Talk about people who want to go home (Tianshui gossip

I haven't been back to Hangzhou for several years, and my desire to go back and see it is getting stronger and stronger. A while ago, I checked the air ticket to Hangzhou on the Internet and actually spent more than 20,000 RMB. You also need to go to the designated institution where you were before taking off. There is no flight from Washington to Shanghai. It's really inconvenient to have to transfer. These days, our Lexington town has also started to vaccinate, but we have to vaccinate the elderly over 65 first. We don't know when it's our turn, so we have to wait patiently.

Speaking of the epidemic, we stayed at home in America for more than a year. At first, everyone in the family was very happy. After all, you don't have to go out early and come back late, and you don't have to pick up the children. You can live a very relaxed life. For me, I can resume writing after a long pause. Why not?

In the first three or four months at home, the neighbors all learned unique skills. Some people become hairdressers, cooks, tailors and gardeners. As for me, I am not a gardener, but I can barely talk about my gardening life. There are several lawns in our backyard, which need manual care from spring to late autumn, that is, mowing the grass in spring and cleaning up the residual leaves when the leaves fall in autumn. Due to the usual busyness, the huge backyard is bare without vegetable fields or flowers to decorate the courtyard.

When I used to live in Tianshui Bridge in Hangzhou, I planted a dozen pots of flowers and plants on the balcony. Because of improper management, none of them died. All the year round, flowers bloom on the small balcony, and the fragrance blows into the house from the window. When writing at your desk, look up at the flowers, and the inspiration is like a spring. Especially the hostess downstairs planted Parthenocissus on the wall of the garden; There are several evergreen shrubs cut into oval shapes in front of the door, and there is a striking garden of flowers and plants; There are graceful lilies, beautiful tulips and red roses, which are full of fragrance and leisurely and quiet days.

However, when I came to Lexington, the big yard was empty; I have completely lost sight of looking forward to my home and the flowers blooming in my backyard. There is no subway or bus in the small town, so it is very tiring to drive for several hours every day. I can't get used to western food, so I can only cook Chinese food myself, and spend the rest of my time reading, playing the piano and drawing with my children. Being able to mow the grass once a week is worthy of a yard.

However, in the early summer of our first year in town, we did dig a pit two meters square and sow the seeds of tomatoes and cucumbers. Unfortunately, cucumbers and tomatoes didn't grow until late autumn. My friend joked, "The tomatoes I planted in the flowerpot are all fleshy. How can you plant them in the ground? " Yes, the reason is unknown. Later, I saw a vegetable garden surrounded by a wooden fence behind the primary school teaching building. There are tomatoes, pumpkins, radishes, loofahs and so on. , are round and thick. That's weird. Isn't it because the soil here bullies me and won't give me a melon and a half fruit?

The map is provided by CFP and has nothing to do with this article.

Although you can't grow vegetables and fruits, you should mow the grass once a week in spring, summer and autumn to trim the holly trees neatly. No matter how big the backyard terrace is, people in small towns always like to put tables and chairs in the vestibule, or swing seats on it, which looks quite emotional and romantic. In fact, they like to sit in the front hall because life is too lonely. There are passers-by in the vestibule, no matter they know or not, they will wave and say hello. This is similar to the scene when I used to live in Tianshui Bridge in Hangzhou. Neighbors always like to join in the fun.

After all, people are social animals, and it is not easy to be lonely when communicating with each other. So in the chat, some people lament that time flies, and some people lament that life is hard-won; And I think of what the ancients said: "heaven and earth have ages, and this body is no longer available;" Life is only a hundred years, and this day is the easiest. "Compared with the vastness of the world, life is indeed limited and small.

Good scenery can be pleasing to the eye and make people feel happy. These days, I find that many neighbors have become gardeners. There are new flowers and plants at every door. Some planted two small pine trees, some planted roses or azaleas on the front porch, and some planted sunflowers and lavender. I also planted peony, white orchid, lily, a bunch of red flowers, hibiscus and so on in the flower bed that I had abandoned. In the community, the colors are colorful, which has a completely different feeling from the previous green.

However, after staying at home for half a year, everyone's mood changed. When I was sitting by the window writing, I heard neighbors quarreling and children crying from time to time. Once, when I was walking my dog, I met my neighbor Anna, who also came out to walk my dog. She told me, "I quarreled with my husband last night." As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves and showed me Qing Wu on her arm. Then, she added, "Just to get her husband to wipe Vivian's ass, her husband doesn't move. If you talk to him a few more words, he will go crazy." After a while, she added, "Vivian and her sister quarreled. They put the tablet on the ground, stomped on it, and threw toys and cups. This is crazy. " Finally, Anna said, "If the epidemic doesn't end, I will go crazy." In fact, this young white couple with two daughters had a good life before the outbreak. They often come to our house to play and have never heard her talk about quarrels and domestic violence. During the epidemic, it is also excusable!

To tell the truth, I stayed at home for more than a year and never went anywhere. Children need to stare at online classes at home and play when they are not paying attention. For a long time, quarreling between husband and wife is not a bad thing, as long as it does not develop into domestic violence. In fact, when you are depressed, it feels different to go out and climb a circle of mountains with your children. The divine power of nature is to broaden your horizons and calm the fire in your heart.

During the epidemic, every family has its own problems. I can't do what I want to do, but I can only do it. For example, I really want to go back to Hangzhou and ship the books in my study. Tomb-Sweeping Day arrived and wanted to pay homage to his parents' cemetery. But none of this can be done. Fortunately, I resumed writing, and the days were in my imagination. Also, spring is coming, and I have more work to do. I water the flowers every day and then prune the branches and leaves. This requires a persistent attitude. Without this attitude, even the meanest flowers will wither and die quickly. One afternoon, I looked at the flowers blooming in the sun, red, yellow, white and purple, which were really brilliant. I remembered Kawabata Yasunari's article "Sleepless Flowers".

The article said that Yasunari Kawabata woke up in the middle of the night from a hotel in the hot sea and found that the gourd flowers and begonia flowers in the hotel were in full bloom. Deeply moved, he sighed: "the beauty of nature is infinite, but the beauty people feel is limited ... live!" " Only artists have this feeling. Kawabata Yasunari's love for natural beauty made him unable to bear to see the natural beauty wither and drift with the change of time and space.

Compared with Tianshui Bridge in Hangzhou, Lexington is naturally quieter and more lonely. However, with all things in nature, "my peace of mind is my hometown" is enough. Once upon a time, I wrote slowly in the study of Tianshui Bridge, and when I was tired, I watered the flowers on the balcony. After writing for so many years, the colorful figures of youth, such as clouds, lilies of the valley, etc., have been exhausted by all kinds of words. Where is the glamour? But when I came to the town, the 70-year-old neighbor woman was dressed in fashionable clothes, with a straight back and full of energy. She looked like a woman in her early forties, which greatly inspired me. I think, age is really nothing, living healthily and beautifully, and eternal passion and love in my heart are the most important. Only when I am healthy can I fly across the Atlantic to go home and have a look.

The spring of 202 1 was written in Lexington, USA.