We Miss James and John!

 #2021-0619

As a grandpa and grandma, we miss our grandchildren so much during this pandemic time.

Since the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on May 19 raised the COVID-19 alert nationwide to Level 3, our grandchildren (and their parents) have stayed in Taipei all the time and we, living in Central Taiwan, have never paid them a visit.

Fortunately, we can "see" our two grandchildren by making a video call. And their parents sometimes send us a couple of interesting pictures through LINE, so it won't be too hard for us to keep track of them all. 

30 Pictures / Images / Illustrations

#2021-0601

Here are 30 pictures or images that I'll use to illustrate my Fiction Writing in the [near] future. They will be picked at random, and used freely as some inspiring "scenes" (or scenes and sequels) in my new story (or novel).

「落水咧！」 (客語：下雨了)

 #2021-0530

霧峰終於下雨了，而且是傾盆大雨，真的令人雀躍；我倆的心也要歡呼：感謝主！

這乾涸已久的大地，你我張眼望去，各樣草木日漸枯黃的景象，可望在近日內有所轉圜。我們殷切期盼的改變，乃是往美好的方向變化----包括新冠疫情！

求主繼續施恩眷顧，好讓一切虧欠不足處，皆獲得滋養，重新得力；那麼，我們就要齊聲歡呼：Thanks be to God! 或同聲頌揚，說："Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever!"

= = =

相關文章 (See also)：

1)  有雲 ● 無雨

2)  《五月的秋景》

小兔子的家：The Bunny's Home

#2021-0529

This morning when Jean and I took a walk on the mountain slope, we noticed that the dry spell had made the hillside look brown, and that the stair-like footpath leading to the "Bunny's Home" had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oh, the drought and the pandemic must have been frightening to most of us! -- But thinking of the Bunny's Home, both my wife and I would smile again, because it is a very creative name that our grandchildren had given to the wooden structure up there that looks like a pavilion. (See the first 4 pictures below, as well as the top-right one.)

祖孫分住台中、台北。在疫情嚴重期間，若非有「視訊」的科技可用，無論心中有多少思念，都難以見面。而今日，身為爺爺奶奶的，走在山腰間，發現通往「小兔子的家」那條步道（如圖）已被封閉。顯然是為了防疫的理由：狹窄的階梯式步道，遊客「擦身而過」時，很難保持所謂「社交距離」。

註：「社交距離」即 social distancing；不過，有外文文章認為，應稱作 physical distancing 才合適，也才正確，因為人 (humans) 本質上就是群居的，社會性的生物 (social beings)。

The Burning Bush (燃燒的荊棘)

#2021-0527

The Burning Bush / 燃燒的荊棘

This morning when I saw these catching flowers (which are Bougainvillea, 九重葛屬; or more specifically, Great bougainvillea, 九重葛), I suddenly thought of the the Burning Bush described or recorded in Exodus 3:1-4:17.

Here is the beginning of the story:

One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as a flame coming from the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up. "This is strange," he thought. "Why isn't the bush burning up? I will go closer and see."

When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer,  he called to him from the middle of the bush and said, "Moses! Moses!"

He answered, "Yes, here I am."

God said, "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt; I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile and in which the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites now live. ..." (Exodus 3:1-8)

The story continues ... By the way, it's easy for me to cut and paste my favorite sections from the Bible to the Microsoft Word format, and then turn the Word document into PDF format; and finally by pushing the "Read Aloud" button of the PDF software, I can listen to the selected stories in addition to (or instead of) reading them aloud. I prefer to listen to the story of the burning bush; I find it more interesting to listen to the story (with my ears) than just to read it (with my eyes)!

= = =

相關文章 (See also)： 一首山歌：《就這樣》