大自然之美！
17:30 – 19:00 晚餐（及自由活動）
19:00 – 20:00林場生態導覽（二）
à 此為東勢林場特有的「夜間生態」導覽，隨身攜帶手電筒喔！
20:0 – 22:00 駱駝晚會
表演、談心、並享用特製的「雞酒／點心」
à 特別歡迎彼此分享：生活中有趣的、特別的……點點滴滴！

=  =  =  Day Two  =  =  =

元月 23 日星期一
6:00 a.m. 早起的「人」兒，參加「看日出」活動
7:00 – 7:30 a.m. 早餐
8:30 a.m. 集合出發（約30分鐘可抵達后里馬場）
9:00 – 11:30 a.m. 后里腳踏車兜風
（后里馬場 集合地點「小馬哥」地址：台中市后里區寺山路89號）
（建議：自行攜帶水壺，穿適合騎車的休閒服裝，有帽子戴最好！）
12:00 –   中餐　於后里「禧宴樓」
（餐廳地址：台中市后里區成功路157-2號）

餐敘後大家依依不捨……道別、賦歸；

並殷殷期盼下次同學會-----再見！

(The two photos below are by Mr. Chunsong Du)

(The last two photos above are shared by Mr. Chunsong Du)