年底公司圣诞晚会 (w English)
已经记不得第几个年头(当然是记得的:-))参加公司每年一次的圣诞晚会，除了第一年是在保龄球宫里打保龄球外，后面的这些年，不是坐轮船绕着bay转一圈，就是公司包附近一个博物馆的场地让大家吃个饭，乐一乐，跳跳舞，转一转里面开放的几个厅，再有一年还去了一个附近的车展博物馆。今年又是在轮船上吃吃喝喝，看海湾边上的节日彩灯。
今年公司租了两辆大buses, 给不想开车的员工提供交通便利，后来在车上听说是因为码头边的停车场没有足够的parking位置，公司才想出这么一招。而我自然是选择坐bus去，省的操心自己找路找parking。
每年这样的party已经没有什么新意了，对我而言，就是吃顿饭，再看一遍熟悉的海湾夜景。随着晚会的深入，酒足饭饱之余，音乐响起，人们开始随着热情的音乐扭动、兴奋、叫喊，无论肥胖美丑，没有羞涩，带着几分放纵，在幽暗闪烁的灯光下自我陶醉着。我一个把酒票和赌票都给了同事的人，觉得自己更像一个旁观者，清醒地看着走着。独自一人走出船舱，欣赏着夜幕下宁静的港湾。一轮满月当空，几分皎洁几分朦胧，岸上万家灯火忽明忽暗，这时晚风阵阵徐来，不禁也吹起我心底的一丝涟漪。"再一个十年我会在哪里，还有机会站在这里看月亮吗？" 想来自己其实是幸运的，2019年12月12日的月亮，一个十年里最后的满月我是站在船头看到的，它也将随着2019年的离去留在记忆中。
又记 12/14/2019
几场雨给冬天的山峦带来一丝春意。春天残留的大片大片枯枝满目皆是，然而在枯黄下面，绿色正在慢慢延伸开来。某人拿着手机不停地拍着，一朵很小的野花也不放过，一边拍，一边自嘲到，"和尚下山，母猪赛貂蝉"。是啊，一个枯黄已经的山峦，任何生机绿色在我们眼里都是美的。
最后一张: Every cloud has a silver lining.乌云中总有一线光明。
A dark colored newly looking bus was awaiting by the road curb when I exited the company building around 5 pm. One bus with 50 seats was first arranged to take us to the boat for the Christmas Party, and later another bus was added when more people chose to take the bus instead of driving on their own. Taking the bus is preferably a better choice to me, as it is hassle free, not to worry about directions, traffic or parking.
I seated myself next to the co-worker U, a plump lady twice my size. Being fairly new to the company, she was coaxed by me to attend the party by my promise of giving her my two alcoholic drink tickets each employee is entitled to. When the bus started to crawl in the rush hour traffic, our conversations flowed on. Her background of being an immigrant from Poland to Canada, and then Canada to the U.S. made the exchange of immigration experience viable and a good topic. Her U. S green card petition took only a year, while mine almost seven painful years. But then a story of how her dad fled from communist Poland to Canada, and how after two years of separation (under the close watch and restriction of the Polish government) they were united on the free land unfolded to me. When I asked about the concentration camp in Poland, another appalling story was revealed, a story of how her grandma, a Jew, by marrying to a non-Jewish grandfather survived the atrocity, while the rest of her grandma’s whole family were herded to the camp and got killed. She said that her grandma used to tell her how the night air was filled with the strong smell when the dead bodies in the camp were burnt nightly. She told me how her mom has the habit of keeping diary, and on an impulse of that, I reached for my cell phone with my blog page, showing her my recent visit to Seattle and Oregon, mostly the pictures of course, as she could not read Chinese, and the English version is too small to read in the dimly lit bus.
At a little over 6, the bus arrived at the destination. A white color medium sized boat decked with bright white Christmas lights was anchored by. It is a three floored boat, with the top deck opening to the night wind. About thirty minutes after we boarded, the boat started moving. After a self-served dinner of beef, chicken and some vegies, people rose to the second deck, where stands of poker games were set on one side and dancing music on the other end. The music, along with the compressed noisy talks, were so deafening it almost drowned the voice from the loudspeaker, announcing the winning number for the raffles. My game ticket was also given away to a co-worker, and not much interested in the dancing in the crowd, I followed the narrow stairs up to the third floor. The sea breeze was invigoratingly fresh. Strolling on the deck, passing by a handful of employees, greeting or hugging one or two old ones, I then walked to the end and enjoyed a moment of solitude. The holiday decorated bays, in their red, blue and white lights, glowed in the dark. Occasionally, another boat in the similar glimmering vibe, glided by us. High above, a full moon perched. I stared into it for a minute or so, adoring the splendor of full moon, the final full moon (12/12/2019) in the decade.
An old co-worker approached me and suggested going down to the main deck. A flight of steep narrow stairs led us back to the second floor, where 80 percent of people thronged for games or dancing. Before we turned back in, we stopped at the front open deck. Stirred in the wind was a pungent marijuana odor someone must have smoked blatantly. Though it is legalized now to smoke it, in this context, apparently the conduct is far from being appropriate. Minutes later, an informed HR executive stepped in for an investigation, claiming that she would have fired the offender(s) if she caught them on the spot.
Inside the boat, people went on wriggling to the music. The game tables were still surrounded by players and watchers. The noises did not die down until the boat was back in the dock around 9:15 pm.
This year, the early winter rain at the end of November continued into December. When it finally cleared up this past Saturday, I dragged him along for a hike in the nearby valley that we used to frequent. It was almost 11 am when we set out, but the sun was not out yet. Under the leaden sky, the valley covered with the withered lifeless mustard from the last spring looked dull. However, in this deadly looking winter, spring is poking its head. New grasses shoot up from the ground, a few resilient wildflowers are blooming off the wilted twigs. We hiked and relished at the sight, knowing that the best is yet to come.