月前，大夫就慎重交代全套開刀前准备工作，程序颇似古代君王祭天前过程，极具儀式感：手術前夕，齋戒，淋浴淨身，然后以藥用香巾全身過香。更衣。子夜不食。睡前要換干净床單被褥枕頭套。保持平靜心情入睡。

推進宽闊的开刀房，幾乎睜不開眼，大間內燈光炫目，人聲鼎沸。來回走動的藍衣人群裡，似乎看到我的主刀大夫。高牆四壁掛滿大型儀表和電視，數據不停閃爍變換。大戰即將爆發？

不说是個小手術嗎？怎麼會有這麼大陣狀？本已平靜的心情，突然緊蹦。

与我牵手53年，妻一生挨刀經驗豐富，足以出书。時到今日，才對她在手術室內的感受，有初步了解。

妻婚前割盲肠。巴黎留学兩年，嗜法國美食，造就了人生中體態最豐滿時期。對東方的胃，在西方多脂/多膽固醇的後果，是來美婚後一年內開膽取石。當時為大手術，腹腔開一大口，住院七天，同室病友成了終身閨蜜。

一子一女，均破腹生产，不是Bikini Cut，小腹腔又是一大口子。晚年某情人節，曾住院，自後背置入体内支架，修整脊椎。最后一次挨刀，是同年耶誕前住院，微創手術，从鼻孔內深處，进入脑后切除脑下垂体附近小瘤，體外沒有傷痕，復原快。

自己一輩子，小毛病一堆，還沒有什么大问题，糊塗免不了。至今耳尚聪，目尚明，齒尚全，頭未禿。看电视/电影，熟路驾车均不需眼镜，不需助听器，嗜食排骨。退休前开始在郊区登山，至今乐此不疲。每周二约数好友，山林走一回，午饭后方回，不亦乐乎。

近兩年，右膝开始疼痛，與時俱增。吃藥/注射/針灸，都不管用。即便如此，不願放棄目前生活中最大樂趣：登山。

應對方法：登山前一晚，服兩顆阿斯匹靈；登山當天早飯時，再服兩顆。麻木膝盖！

“你应该做“换半膝”手术(partial knee replacement)，”大夫建议。大夫也喜歡郊外登山，與我路線相仿。自己換過膝，效果好。又说：“术后可相约在山道上见面。”

好了！不用再考慮了！

麻醉师率先發難。现在麻醉，不經口鼻，不打點滴。坐在床上，下脊椎左右各注射一小針，稍有疼痛，不久就人事不知。醒来后，发现已遠離戰場，身處清净小通间，手术不知何时早已完畢。膝蓋從上到下，貼了一條長膠布，看不到傷口。

三小時後，已可以下床走路，不过: ”头两周，应尽量少走路”。領了一大袋藥物，回家休養。明天开始居家理疗。 

理疗长短，因人而異，总之登山之乐可期。手术后前两週，右膝到脚踝，轻微疼痛，上下游走。第三週没有食欲，茶飯入口，如同嚼蠟，不知与手术有何关系。第四周食欲似乎有所恢复，右腿疼痛感全消，可以正常行走，能在附近短距離開車。看来是个成功的手术。

每聽到這首童歌，我眼前呈現的，是數十年前，台北近郊山上的那一幕。

那個風箏，是細竹為骨架、糊了薄絹、畫著黑色羽翼的紙鳶，大約一英尺長寬，最傳統的那種，是在西安逛街，我從小舖裡找到的，靈機一動，決定帶給爸爸。

那是1980年代初，我常去內地出差，返回洛杉磯途中，總會繞道台北，探訪父母。

我把風箏遞給爸爸時，他有點訝異，沈吟了一會兒，站起身來說， 「爬山時間到了，跟我放風箏去！」

爸媽退休後，搬到了新店郊區山腳下的「怡園社區」，遠離城市的喧囂污染，社區有條彎彎曲曲的柏油路可以上山，路邊相思林和修竹夾道，樹幹下長滿蕨類植物、月桃花和各種無名的野花，三五茶園和菜圃穿插其間，隱隱約約透出幾棟農舍或別墅。每天清晨，幾輛機車載蔬果下山前往市場，此外車輛稀少，這裡就成了附近居民的登山步道。

兩老很快就養成了每天爬山的習慣： 媽媽是清晨跟三兩鄰居結伴而行，到半山腰找塊平地，一起做氣功。爸爸則偏好每天午休以後，夕陽西斜時，趁著山風習習，獨自一人疾步上山，到山頂土地廟前的空地，打幾招太極拳，再慢慢逛回家。從他們轉為紅潤的氣色和穩健的腳步看來，「搬來郊區，起碼多活十年。」 這個說法，一點也不誇張。

這天下午，爸爸疾步走在前面，上坡路相當陡峭，沒多久我就氣喘吁吁，他卻如履平地，健步如飛，不時側側頭，嗅一嗅空氣，看來是在測風向。拐了幾彎，到了半山一小彎平地，略為開闊，野草像被人踏平了，頭頂上也沒有交錯的枝椏樹幹，這時山腰上浮動的霧氣也散了，露出一角碧藍。

「就這裡！」爸爸一手舉著一卷棉線，一手撚著紙鳶的尾端，一面放線，一面開始跨步，從小跑然後開始奔了起來。抬著頭，盯著紙鳶，風箏一會兒就被風揚起，開始上升了。

他咧著嘴，從呵呵笑，到大聲呼叫，「嘿，喝！」  陽光反射在眼鏡上，閃閃發亮。那一瞬間，七十多歲的老爸爸變成了個少年。

山腰裡的風乍起乍落，不多時他就得收線了。我們慢慢往回走。爸爸掏出手帕，抹著額頭上的汗水，開始有一句沒一句的聊起爺爺的往事。

爺爺和奶奶有兩男兩女，爸爸的兩個姊姊都夭折了，哥哥大學時染肺病而逝，最小的爸爸成了唯一存活的獨子。他十二歲那年，爺爺去上海覓職，爸爸和奶奶留在老家，臨別依依，他們再也未能重聚。

幾年後，中日戰火燃起，上海淪陷，爺爺雖然逃離上海，但半途在金華附近被捕，他和偕行的同事們當場被處決。幾個月後，才有熟人把他的一小包衣物帶回給奶奶。

爸爸的語氣雲淡風輕，想來不願讓我感染到他長年胸中的陰霾。

繞過路邊的茶園就要到家了，爸爸緩緩的說，「我小時候，總喜歡坐在門檻上，等我爹回家。他常把我舉上肩膀騎馬，又讓我從他口袋裡掏出藏著的點心，或者毽子、小車什麼的玩意兒...」他深深的吸了口氣，「有一次他給我一個紙鳶，就像這樣的。」

故居

福州市東大路是我的生長的地方。東大路前身是旗下街，旗下街路名的來源，是當年旗人逃難於福州聚居之所。我出生北京，六歲時舉家返回福州祖籍時，第一站就住在旗下街。這是九十年前的事了！

家父是法院推事，家𥚃兄弟姊妹眾多，很窮，常常拖欠電費，屢遭停電。小時候家裡需要錢，常常讓我跑當鋪。我人矮，每次都得踮著腳，聽櫃檯內伙計問話，「死當， 還是活當？」

羅曼史

1940年我考進郵局當郵務佐，比送信的郵差高一級，類似坐在櫃檯賣郵票的職務。報到後不久有一天，家父的朋友受人委託來提親，說某鄉親想將他的女兒嫁給我，並陪嫁多少畝農田，如果當時答應，便成了地主，三反五反時，肯定會拉去遊街示眾。老頭子躱過一劫！

我年輕時調皮浪漫，在認識老伴前，曾經追求過幾位小姐，其中一位，在倉前山一間教會醫院作護士，我愛寫情書，寫了好多封，都沒有下文，有一天郵局的局長呌住我，手上拿了一束我寫給那位小姐的情書，要我不要再騷擾她。事後聽說這位局長比誰都風流浪漫。

我為了追求老伴，故意裝病住院：那時她是協和醫院的護士，我假裝發高燒，每次檢查前，就先把體溫計放入熱水杯𥚃，藉此認識，進一步積極追求， 終於成功。

差點被槍斃

這不是嚇人的標題，是一則真實的往事：1945年我隻身隨軍郵由福州前往台灣，投靠過去福建郵局一位舊同事，謀得基隆市政府的民政科科員職位。那年頭台灣才光復，要從日本街道的XX町，更名為中國傳統的XX 路。這屬於民政科的工作，市長交給科長，科長交給我草擬，必須按照市長定下的原則：路名以忠孝仁愛信義和平的八德開頭，後面加上數字，因此有忠一路，義三路等。

那時候我年少、才疏學淺，不知道八路是共產黨軍隊的代號，基隆市愛開頭的有九條街，第八條街自然是「愛八路」了，那時候各級不知道有意或是無意，沒有發覺不對，層層往上報。終於有一天省政府下令調查，在白色恐怖瀰漫的年代，如果查到我是原始草擬人，說不定拉去刑場槍決。哈哈，僥倖逃過了一刧！

創辦攝影新聞

我從基隆民政科轉到台北的水泥公司做文書工作，待遇不錯，但我對攝影一直有很濃厚的興趣，就開始參加講習班， 師從國際知名藝術攝影家郎靜山學習，並參加一些攝影學會的活動。1952年參加台灣救國團主辦橫貫中央山脈活動，翻越高山峻嶺，自西到東，拍了不少照片，一張這次所拍的風景照片，參加舊金山國際攝影大賽，幸運地得到風景組的第二獎。

那時我還一心想辦報，可是台灣實施戒嚴令，頒發各種禁令， 限制出國、裝電話等等，那時的報禁一直延續到1988年。我引用當時出版法的漏洞：「通訊社的文稿圖片，可以機械方式發行。」1955年透過些關係，申請到一張新聞攝影社執照，1956年，成立了《攝影新聞》。因為沒有競爭，開始時業務很好。

多年後台灣攝影記者楊永智出版了《他們是歷史的目擊者》一書，對《攝影新聞》做了以下的報導：

陳蘆隱， 台灣傳播史上空前絕後獨立創辦私人圖片通訊社及攝影新聞報

非常喜歡新聞工作的陳蘆隱...1956年創辦了每天出報的《攝影新聞》。 當時攝影記者除了他之外，還有傅資生（在823砲戰中殉職）及周超 （曾在台製製片廠當攝影師），後來又來了伊夢蘭（台灣第一位女性攝影記者）， 元達（綽號原子彈）等人。

他們拿的相機大都是萊卡（Leica）...攝影新聞自己有排字房，製版房，還有拼板機。編輯部有兩人，校對兩人，採訪有三人。他太太則是負責暗房。創刊初期托外面人印...但是圖片印出來比較不清晰，後來買到日本製版的鏡頭，鋼版...這樣印出來效果好很多。當時報社大部分是陳蘆隱投資...陳蘆隱每天待到出報才能回家，夜裏大概也過一，二點了...

陳蘆隱創辦《攝影新聞報》的理念是想學美國的《每日畫報》，以圖片為主文字為輔，在1950年代可說是空前絕後，為戒嚴年代傳播史上留下重要的一頁。攝影新聞內容圖文並茂，四開大小，每天出報一大張...內容有要聞，影劇，生活，攝影，漫畫，藝文等... 當時報紙不是官方就是黨營，攝影新聞是少數民間經營（的媒體），資源很少，採訪新聞也受到打壓，維持大都是靠訂戶，廣告等，收入入不敷出，陳蘆隱賣了兩棟房子才能維持下去，最後頂了五年，1959年不得不轉讓給攝影界同好，美而廉老闆陳雁賓，他則在太太的勸說下移民美國。

帶26個英文字母來美國

1962年夏天，將《攝影新聞》轉手後，和一位記者朋友，一同前往美國，那時只因在台灣事業失敗，來美國散心，沒有想在這裏居留發展，但是老伴要我為了將來子女教育，盡量設法留下，才開始認真想法子。

最初我個人申請來美國簽證時，一向刁難簽証的台北美國領事館，對新聞媒體的人員竟然客氣三分，我與朋友前往申請，不到幾分鐘就辦好簽證。我們輾轉到了舊金山，坐99元環遊美國的灰狗巴士去紐約，四天四夜到達紐約總車站，我和同伴決定住價格便宜的青年會 YMCA 旅館，當時不知道旅館離車站只隔一條街，招了計程車，司機看我們言語不通，手指車中碼表，搖搖頭，另外兩指比劃 「二」，意思是兩塊錢，1962年一杯咖啡五分錢，汽油每加侖才兩毛。計程車一拐灣就到，兩個土包子上當了。

到紐約後先要想辦法賺錢養自己，我由朋友介紹去禮品店當店員，禮品店的老闆說我太矮，沒被錄取。後來在中國城租了店面，買了器材，開照相館，生意清淡，幾個月就關門大吉，又賠了錢。

照相館倒閉後，一位朋友帶我到康州紐海文市，這地方是耶魯大學所在地，半個城都是校園，文化氣息很濃。初到時先在一間中國小餐館當跑堂，然後著手替還在台灣的妻子兒女辦來美國簽證。

篳路藍縷的移民生涯

1964年老伴帶著高一的兒子和初一的女兒扺達美國，安排他們就學後，有一天一位朋友告訴我，有一間已經休業很久的三明治店出租，地區不大好，但店內有一些基本設備，月租才100元，問我有沒有興趣。我覺得這是條路子，就說好吧，從此開啟了我們餐館生涯。

承租店面雖然地區不很好，但前方有小型寫字樓，後面有職業醫師大樓，左前方有市政府和耶魯大學合辦的大型醫院，因此我們初期的顧客大多是醫生，小寫字樓𥚃的律師保險經紀人等。三明治店內大部分被櫃臺佔據，因此拆櫃臺加桌子後才像餐館。餐館生意很好，賺的錢大都用在攺裝和添加設備。老伴是大廚，我是經理兼跑堂，晚餐忙時兒女都會來幫忙洗碗。

這裏得插一段： 我的老伴天資不凡，學什麼，像什麼。雖然是護理專業，當年辦《攝影新聞》，我從頭開始教她沖洗照片，她很快就能獨當一面，負責暗房工作，把握了一流的沖洗照片技術，而且每天為了出報，徹夜趕工，是我們辦報事業的幕後英雄。

她本來對洗手作羹湯毫無興趣，但我們決定開飯店後，她就決心學廚藝，每天在廚房揮汗掌勺，廚藝可以比米其林三顆星的大廚，吸引了無數聞名而來的顧客，每晚飯店歇業後，她又洗洗刷刷，把廚房整理的光可鑑人才休息。老伴的賢慧， 勤勉，以及無條件的全力支持，也是我們能有所成的主要原因。

在小店賺了不少錢，買了三房兩廳住房，開的是全新奔馳轎車。記得有一次去紐約中國城採買，不小心誤入一條單行道，後面來了警車呌我跟他走，拐入一條小巷子停下，查了証件後，他不出聲，舉出雙掌，表示「十」的意思，又拿出罸單，搖搖頭，我懂得他的意思，掏出十塊錢，他說話了，「捲起來給我。」這是我親身經歷，千真萬確的事。

在小店兩年多後，在市區買了一座樓房，將樓下的小雜貨店改成中餐館，五十個坐位，只賣晚餐，迄1984年退休，才結束整整20年的餐廳生涯。

兒孫滿堂

我們千里迢迢，移民而來，是為兒女提供更好的教育機會。 孩子們也很懂事，果然不辜負我們的心願，學業和事業都有很傑出的成就，這是我們最大的安慰。

兒子從耶魯大學得到量子應用物理碩士，畢業後在紐澤西州的貝爾試驗所任技術研究室主任， 退休後還曾返台教書。女兒從紐約愛因斯坦醫學院拿到遺傳學博士，就職於羅格大學從事腫瘤研究，並兼生化系主任, 曾多次得科研獎。兒媳女婿也各自事業有成，共有三個孫輩，六個曾孫。數十年來，每年感恩節，全家團聚，兒孫加上親家，人數總有四、五十人，來自各族裔，有如聯合國，非常熱鬧。

多彩多姿的退休生活

退休後，我和老伴在佛羅里達州濱海別墅住過十幾年的寫意日子，後來因為年邁需要有人照顧，住回紐澤西女兒家，兒子也不遠，常來探望。

我的愛好很廣，不是在退休後才有。先說音響，1945年我就曾在基隆向日本人買了一台落地型的音響，上層是唱盤，中間一層是訊號接收機，下面是12吋喇叭。唱針有兩種，一種是鋼針，一種是竹針，竹針每放一面唱片就得換一次。

來美國後開始發燒，尤其在70年代，不斷買器材買喇叭，音響設備轉手之間，我也結識了不少同好。曾有一位音響教父級的Levinson，是飯店的熟客，他只吃海味，每次帶來新器材或零件，收取一半批發價，另一半以飯錢抵付，他吃的開心，我也得以翻新設備。

再談的是汽車了，我的瘋狂程度誰也猜不到，我曾經用過36部汽車！其中只有兩部是二手車，其他都是全新。多年來我用過大小奔馳五部，寶馬三部，林肯一架，還有好多部四輪驅動的吉普車。直到三年前有一天，我去大賣場購物，車子衝上安全島刮破車胎，又有一次開上人行道。這才不得不承認自己老了，結束了我的開車生涯。

除此之外，我的手機、平板，幾乎年年換新，我也收藏過各種形式的影帶，音樂帶和磁碟。電視則從方箱子，到液晶，換到最新的八十吋智能電視機。每天欣賞音樂，看電視、電影，加上學用新的社交媒體平台，與朋友親人聊天，我的日子過得十分充實！

（編後語： 陳蘆隱慶祝了96大壽不久後的一天，於午休時安然而逝。 他是我的二姨夫，生前是我們親戚圈內WeChat群組上最健談的，經常分享一些身邊趣聞和回憶，前年我採集了好幾段他的簡訊內容，編輯成文，送給老人家，他非常高興，親自做了些修訂、補充，題之為「跑堂話舊」，然後由兒媳翻譯成英文，發送給兒孫們。我把這篇文章略做減縮，在此與各位共賞，聊表紀念這位生趣橫溢的老人。—吳甦敬筆。）

       我四歲進台北建國中學，十四歲離開。倒不是天資過人，而是沾了老爸的光。他到建中教高中物理，就帶了一家搬入了教職員宿舍，一直住到他接到師範大學的聘書才搬走。

       五十年代，建中是抗戰勝利後首先開辦的學校之一，校舍是日據時代建的，為了容納大部分來自大陸的教職員和家屬，校園幾個角落的倉庫體育館等等，分別改建為宿舍，校方表示，「這是暫時之計，大家將就一下。」光陰如梭，十年間，我們家從我和妹妹兩個孩子，添了兩個弟弟，算是在建中校園裏渡過了童年。

       我們住的「大宿舍」是日據時代的武道館改建：木造樓、木板地、長方形，中間一長條走道，兩側用三夾板各隔了十三間，共住有二十六戶，每家佔地大約十坪，各有兩扇窗戶往外開，門則開向中間的長廊，不論是哪一家出入，都難免會跟鄰舍打照面。左鄰右舍咳嗽、嘻鬧、或吵架，好像就在耳邊，「隔牆有耳」這用詞，我很小就有體會了。

       緊隔壁的一家嗜好京劇，不時招來三五同好來票戲，從老生唱到花旦，配上京胡皮鼓，興致來了，唱個通宵。一向沈默溫和的爸爸，有時實在耐不住了，只好敲牆壁，說，「太晚了，該歇了吧！」曾幾何時，對門抬進一座烏黑的鋼琴，他家女兒開始學琴，時斷時續的琴音，配和著長廊裡劈裡啪啦的日式「呱嗒板」，和叮叮咚咚的皮鞋聲，不時充斥耳中。爸爸後來橫下心，抱回家一台老爺留聲機，公餘放上他喜好的古典音樂和國樂曲子，也加入了「大宿舍協奏曲」。

       鄰居經常見面，孩子們年齡又相近，大家很容易混熟, 有幾位這裡結交的朋友，數十年以後還保持聯絡。那時串門子只需踮著腳丫子，躍過木板走道，連鞋都不用換。哪家有人講古說今了，只需呼喚一聲，霎時就圍坐了一圈。我就曾經被一群小毛頭包圍過，一面把看過的故事從新編織，一面加點油添些醋，如果穿插些鬼魅神怪，就更受歡迎。講故事所得的最大回饋，就是看聽眾那直愣愣的眼神、與合不攏的嘴。

       記得有一年中秋節，不知是誰出點子辦同樂會，在一間屋角拉起了床單當帷幕，各家帶上水果糕點，有人唱歌跳舞，有人來一段短劇，或變個把戲，我被拉進「服裝表演隊」，搜出媽媽抽屜裡的絲巾剩布，打扮成了個新疆姑娘。那時發現，有些人平時不吭聲，倒有意想不到的才藝。

       我們家這一排的窗戶，面對著一條窄長的綠地，上面有幾株槭樹；晴天時，碎鑽似的陽光，透過綠葉，灑進窗框；風起了，推著層層枝葉如浪拍岸；蟬鳴和蟋蟀的叫聲，經常與孩童嬉鬧聲交織，四面縈繞。樹蔭下, 女孩子用橡皮筋編的繩子邊跳邊唱 ，「小皮球、香蕉油，滿地開花二十一...」，男孩子在一角打彈珠，漂紙牌，不時爆發出笑鬧聲。

       有一天爸媽帶回大捲的白報紙，媽媽煮了一鍋漿糊，他倆協力把白紙貼在夾板牆上，然後把醬色的油漆塗上斑駁的地板，幽暗窄長的房間，乍然亮了起來。每家也各自發揮室內裝潢的偏好，各種字畫、相框紛紛在牆上出現。在這個暫時棲身之地，各家各戶開始往下扎了根。

       木造樓是不許開火的，樓旁一個鍋爐房，就成了大家共用的廚房，每家佔了一個位置，夠放個煤球爐，堆些鍋碗瓢盆。一長條水泥料理台和幾個水龍頭，大家輪流用。每天清早，燃了煤球，炊煙四起, 成了大宿舍的起床號。主婦們摩肩接踵的，她們天天如此應付自家的一日三餐，好像從來沒出過差錯？

       鄰居們來自天南地北，廚房裡的對話，經常繞著各地菜式口味，或不同的年節習俗打轉，媽媽就是從這裡學到湖州肉粽、浙江酒釀、和四川泡菜的。我最愛站在廚房一角，看鄰居的婆婆、阿姨們趕麵、發饅頭、包水餃，深深吸入那熱騰騰的蒸籠冒出的香味，我一輩子對麵食的偏好，就這麼養成了。

       大廚房後面，一片空地伸向一排磚牆，牆後面是國語實小，我們家四個姐弟，都上了這所小學。雖然每天規規矩矩的走出建中南海路的正門，左拐再步行十分鐘進入小學，這堵牆還是為我們提供了方便，早上匆忙出門忘了什麼，可以隔著牆呼叫，「媽，毛筆硯台！」「媽，飯盒！」鄰居聽到，就會馬上傳達。多年後，同學會上有人說起，「記得當年翻牆經過建中，溜出去玩。」具體地點經我核對之下，就是這座牆！

       磚牆後面，小學旁邊就是和平西路，路兩邊搭了各種鐵皮頂的小舖，賣雜貨餐點，緊貼著我們這一段，有家燒餅舖，用大汽油桶改的烤爐，蔥花或糖漿口味隨你挑，還賣一種橢圓形的饅頭，蒸熟以後貼在爐邊烤，直到底下焦黃香脆，上面保持鬆軟，顧客稱之為「鞋底饅頭」，美味無比。連三餐無米飯不行的爸爸，都點頭讚好，「鞋底饅頭」沾紅燒蹄膀肉汁，是我家打牙祭的美味。要買燒餅饅頭很方便，撥開牆頭幾個鬆動的磚頭，就是個外賣窗口，這是鄰居間公開的秘密。

       後來有幾家在空地上用竹籬笆各自圍了塊地，有的種菜，有的養雞，有的搭了一間房給岳母住。我爸媽搭了個竹棚當小廚房兼飯廳，廚房後還圍了個小院落，從此媽媽有了她自己的天地，花圃裡栽培了她喜歡的各色花草，圍籬上爬了蔦蘿和牽牛花，我和妹妹也幫著挖土種花苗，弟弟們和玩伴在竹籬間穿梭，互相射水槍。多年後，妹妹開了庭園設計公司，我也愛好種花蒔草，很可能是這裡播下的種子。

       宿舍區還是各色小販招攬生意的好地點：「饅頭、豆沙包」的吆喝聲，補鍋修碗的拉鋸聲，賣餛飩麵的竹片聲，輪流出現。最讓孩子們興奮的是爆米花，家裡搜出瓶瓶罐罐和一碗米，小販就收下瓶罐，把米裝進長條形的鐵絲網籠，扇著炭爐邊烤邊搖籠子，不多時，大喝一聲，「好勒！」圍觀的我們就趕緊蒙上耳朵， 只聽轟然一聲，白花花的爆米出籠，再給幾毛錢，還能加上一勺麥芽糖，只見竹條播弄幾下，一排排方方正正的米花糕就變出來了。

       早年大宿舍跟校舍僅隔了籃球場，後來雖然搭起了圍牆，大門仍然經年敞開， 方便教職員進出，有些學生也由此走捷徑出後門。放學後，尤其是週末假期，整個校園就成了宿舍的後院。籃球場是學騎車和溜滑輪軲轆鞋的好地方；教室大樓間的花圃樹叢，正合適捉迷藏或辦家家酒。夏夜裡，各家各戶紛紛把躺椅竹凳搬到大操場，孩子們互相追逐嬉戲，大人們端了茶杯，嗑著瓜子，談天說地。仰頭望去，繁星點點，第一次聽媽媽指著銀河，說牛郎織女過鵲橋，就在那樣的夜晚。

       建中校門正前方的紅樓，宏偉的前廳，高聳的弧形天花板下，大理石拱門拱柱，正對著一對壯觀的梯階。最吸引人的是拱柱之間的木雕欄柵，八對柱子，就有八個欄柵，大約四英尺高，五英尺寬，正適合孩子們爬上爬下當馬騎。夏日炎炎，大廳裡卻涼風習習，冬日寒風細雨，大廳裡依然乾燥暖和。週末或寒暑假，如果四顧之下看不到任何大人，孩子們就出現在這「騎馬地方」，或官兵追強盜、或騎馬打仗、或拖曳著長裙、扶梯而下，編織出各種場景和故事，在這裡流連大半天。就這樣，廣闊的校園，成了大家的遊樂廳和後院，在孩童的心目中，家裡十坪大的居所，也就不再侷促擁擠。

       如果把鏡頭拉長，建中校門對面，過了南海路，就是植物園，園裡有大片的荷花池，和無止境的樹木和各種奇花異卉，多年間更有各種文化機構陸續豎起，中央圖書館、歷史博物館、藝術館、科學館等等，不愧為「南海學園」。我們能任意逍遙的天地，也因此變得更為寬廣。傍晚時分，是散步的好地方，如果爸爸興致來了，還會帶上羽毛球拍，一家在空地上打幾局。有時候大人想圖個清淨，就讓我帶弟妹們去植物園，幾個孩子沿著荷花池邊的長廊，去找植物園的涼亭、假山，有一次，小弟在荷花池邊追青蛙，撲通一聲追進了池塘，大弟從旁將他一把拎了起來，我們四個一路跑回家，不聲不響的給他換上乾淨衣褲；那時還不懂「滅跡」的道理，沾了泥巴濕漉漉的一團衣服就塞在床底下， 當然，媽媽一進門，就嗅到了「秘密」！這件事，到今天我們姐弟相聚，還不忘提出來互相取笑。

       多年後，我舊地重訪，記憶中無邊無際的南海學園和建中校園，似乎縮了水，大宿舍早已消失在一場火災中，但紅樓依然無恙，據說已當作古蹟保留，站在拜占庭風格的空曠大廳裡，童稚的笑聲和奔跑的足音，彷彿還在大理石的拱柱和地磚間迴盪， 兒時光影鮮明在眼前浮動不已。

在半世紀前，東港還是台灣邊塞小鎮。第一次去東港，是個極漫長的旅程。

清早五點半的臺北火車站，熙熙攘攘，都是大學應屆畢業男生，興奮中带了不安，要乘南下專車去受訓，再服预備軍官役。

頂著煤煙的慢車上，每人一杯茶，一個便當。沿途陸續有人下車。下午過了臺南，車上的人已少了一半。然後機械系的到左营海軍報到。電機系的去岡山空軍。

高雄轉車。又過一個鐘頭，好不容易挨過了屏東，車上所剩無幾。彼此都知道，大家都要去最後一站，東港空軍幼校，受教官訓練。

我的数學系同學多半去臺南炮校，因為炮官需要計算。基本訓練後往往去前線金門或馬祖。三个月前分發抽籤時，我居然是極少数的幸運者之一，抽到去東港的教官籤，全場轟動。大家都知道服教官役，一不吃苦，二無危險。當時不知，東港遠比“無危險，不吃苦”更好。

一輩子，只中過這一次上上籤。臺灣的愛國獎卷，加州的樂透，全與我無缘。不久前某個集會上抽到幾瓶醬油，高興了整晚。

大巴，在東港休息站停下。

又轉了一次車，半小時後，終于到了邊塞東港大鵬灣的幼校。相當於高中的軍校學生，個個精神抖擻，活潑聰明。尤其身著空軍制服的那一股率勁，人見人愛。我三生有幸，與他們相處一年。在經濟起飛前的臺灣，東港是一塊璞玉。山明水秀，民風樸實。那時東港山海及人物之美，至今難忘。

在幼校每天早起，朦朧中，大鹏灣内點點渔火。一艘接一艘的竹筏，從左岸出發，無聲無息，不知要去何方。

藍天白雲，遍地蕉園，處處椰林。那時因為交通不便，東港雖處邊陲，是個外人不知的桃花源。大鹏灣無浪的海水，清可見底。即在盛夏，蕉風椰影中，也不覺太熱。一天的海光山色，足以醉人。 

寧靜的大鵬灣，突然一天，空中都是飛機。震耳轟隆聲中，好奇的預備軍官，紛紛來到海邊。原來是空軍水上飛機隊在演習。

休息站極雅致，各色土產，琳琅滿目。服務小姐殷勤接待。

東港女孩眼裏，城市來的大學畢業生，如天之驕子。眷村裏的乖女兒，彈子房 的記分小姐，以及街上的木瓜西施，常對這些預備軍官表示好感。有天那位西施，老媽陪同，帶了一籃雞蛋，轟轟烈烈，闖進我們這個軍事單位，找她心上人。彈子房小姐情竇初開，屢屢向數位預官示愛，但她老爸看得極緊，甚至動粗。老爸實在放心不下，找到校長，要求制止預官拐騙他女兒。之後，只見她總是悶悶不樂，每天在角落裏，低聲唱她的情歌，寞落可憐。

在這個世外桃源的溫柔鄉裏，當然一定要有個圓滿的愛情故事。一位師大朋友，英俊如青年歌星Johnny Mathis，很快遇到一位眷村知己。每當黃昏，海邊林下，總看到這親熱的一對。

一到星期日，許多人去屏東高雄湊熱鬧。空蕩蕩的幼校，是最輕鬆的時候，上午沿著如畫的大鵬灣散步，吃過中飯，睡個午覺，在樹下看一下午的小説。或者到校外，騎車探訪一些不知名的漁村。累了，就在無人的沙灘上休息，欣賞臺灣海峽裏的滔天巨浪。

晚飯後，再漫步到海邊。大鵬灣中點點渔火，又在遠方出現。只見一艘一艘的竹筏，無聲無息，向左岸靠近，慢慢在黑暗中消失。

大巴自休息站重新出發，已是傍晚。一路酒綠燈紅，東港已不是從前的世外桃源。真慶幸自己有一段這麽美好的回憶。行車不久，又在一觀光旅館前停下。車門緩緩打開，蹒跚上來位長者，似曾相識，原來是五十年未見的老同學義華。

（3）維蘇威火山：在這個磁鐵的右上方就是著名的維蘇威火山（Mount Vesuvius)， 也就是與龐貝（Pompei)廢墟相提並論的那個殺手火山！它在西元79年八月天的一個下午爆發，釋出大量的火山灰及岩石碎屑噴向山腳下的龐貝，短短的25小時就把它埋沒在幾公尺厚的下面，據說有一萬多人罹難，由於沒有熔岩流出現，所以這個市鎮的建築物及一些罹難者的身軀才得以被保存，到將近二千年後的十九世紀才被人所發掘。

我們在五月初抵達龐貝時還不到旅遊旺季，但遊覽車已經絡繹不絕，入口處的遊客更是大排長龍，可見世人對文化遺產的重視！這個園區的規模之大超乎我的想像，幾乎大半個市鎮都被挖掘出來了，雖然多數的建築物都被以快速飛來的火山碎屑及石頭所損毀，但是在斷垣殘壁中，尤其從屋內的裝飾、存留的用具、器皿以及壁畫上仍然可以反映出當代的生活情況及文化背景。

站在大廣場(Forum)上，遠眺仍然昂然屹立的維蘇威火山，人世間已經度過幾個輪迴了，而它還在蓄勢待發！

一. 年度体检有感 

     今天上午去看家庭医生，主要是体检，再就是把一年看其他医生的情况做个沟通。

     几个月前，我离开上海前做了主要脏器的超声检查，这项检查在国内是体检的常规项目，而在美国并不属年度体检范围内。我一直困惑在医疗这么发达的美国，为什么例行体检的项目如此之少，今天终于有机会和我的家庭医生讨论了一下。她对我说，美国医疗上预防性筛查和有症状后循证检查，是两个不同的系统：预防性筛查的项目是依据大量研究数据和可能的常见病而选择的，需要在考量对病人身体是否可能造成危害，或对病人是否有益间取得平衡。

     她又说，曾遇到一些台湾或大陆来的病人，在家乡检查到这样那样的问题，来美以后，安排作各种进一步的追踪检查，最终的诊断可能并不需要作什么治疗，但是已经经历了好些有伤身体的检测，反而平添了许多无谓的烦恼。

     至于什么情况作何种筛检，也可能涉及不同医疗理念。但并不是说所有人群的筛查都该一致，对高危人群重点筛查是必要的。当然，经济考量也是个重要的因素，例如某些好的私人医疗保险，往往提供更多的筛查项目。我很早就听说过越有钱的人身上的手术伤疤就越多的传闻，可能夸张了些，但多少也印证了经济和医疗的关系。

     我觉得在重视生命，关注健康的问题上，没有对错。感恩我们生活在这样一个年代，能吃穿不愁，还有条件维护身心健康！

二. 一位医生的故事

     因为曾有头晕，家庭医生推荐我去看神经专科医生，今天便约了Dr. K. 

     还没看到他，就听护士说 Dr. K 非常有耐心，会花很多时间和病人交流。因为接着要去机场送人，我有点担心会拖时间。

     还好没有让我等太久就见到了医生，果然 Dr. K 态度很好，问这问那，从专科的角度解释我的症状应该不属于神经专科，不过他还是仔细看了我两年前做的头部MRI, 并给我做了全身神经系统的检查测试，包括眼底。另外也描述了几种可能引起头晕的原因，如内耳不平衡，血压偏低等等，告诉我如果出现什么样的神经系统症状就回来看他，絮絮叨叨的就像一个长辈关心小辈似的。

     听说我从中国来，Dr. K 告诉我他父母是俄国人，在中国生活了三十年，说流利的中文，英文和俄文，他出生在上海，四九年他几个月大时随父母和许多外国人乘船来到美国，当时旧金山报纸上还登了一张他父亲抱着他走下船的照片，保存至今。他从小到大，经常听到父母说起在中国生活的回忆。

     医生就这么和我聊着聊着……我一边偷看了一下他的手表，一边想着如何结束谈话。 最后他终于把话题回转到我身上，分析可能的病因和处理办法，完成了医生和病人之间的对话。

     感恩遇到慈祥的神经专科医生，不但解释清楚了我的症状，而且还分享了他自己的故事。

PART I

Video Documentary: 憶胡佛號 “觸礁” 事件

[Insert Hyperlink to the video here.]

Part II

A Maiden’s Voyage

On River Danube Aboard MS River Harmony, November 1, 2018

“Excuse me, are these seats taken?” she asked the couple sitting at a table for four.

       “No. Please join us,” said the lady. “I am Susie. This is my husband, Jim.”

       “Hi! I am Vera. Look at those gorgeous fall colors passing through the windows! I got so intoxicated by them that I did not even hear the dinner call.”

       “Where are you from?”

       “Los Angeles. We don’t have seasons. Can you imagine that our rivers are paved with cement?”

       “Really?” said Susie. Then she changed topic, “You care to join us for a toast?” 

“What’s the occasion?”

“It is my father’s 108 birthday.”

       “Wow! I have never met anybody who is older than a century,” said Vera. “Is he with you on board?”

“He didn’t quite make it. He passed away at 96.”

       “What a good daughter you are, still remembering your dad’s birthday 12 years later!”

       “I remember it because his birthday is on All Saints Day, particularly when I am on a cruise. He was a seaman. You like to cruise?”

       “Yes, but I prefer river cruise. I don’t like ocean cruise.”

       “You get seasick?”

       “Yes, but that is not the reason. I could always take seasick pills.”

       “Bad experience?”

       “I had a shipwreck.”

       “No kidding! My father had also been in a shipwreck. But that was, let me see...” after a short pause, “Eighty-one years ago.”

Eighty-one years ago! Vera’s mind started to drift. Suddenly the long forgotten past rose up vividly. It was the day after All Saints Day. It was not raining. It was not cold, just nippy.

Ottawa, November 2, 1937

       As she rolled laughing down the lawn on the slope in front of the red house, some freshly cut grass got into her mouth. She liked that taste. She got up and ran back up the slope. Just as she was ready to roll down again, she heard a menacing fire truck siren blaring in the distance...  

“Get up!”

       “One more roll!”

       “Roll?”

       “One more minute I mean. Please, Ah-ma.”

“This is your last day of school.”

She jumped out of bed. She had never missed a single day of school in her life, certainly not this one.

Since the beginning of fall, the little girl had kept announcing proudly to people that she was now a second grader. Second grade was totally different from first grade: The prints in her books were much smaller. The songs she sang changed from nursery rhymes to church songs. Most of all she was writing with an ink pen. It was her Daddy’s old Sheffield. It had a turtle-shell outside and a gold tip on the nip. Daddy gave it to her on the first day she started her second grade. She was going to do some serious writing.

Although the Sister for second grade was much stricter, she was quite nice, even offered her to board at the convent.

She dressed herself in the morning; finished her breakfast even though she hated oatmeal; combed her hair and brushed her teeth without being reminded. She walked to school by herself. She was expected of doing all these things.  She was the oldest. Out of the four girls, she was Ah-ho’s favorite.

Walking down the stairs in the back of the house, she heard Ah-ho calling out after her, “Do you have your handkerchief?”

“Yes, Ah-ma,” she answered in Ah-ho’s native dialect.

There were so many languages spoken in the house, English, French, Tagalog, Mandarin, Cantonese... Ah-ho did not speak any of them. She kept the native tongue of the village she came from.  Kids were not allowed to call her by her name. So they called her Ah-ma, Mother in her dialect.

“Did you bring the picture book you colored last night?”

“Yes, Ah-ma.” 

“And your fountain pen?”

“Of course!” 

“Don’t get into the street. Stay on the sidewalk!”

“Yes, yes, yes, Ah-ma. I know!”

Coming out of the two-story red house, she did not see a single person on the street. It was too early for the people in these big Embassy mansions to venture out into the cold streets. She looked up to the pale blue sky. She was going to miss the snow this year. How is Christmas going to look without the snow?

The school was just five blocks down the street. But she always walked on the next street to avoid the big vicious dog that barked at her every time she passed by. Further down, there was this mean little fat girl calling out profanities, like “Ah ah-ah ah ah, she’s afraid of the pussy dog.”

She finally arrived at school, a white three-story building with black half-timber façades on all sides. She took off her coat and hung it on the peg under her name. She took off her walking shoes and put on a pair of soft shoes and then climbed up a long flight of stairs.

“1, 2, 3, 4...” she always counted as she climbed. “... 19, 20.” There was a closed door by the staircase. Every time she passed by, she always had the urge to push it in to find out what was behind that door. Only the sisters were allowed in. Just like in her own home, only her Daddy and the men dressed in suits, who came to work during the day, were allowed on the first floor. Do the sisters take off their headgears when they are in there? Do they have hair? How do they look in their pajamas? Do they have dolls or Teddy bears to sleep with? Do they jump on their beds?

She would have been able to find out if she were going to live with the sisters in the convent. But her parents said that was out of the question. They were leaving the city and were not coming back.

She resumed her climbing. “21, 22, 23,... 40.” She finally reached the floor where the classrooms were.

“Good morning, Sister Mary,” she said as she handed her drawing to the Sister.

“Good morning, Vera. That was nice work!” 

“What do you want me to pack in your suitcase?” Ah-ho yelled out to Vera just as she came into the house from school that afternoon.

       “Did you pack my Teddy bear?”

       “Yes, I did.”

       “Here is my fountain pen. I won’t need it on this trip, would I, Ah-ma?”

       “I don’t think so.”

“Where are we going, Ah-ma?”

       “Big Apple.”

Vera’s eyes opened wide on hearing the last word. It couldn’t be just one apple. Ah-ma must mean an apple orchard. What does an orchard look like? She had never been outside of the city. All she had been to were reachable by the city bus.

“How big is the Big Apple?” she asked.

       “I don’t know,” said Ah-ho.

       “Then why did you say it’s a big apple?”

       “Go ask your Mother.”

       “Mama, where is this Big Apple?”

       “America.”

       “Aren’t we already in America?”

       “People there think they are the only Americans. They don’t know there are other people living in America. So we just play along to make them happy.”

       “What other people?”

       “Eskimos, Haidas, Canadians, French, Chinese...”

       “Are we Chinese, Mama?”

       “Yes.”

       “How come?”

       “Our ancestors came from there.”

       “But Sister Mary told us we are all Canadians.”

       “She’s right.”

       “Why?”

       “You girls were all born in Canada.”

       “How can we be American, Canadian and Chinese all at the same time?”

       “All people in America came from other places.”

“What other places?”

“England, France, China...”

       “What about the Eskimos?”

       “Eskimos and Haidas are the only natives.”

       “Are they Chinese?”

       “No.”

       “Why does Amy Featherfoot look like Ah-ma?”

       “Because Amy’s ancestors and Chinese all came from the same part of the world.”

       “Then why aren’t Haidas called Chinese?”

       “Go help Ah-ho pack your clothes.”

       “What is Big Apple like, Mama?”

       “You will find out when you get there.”

Big Apple, November,1937

       Vera could not believe that such tall buildings could grow out of dirt, she meant asphalt and concrete pavements. They grew so tall that it looked as if they were touching the clouds. She had to bend herself backward to look at them. Even so, she still could not see their tops. There were so many of them. She felt suffocated as if being trapped in a forest.

They went into one of them. She looked for the stairs and wondered how many steps she had to count to reach the top. Instead, the man in uniform took them into a small room. As soon as its door was closed, the room moved. It moved so fast that her ears popped. It was an elevator, she was told. The first thing she did when she got out of the elevator was to run to the window to see if she could touch the clouds. She could not believe she was so high up that the cars that were running on the streets a while ago had all shrunk into small beetles, crawling slowly like ants. She got dizzy.

“Are we going to sleep here tonight, Ah-ma?”

“What do you think those beds are for?”

“I am afraid of height.”

“Just don’t look out the window.”

“I can’t help not to.”

“Let me draw the drapes.”

The next morning, when Vera woke up, her mother was already out shopping. After breakfast, her father took her and her sister, Vickie to explore the streets. Ah-ma stayed at the hotel with her two younger sisters who were too young to go out. Virginia was three, and Marina was just a few days over one.

The streets were lined with big windows. Inside the windows there were mannequins dressed in fancy clothes. In one window they saw autumn leaves and in another winter snow. Then they came to a wide opening to a sight of flashing and moving lights, brighter than the streaks of sunlight squeezing through between the buildings. The billboards were many times taller than the houses back in Ottawa. Is this the place where one could find the Big Apple? But she could not even see a single tree.

In the afternoon, Daddy took them to a theater. Instead of cartoons before the movie, some ladies came on stage and kicked their bare legs up and down, so orderly like soldiers in a parade. Vera looked for strings that must be pulling the limbs like in a puppet show. She saw none.

The family moved out of the hotel on the following day and went into a huge building. Its inside was big enough to fit a couple of movie theaters. The ceiling was so high. Vera saw a pigeon flying up there. What if it pooped? There were so many people down below! On the far end there was a row of swinging doors through which some railroad cars were parked. They got onto one. It was different from the one they rode in from Ottawa. There were beds and toilets in the compartments and curtains on the big windows. Suddenly the car started to move. Vera could not hear any sound and did not see a locomotive. It slid like skaters on ice.

Suddenly she saw nothing but darkness. A few minutes later, sceneries started popping up frame after frame outside the big window like in a movie. Buildings appeared and vanished, followed by bridges, roads, woods, rivers and wide-open plains. The click-a-di-clack sound on the track soon put her to sleep. When she woke up, it was dark outside. Daddy and Mother took everybody to a separate car. There were tables with white tablecloth just like in a restaurant. The men serving them all wore white jackets. The train ran for days and the clink-a-di-clack sound went on and on. The scenery outside of the windows kept changing, from green meadows to desert then to mountains. There were no place for her to run around. All they did was going back and forth between their compartments and the dining car.

Gold Mountain, November 1937

       The train finally ran out of tracks to run. It stopped at a waterfront at the foot of a hilly city. To Vera who used to see only flat land, the hills were tall mountains covered with houses. Some of the houses looked like clothes hung on clotheslines, some looked like rock pinnacles. Tramcars were pulled up the steep hills by cables. The hotel they checked into had its main entrance on one floor and its back entrance two floors down on another street.

At the foot of the hills there was a big body of water that was larger than any lake she had ever seen. There were many ships and bridges on the water. The big ship Vera and her family later boarded had two black chimneys of the size of silos wrapped in red ribbons.

SS President Hoover Launched in 1930

“Is it a bank?” Vera asked.

“No, that’s a ship,” her Daddy said.

“Why are there dollar signs on the ribbons?”

“That’s the name of the company that owns the ship.”

“You mean dollar owns this ship? Then why don’t they put its picture on the dollar bill instead of an old woman’s head?”

“This Dollar has nothing to do with the dollar bill. The picture on the dollar bill is a man, not a woman. He is President Washington.”

“No, it is President Hoover. Look, it is written on its neck, I mean collar.”

“That’s the name of the ship.”

“Is that why all the denominations of the American money bills have pictures of their presidents? But why it says San Francisco?”

“Where do you see that?”

“On its fanny.”

“You mean on the stern. What’s painted on the stern is the homeport of the ship.” 

“Whatever you say, I still think it is a bank,” Vera insisted stubbornly. “It’s so big. It must carry lots of silver and gold.”

“Come to think of it, you may be right,” her Daddy laughed and went along with his daughter. “The Chinese did not call this city Gold Mountain for no reason. San Francisco was at one time a gold rushing town. The gold found here had to be sent out by ships. There were no railroads then.”

“Shipped to where?”

“All around the world. Some to China. On their return voyages, they brought the Chinese. All the Chinese who came here had something to do with gold.”

“Did you come through here too, Daddy?”

“I not only came through here. I stayed here for quite a while.”

“To rush for gold?”

“No,” her father laughed. “I worked in the Chinese consulate here.”

“What did you do?”

“I represented the Chinese who came to dig for gold or to build railroads that connected the West coast of America to its East Coast.”

“Are you the first one in our family to come to America?”

“No, my Big Uncle came before me.”

“Did he come to dig for gold?”

“No, he came to set up the Chinese Consulate here.”

“The one you worked in?” she kept on asking curiously.

“Yes, but way before I came. China was still ruled by a monarchy then.”

“What is a monarchy?”

“A country ruled by an emperor.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Let’s see. This is 1937. The monarchy was overthrown in 1911. So it is roughly...”

“26 years ago.”

“Good girl, Vera!”

The ship looked more beautiful than anything she had seen. Besides the two big chimneys wrapped in ribbons, it had two tall flagpoles decorated with a string of colored flags between them. It looked like a feathered duck with a head and a tail.

The ship was so big that once on board, Vera felt like walking on one of the streets in the Big Apple. There were many turns and alleys. There were doors open to a hotel, a dance hall, a movie theater, a library, a restaurant, a playground with a sand box and many more doors that were closed to kids. She was told there was even a swimming pool! One could get lost easily.

“If you do, just ask any person in uniform,” said her mother. “He will take you back to your cabin. But remember, always stay inside. Don’t go out to the deck. I don’t want you to fall off the ship.”

“You mean we can go anywhere without tagging to you or Daddy?”

“Yes. Now come out to the deck with me.”

“Didn’t you just say we are not supposed to go out on deck?”

“Hurry up. The ship is leaving.”

“But we are already on board, Mama.”

“Just come. Don’t act smart.”

She followed her mother out to the promenade deck. She found herself high above the dock. She looked down. There was a brass band playing. There were lots of people down there. They were holding some color paper ribbons in their hands. On the other ends of the ribbons were their friends and relatives on board the ship. How could paper hold up such a big ship? Soon the ribbons all broke like strings of cheese when a pizza was broken up. The ship drifted slowly away from the dock. The ship sailed passed the hills that was covered with houses toward a huge structure in red. Will the ship’s flagpoles fit under the bridge, she wondered.

“My God, look at that!” her mother exclaimed. “It was not here when I sailed through here last time.”

“What is it for, Mama?”

“To bridge the two shores so that people do not have to take the ferry to cross the bay.”

“Why would people prefer to get on the bridge?”

“So that they could tell ‘the tale of Two Cities’,” Mother chuckled as she answered.

“What would they do if the bridge collapsed?”

“Go back to the ‘fairy’ book, I guess,” she laughed out aloud.

“You mean ferry boat, Mama,” corrected Vera , thinking that her mother had too much to drink at the Welcome-Aboard party.

A few minutes later, they were under the red structure. Like the buildings in the Big Apple, its tops were hidden in the clouds. Beyond this monstrous structure, there was nothing but an endless span of water.

“Let’s go inside.”                                                 

At Sea On SS President Hoover, November - December, 1937

       The ship was at sea for days. There was nothing to see but water. Then it came into a port. This place was totally different from either the Big Apple or the Gold Mountain. There were no skyscrapers and no hills, just a spread of lowly built wooden houses. Some scantily dressed girls in underwear and straw skirts danced on the dock to the music played on some instruments that looked like miniature toy guitars. There were flowers everywhere, from the girls’ heads to the musicians’ necks to the bushes along the streets. The dancers waved their hands like the leaves on the palm trees next to them and shook their skirts like peacocks shaking their feathers.

       Even though it was late November, people had on very thin clothes, men in airy flowery shirts hanging outside of their pants and women baring their shoulders, legs and tummies. Some people were even in bare feet.   

       Daddy took the family to a beach. It was the first time Vera had ever seen a beach. It was like a huge tilted sand box with one side submerged in water. The dry sand was soft like flour. No wonder they could not build any big houses here. Even the palm trees could not all stand straight up. She was more interested in picking seashells and running after sand crabs than going into the water. There would be plenty of oceans later on. Daddy said the ship would be at sea for several weeks.

       Sure enough, once the ship left port, she saw nothing but ocean all around her. Since Mother said not to go on deck, she could only look through the windows. There was not much to see anyway, except for the rolling waves with white caps, and a sky with scattered clouds that continued to change colors. The line that marked the division of water and sky moved continuously up and down viewed through the windows. It made her feel drowsy.

       But the inside the ship, it was another world. It was like a city. The train could probably run in it. With the permission to roam around anywhere freely without the supervision of the parents, Vera and Vickie felt they had the whole world to themselves. Every day was an adventure. Every adventure led them to some place new.

One day they came upon a door hidden away from the main drag. She tried the knob. It opened. They went in.

The place was filled with racks of shelves from floor to ceiling. The shelves were filled with Christmas ornaments; some in boxes and some just lay unwrapped. Racks after racks of them. There were many decorations they had never seen before. As they wandered from rack to rack, they sometimes fantasized they were in Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travel and sometimes in Alice’s Wonderland. It was too early for Christmas trees. They might not have a Christmas this year. But this was better than any Christmas tree. So the girls continued to explore. They finally exhausted themselves in excitement and fell asleep in a cozy corner.

Vera did not know how long she had slept until some voices woke her up.

       “Did you find out where it is?”

       “Yes.”

       “Is that the only place?”

       “Yes.”

       “You had better be damn sure that there is not another place.”

       “I’ll check again.”

       “Do that. We’ll meet here again tomorrow at this time.”

       “Tomorrow is too soon. This is a big ship.”

       “Then in two days. We’ve got lots of time.”

       As the two men were leaving the room, Vera peeked out between the racks for a look. One was in a sailor’s uniform, one in a white steward’s jacket. Luckily they did not notice her. What would they do to her if they found her here? Would she get a spanking? She shook her sister awake and whispered, “Vickie, let’s get out of this place.”

“Why do I have to dress up, Mama?”

       “We are being invited to dine at the Captain’s table tonight.”

       “Why?”

       “The Captain wants to meet your Daddy.”

       “Why do we have to go?”                              

       “We are a family.”

       “Will Ah-ma go?”

       “No.”

       “Why not? She’s family, isn’t she?”

       “Who’s going to look after Virgie and Marina?”

       Captain Yardley looked so distinguished in his white uniform with gold-embroidered cuffs. His charcoal-colored hair made him look intelligent. There were two other couples at the table. She was the only child. Mother left Vickie with Ah-ho after she threw a tantrum. So Vera told herself she had better behave like an adult.

The adults were chitchatting about trivialities that did not make any sense and toasting each other just to have a drink. After a few toasts, the Captain turned to Daddy and asked,

“May I ask what kind of business are you engaged in, Mr. Chow?” 

“I was the Chinese Consul General in Ottawa.”

“Isn’t that where they have embassies from all over the world?”

“Yes. But China does not have one in Canada. So our Consulate also serves as an Embassy.”

“May I address you Ambassador Chow?”

“In name only,” chuckled her Daddy in modest.

“Being a diplomat you must speak many foreign languages.”

“Just English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and some French. My wife also speaks Tagalog and Spanish.”

“You have a beautiful wife, Your Excellency.”

Beautiful? The little girl took a good look at her mother. All she saw was the same short-tempered mother hidden behind some fancy clothes and glittering jewelries. Then she heard her Daddy responding,

“Thank you for the kind words, Sir. You have a beautiful ship.” 

“She’s Robert Dollar’s prize lady, the most luxurious and fastest in the world. She runs at 20 knots with twin propellers driven by the newest turbo-electric motors made by General Electric.”

“But why is she called a mail ship?”

“She was built for mail.”

“Just for mail?”

“You couldn’t imagine what mail carries these days.” Leaning forward to Daddy and lowering his voice, Capt. Yardley said, “Just between you and I and the ship mast, we are carrying one ton of gold on this trip.”

“One ton!”

“Please keep this to yourself, Your Excellency.”

“Of course, Sir. I’ll keep it just between you and I and these bulkheads.”

The two men broke out laughing.

“Let us have a toast to both ladies!” said Capt. Yardley.

“As we say in Canada,” rising his glass, Daddy said. “A la santé des dames! Ganbei!”

After that the two men kept on laughing and toasting on one thing after another.

What kind of conversation is that? Did they get too much to drink? If it is a male ship, why is it referred to as she? Isn’t gold for ladies, to make bracelets and necklaces? What does gold have to do with the Chinese dumpling wonton? In any case, from now on she has better refer the ship as she. Mr. Dollar sure has taste. She is beautiful.

As time dragged on, the conversation around the table got more and more boring. Her attention soon shifted to the stewards who were serving at the table. There were so many of them. They all wore white jackets. She wondered which one was the voice she heard in that Christmas storage room. She couldn’t wait to sneak back to eavesdrop on their secret talk. Two days was a long time to wait.

The girls sneaked back into their hide-out before the meet up time. Then came the voices they were waiting for.

“Did you find out?”

“That was the only place.”

“Are you sure?”

“Definitely.”

“Did you see what they have inside that room?”

“Yes.”

“Can you handle it?”

“No problem.”

“Then the next thing to do is to find out about the protocol.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Don’t just say not too hard. How do you propose to do it?”

“Leave that to me. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

“Let’s meet two days from now.”

“Same time?”

Vera caught a better glimpse of the two men this time. The one in sailor’s outfit walked with a slight limp. He was half a head shorter than the one in white jacket.

“Vickie, from now on watch how all the sailors on this ship walk,” she said to her sister. This was probably the most serious endeavor she had ever engaged in her life. “When you notice a limp, look at the face and remember it. Now let’s follow them.”

       They quickly came out of their hiding and followed the two men at a distance. But after a few turns, the man with a limp went out to the deck. Mama said not to go out on deck. When the girls turned around, the white jacket steward was nowhere to be seen. Worse yet, they did not know where they were.

She was not worried. Mother had told them to ask a uniformed person if they got lost. She found one. 

       “Mister, can you please tell us where we are?”

       “Are you lost, little girls?”

       “No, we are just wandering,” Vera corrected the man. “Besides, we are not little girls.”

       “Excuse me, ladies. I don’t mean that. I mean... I mean to ask if you have lost your little sisters. They could be playing at the sand box.”

       “We know where it is.” But how does he know we have two little sisters? Could he be...?

       “Do you know on this ship we have the best sandbox for kids?” Asked the man in the white jacket.

“Better than on any other ship in the world?”

       “You bet. Let me take you there. By the way, my name is Jerry. What’s yours?”

       After they told him their names, he said to them, “Follow me.”

       When they got to the sandbox, the man said, “Let’s see who can pick the most color beads from the sand in a minute. No sand. Ready? Go!”

       After they counted the beads in each person’s hand, the man in white jacket asked them, “Now you know how to get back to your cabin?”

       “Yes. Thank you, Jerry.”

       Could he be the one in the storage room? Definitely not. They liked him.

       They looked up Jerry the next day. He told them he could not play with them because he had to work. So they just tagged along while he walked through the entire ship checking on all the safety devices. They could not believe their eyes when they came to a room glittering in gold.

First Class Lounge

       “It looks like the Russian palace in the movie!” They cried out.

       “Sh-, keep your voice down,” said Jerry. “You girls are not supposed to be in here.”

       On the following day, they looked up their friend, Jerry, again. He was polishing the brass handles and doorknobs. The girls put on some cotton gloves and joined him. Then they came to the landing of stairs.  There was a big clock. Vera took a look at it and yelled,  “Vickie, we have to go!”

       “Let me show you the swimming pool,” Jerry said.

       “Not now. We have an appointment.”

       “That reminded me I had to go meet someone too. Let’s meet here tomorrow.”

       Meet here tomorrow? That expression sounded so familiar.

       “Could Jerry be one of the men in that storage room? ” Vickie asked.

       “We’ll see,” said Vera. “ Now that we know Jerry’s voice.”

“Have you found out about the contact protocol?”

       That was definitely not Jerry’s voice.

       “Yes.”

       That was not his voice either. Even counting Jerry out, there were still so many sailors and stewards. Jerry told them that the ship had a crew of 300. Perhaps she could enlist Jerry into her secret investigation. 

       “Good. We must maintain uninterrupted contact with shore during the whole time from Rendezvous to Drop,” the first voice went on.

       “When?”

       “We don’t know how long the ship will stay at Kobe. I’ll let you know once we leave port.”

       Then the two men parted abruptly without setting a date. Now how was she going to find out when they would meet again?

“Where is Kobe, Daddy?” Vera asked.

       “It’s a port in Japan.”

       “Can we go ashore?”

       “No.”

       “Why not?”

       “China and Japan are at war with each other.”

       “Why?”

       “Just about five months ago the Japanese troops marched over a bridge into a Chinese city. The Chinese tried to stop them. They fought back. Then the war started.”

       “What’s the name of the bridge?”

       “Marco Polo Bridge.”

       “Wasn’t Marco Polo an Italian?”

       “Yes.”

       “An Italian bridge in China?” Vera asked in confusion.

       “You see, foreigners in China like to hear names they are familiar with, not in Chinese.”

       “Why did the Japanese want to go into the city in the first place?”

       “They said they were looking for a soldier missing at a morning role call.”

       “Did they find him?”

       “That was not the point. It was a pretense the Japanese made up to launch an attack on China.”

       “What if China did not try to stop them?”

       “That would give them an excuse to march through the entire China.”

       “Just to look for a missing soldier?”

       “Yes.”

       “What if they found the soldier?”

       “I doubt if there were such a soldier. Well, if they did, they would think of some other reason to march on.”

       “What other reason?”

       “Such as asking China to pay for expense of their operation in looking for the missing soldier.”

       “Isn’t that ridiculous?”

       “You think that is ridiculous? Why do you think the Chinese airplane bombed this ship?”

       “They did?”

       “In Shanghai.”

       “When?”

       “Just three months before we came on board.”

       “How did it happen?”

       “China hired an American general to run its air force against the Japanese. The first order the American general gave was to bomb this ship.”

       “Why?”

       “No one knows.”

       “Is America a friend of China?”

       “They said they are. But they keeps on selling scrap irons to Japan.”

“What’s wrong with that? They are scrap.”

“All those warships and tanks that invaded China were made of the scrap iron supplied by America.”

“Oh, I know. They bombed this ship to make it into another scrap so that they could sell it, I mean her, to Japan?”

“I don’t think so,” her father said in deep thought. “I sure hope not.”

       “What’s the general’s name?” 

       “Chennault.”

       “Did China put him in jail?”

       “No, he was awarded ten thousand American dollars.”

       “Why?”

       “No one knows.”

       “By whom?”

       “Chiang Kai-Shek.”

       “Who is he?”

       “The acting president of China. By the way, he is a friend of Robert Dollar, the owner of this ship.”

“How did he explain this to his friend?”

       “Gen. Chennault is his wife’s pet.”

       “What did the president say?”

       “China has no president.”

       “Daddy, what is protocol?”

The ship finally left Japan. The two men did not say when they were going to meet. But the next meeting must be crucial. The girls did not want to miss that. So they went to hide in their secret corner everyday at that time as soon as the ship disembarked to sea. Then one day, they heard the voices.

       “Did you find out about the rendezvous time?”

       “There is a complication.”

       “What?”

       “The ship is not going through the Strait.”

       “What shall we do?”

       “Dirks will let us know as soon as he finds out about the new course.”

       “When?”

       “Tomorrow.

       “We meet at the same time?”

“Right.”

“What is a strait, Daddy?” Vera asked her father the next day.

       “What are you talking about?”

       “The strait for a ship I suppose.”

       “A strait is a narrow body of water between two land masses such as the                     English Channel between England and France.”

       “What’s the difference between a strait and a channel?”

       “A strait is a longer channel.”

       “Is there one for our ship to go through?”

       “Well, the only one I can think of is Formosa Strait.”

       “Where is Formosa?”

       “It is an island off the China coast named Taiwan.  It had been colonized by the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch. Colonialists liked to call the places they occupied tin their own languages. The Portuguese called it Formosa,  meaning “beautiful island”. Then in the year 1661, a patriotic Chinese pirate named Zheng Cheng-Gong took it back from the Dutch. It’s name has since reversed back to Taiwan. When the Japanese annexed it in 1895, they retained the name. But Westerners continue to all it Formosa. You get it?”

       How could her father expect her to understand all this politics?

       “So is Formosa Strait Chinese or Japanese?” she asked.

       “Chinese,” said the Consul General emphatically. “We call it Taiwan Strait.”

It all made sense now. If this ship was bombed in the Chinese territory before, of course, the captain would not want to risk the tragedy happening again. That is why he was trying to stay away from the Chinese waters.

“The captain has charted a new course for the ship to the waters east of Formosa,” one voice said to the other.

       “Will this take longer for us to reach the Rendezvous?”

       “No. In fact it will be more direct to Rendezvous. But the waters are going to be rougher.”

       “Why?”

       “It’s an open ocean instead of a strait. There will be more chance for us to get into the way of a typhoon. Do you get seasick?”

       “No.”

       “Good. I don’t want you to get seasick. It is crucial that we maintain uninterrupted contact with port authority in Manila at all time. During the time between Rendezvous and Drop, people must think we are still en route to Manila. No one, on land or on board, should suspect of anything abnormal is going on. If you see anyone suspicious, eliminate him.”

       “How long will it take from Rendezvous to Drop-off?”

“Same time as to Manila.”

“Where is Drop-off?”

“San Miguel.”

       “How many hours?”

       “Assuming she keeps at 20 knots, it will take twenty-one hours. But I can’t tell if there will be any delay in the handling of the cargo at Rendezvous. Let me take care of it. You just keep the ship-to-shore communication going so that they do not suspect we are not en-route to Manila. Have you been listening on their communication?”

       “Yes.”

       “You sure you can handle the protocol?”

       “Not just the protocol, I can imitate the radio operator’s wrist rhythm exactly.”

       “Good!”

“Are we going to Manila, Daddy?” Vera asked her father to make sure she had heard correctly.

       “Yes.”

       “What is Rendezvous?”

       “It’s a French word for meeting. As for place, it could be anywhere agreed upon by the people who are going to meet.”

       “Are we going to stop anywhere in between?”

       “No.”

       “Why are we going to Manila?”

       “That’s Mama’s home, where Grandma lives.”

       “Where is San Miguel?”

       “Where did you hear that?” The man was surprised to hear it from his 7-year-old daughter.

       “I heard a steward mentioning it.”

       “That’s the trade name of a beer.”

“Made in Manila?”

“Yes. It is owned by Gen. McArthur.”

“Who’s Gen. McArthur?”

“The American general in charge of the Philippines.”

“Is Philippines Philippine or American?”

“Well, it used to belong to the Spanish,” Daddy cleared his throat and said. “Then...”
      Oh no! Not another lecture! Thought the little girl. Now everything seems to fall into its place... Japanese marching over Marco Polo Bridge... An American ship being bombed by Chinese planes... Chinese planes being ordered by an American general... A Philippine brewery owned by an American general... But where is Rendezvous? What is the cargo? Why will there be a delay to handle the cargo? Why can’t they leave it in the ship’s safe? Isn’t a safe the safest place to keep silver and gold? Unless the cargo is something else more valuable than gold? Who is the man who walks with a limp? Who is the man in white? Are they pirates? Are our lives in danger?

“... Spain had a war with America…” her father continued. But Vera was not paying any attention to Daddy’s lecture-styled answer any more. She was wondering whether she should tell her father what she had heard and what had been going through her mind during these past days. Then the deck under her feet started to swing. She felt that everything in her stomach was going to empty out. The ship must be on the open ocean as one of the men said. She tried to hold it down. But she had be at the stockroom where the two men were to meet. That was more important, about the Rendezvous. She could not miss it. Vickie and Ah-ho were either sound asleep or knocked out by seasickness. She tried to fight against her own nausea and got up. She wobbled to the stockroom.

“Listen,” the familiar voice of the sailor now sounded like that of a commander. “There will be a farewell party for the First Class passenger tonight. The captain and the officers will all be there. By midnight, they will probably be all drunk or returned to their cabins. Let us give them two more hours. Then we will start at 02:00. Dirks will take over the bridge. I will take care of the cargo. I’ll leave communication to you and Roberts. Now let’s synchronize our watches.”

       Wow! Isn’t that high sea piracy? I must tell Daddy.

       She ran out of the stockroom, unseen by the two men. But instead of going to Daddy and Mama’s cabin, she went straight to the bathroom in her cabin and threw up. What came out of her mouth was some green smelling stuff. Was that her intestines? Was she going to die? She felt dizzy and fell into her bunk. She felt like the whole earth was turning upside down and emptying everything out. Is there still a  piece of dry land that is not submerged by this raging waters? What about those men in the stockroom? Are they still trying to get the ship to San Miguel? She should get up...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

       “What’s that, Ah-ma!” Vera sat up in her bunk and asked while the ship rolled to one side.

       “Go back to sleep. It’s still dark outside.”

       But the ship did not right herself as she had been doing all this time! The roll just froze like the waterfall in winter back in Canada, like the film getting stuck on a frame in a movie theater. Was she dreaming? She was not feeling seasick any more.

She looked out the window. It was pitch dark as Ah-ma said. Suddenly the sea lit up. A moment later, a streak of light flew across the sky. Then darkness returned. A few minutes later, another streak of light cut across the sky. This went on for quite a while. The ship remained tilted and frozen in place.

Then there came a loud voice,

“Attention, all passengers and crew. Get out of your cabin and workstations. You will be guided to your assigned area on deck.”

“Go get Ambassador Chow to the bridge,” Capt. Yardley said to his Chief Executive Officer.

       As soon as the Chinese Consul General was escorted to the bridge, the captain said, “Your Excellency, I beg your pardon for the inconvenience to drag you up here. As you could see, we have a situation.”

“Where are we, Sir?” the diplomat asked.

“We are aground on Hoishoto.”

SS President Hoover at Hoishoto, December 11, 1937

“Where is that?”

“It’s an island off the eastern coast of Formosa.”

“How long are we going to be here?”

“For quite a while I’m afraid. Exactly how long, that’s anybody’s guess. But I have a more urgent problem on hand.”

“Is she going to sink?”

“That’s not the problem. She’s on solid reef.” Pointing out of the big windows the captain said, “You see those ships out there?”

USS Barker and USS Alden at Hoishoto, December 12, 1937 

“They look like some kind of naval ships.”

“You are exactly right. Look, there are four of them, two Japanese and two American.”

“What are they doing here?” the Chinese Consul General asked.

“This morning the Japanese bombed an American warship, USS Panay, sinking the ship and killing three sailors and wounded 48.”

“Here?”

“No, in the Yangtze River near Shanghai.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

“It took place less than twelve hours after we got on this island.”

“Really?”

“Why do you think those two Japanese warships showed up instantly? Look, the covers on all their big guns are taken off.”

“What does that mean?”

“Whatever they have in mind, I have the lives of 503 passengers and 330 crew to think about. Many of the passengers are very important people in the financial sector of our country.”

“I realized that,” the Chinese Consul General nodded thoughtfully. “I remember talking to some bankers the other night.”

“Hoishoto being a prison island. The English translation of Hoishoto is Inferno Island.”

“So?”

“It is for holding prisoners. Now you see why the Japanese wasted no time to dispatch their warships?”

“But we are just a passenger ship.”

“That’s exactly the point. Why would an American passenger ship sail so close to a politically sensitive island while there is a wide safe water out in the Pacific?”

“I see your point,” said the diplomat.

“There must be jailers on the island. We tried to communicate with them as soon as we got aground. But none of their responses made any sense. I need your help, Your Excellency.”

“How can I help?”

“I must get these people on board off to shore before something more drastic takes place.”

“What do you want me to do, Sir?”

“I understand you speak Japanese.”

“Yes.”

“Can you go ashore with me?”

“At your service, Sir.”

“That will be greatly appreciated by my government and Mr. Dollar, Your Excellency.”

“Can we go inside, Mama?” Vera pleaded. “I’m cold.”

       “Can’t you see what’s going on inside?” her mother pointed to some rowdy sailors. “Listen to that yelling. Do you see that man with a pistol in his hand?”

       “I think he’s the purser!”

       “Assistant purser,” her mother corrected her.

Come to think of it, could he be one of the men who came to the storage room?

“Is he a bad guy?”

       “No, he is trying to handle the situation.”

       “What situation?”

       “How would I know?”

       “Are they pirates?”

       “They are part of the crew. Look, they are all in uniform.”

       “Why are they fighting each other?”

       “I was told that a lot of the sailors did not belong to this ship. They were hired at the last minute just for this trip because some of the original crew were on strike.”

       “You mean they were Shanghaied.”

       “You are very imaginative, Vera. They were not Shanghaied. They are temporary hired hands. Who knows who they really are?”

       Then her mother went to help Ah-ho to take care of her two little sisters.

“Big Sis, I just saw that guy.”

“How do you know it was he?”

“He walked with a limp.”

       “Where?”

       “He just walked into the First Class Lounge.”

“By himself?”

“With some men. Shall we tell Daddy?”

       “Tell Daddy what?”

       “What we heard in the storage room.”

       “No!”

       “Why not?”

       “It doesn’t matter any more. Besides, we’ll get scolded.”

       “For what?”

       “Making up stories.”

       “But we did not make it up.”

       “No one will believe us, Vickie!”

       “What if these pirates really take control of the ship? What about Drop?”

       “The ship can’t go anywhere. Can’t you see?”

       “Why?”

       “Didn’t you see Daddy go ashore with Capt. Yardley? She’s stuck on the reef.”

“What is Daddy doing?”

“To help the Captain in handling the situation.”

“What situation?”

“How would I know?”

“How could Daddy help?”

“Use diplomacy.”

       “When Daddy gets the ship off the reef, I mean helps the captain in handling the situation, the pirates can still take her to Rendezvous, can’t they?”

       “You mean San Miguel.”

       “Is Rendezvous in San Miguel?”

       “Listen carefully, Vickie. We shall never mention this to anyone.”

       “What if someone finds out that we knew what the pirates were plotting and did not say anything?”

       “If we don’t tell anyone, no one will ever find out. It would appear as if nothing has ever happened. Swear you won’t tell anyone.”

       “I swear.” 

       “Cross your heart.”

       Vickie made the sign of the cross.

On River Danube Aboard MS River Harmony, November 1, 2018

As the River Harmony sailed smoothly down the Danube, the colorful fall continued to unfold itself against a setting sun. 

“Where did your father shipwrecked, Susie?” Vera came out of her reminiscence and asked the lady sitting across the table. She noticed that the lady had already finished her desert and was drinking her coffee.

       “Somewhere on the China coast.”

       “Do you know the name of the place?”

       “My father told me it was a small island no one had ever heard of.”

       “Hoishoto?”

       “I wouldn’t know.”

“Do you know the name of the ship?”

       “Dad must have told me. But I don’t remember.”

       “Does President Hoover sound familiar?”

       “That’s it!” Susie’s raised hand came down so hard on her husband’s arm that it knocked his coffee all over the table. “Didn’t I tell you it was President somebody, Honey? President Hoover. That’s right. I can’t believe it! Hey, Vera, how did you know that?”

       “I figured, eighty-one years ago, it had to be the President Hoover. That was the ship I was shipwrecked on.”

“You got to be kidding!”

“What else did your dad tell you besides the name of the ship?” asked Vera.

       “He must have told that story an umpteen times. But I never listened to it. Look, I had never been interested in ships until I started to cruise after my retirement.”

“Are you interested to know what happened?” Vera asked.

“Of course! But...”

       “Come to my cabin.”

       Vera brought out her computer and clicked on the website www.takaoclub.com/hoover/hoover.htm. There popped up an article entitled “The Wreck of the SS President Hoover”

       “Oh, my God! Look at that ship. That’s my dad’s ship? So small!” she felt as though she was on board. She could not wait to read what the article said.

“It was a mail ship,” said Vera. “They did not have cruise ship in those days. Skip it. It’s all about the ship. You can read it later. Click on Part II.”

Susie did. Just a second later she jumped up yelling in excitement,

“That’s my dad!” 

       “Which one?”

       “Not in the picture. The one who was telling the story. Listen to this: On board the USS President Hoover were two young Assistant Pursers, Eugene Lukes and Archer Moze... Look, Lukes is my maiden name. I can’t believe it! I can actually hear my dad’s voice telling the story!”

       “Haven’t you heard some of it before?”

       “No.”

       “Then go on.”

“Gene Lukes begins the story: It was wintertime and a strong monsoon was blowing. The Captain was getting these messages, ‘You must be in Manila, absolutely urgent that you arrive not later than 6 a.m. on the 12th of December, make all possible speed.’”

Hearing these words in the voice of the man’s daughter, Vera was brought back to the Christmas stockroom on board the ship. Then she heard the voice continue on,   

“We were zooming along southward to the eastward side of the island of Formosa controlled by the Japanese, who had turned out all the navigation lights. So we were sailing on what was called dead reckoning. Well, winds and seas are not always that predictable and about midnight we appeared close to shore and hit a peninsula. Arch and I were in bed, and I felt this bump and then all of a sudden I heard, boom, boom, boom...”

Vera jumped. She not only heard it. She could feel it. The reader took her eyes away from the screen and asked.

“Are you all right, Vera?”

“Yes, yes. Please go on reading.”

       “Later, an unruly group of crew members on board had reportedly broken into the ship’s bar and begun to party. The Chief Purser sent me to the first class smoking room where the slot machines were. He gave me his pistol and told me...”

“I remember seeing a person with a pistol!” Vera interrupted excitedly.

“That must be my father!” said Susie with equal excitement.

“Victoria also saw the person who walked with a limp...” she stopped short of finishing the sentence.

       “What did you say, a person walking with a limp?”

       “Never mind.”

       “Who’s Victoria?”

       “My sister. Please go on.”

       “Where was I?” asked Susie. “Ah, here it is: On the 13th of December the SS President McKinley arrived and the following day departed to Manila carrying 700 passengers and crew of SS President Hoover.”

Susie lifted up her face from the plasma panel. Her eyes were moist. They moved to fix on Vera’s face but saw her father’s face instead.

“Happy birthday, Dad,” Susie whispered. Then she pointed at the picture and asked, “Were you among them, Vera?”

“I guess so.”

Passengers boarding SS President McKinley

“How did you get from there to China?”

       “That’s another story.”

The End 

An empty cafe. Ms. Small approaches the counter. Mr. Big takes her order.

Small: One coffee, please.

Big: Small or large?

Small: Small, please.

Big: Same price.

Small: Small, please.

Big: Won't get your money's worth.

Small: Small…please.

Big: We're out of small cups--we only have large cups.

Small: Just half a cup then.

Big: I can fill it full.

Small: Just half a cup.

Big: We have lids.

Small: Just half a cup…please.

Big: You can drink half now and save the rest for later.

Small: Just half a cup.

       (From a glass coffee decanter, Mr. Big slowly pours coffee into a large cup.)

Small: Okay.

       (Mr. Big slowly pours more.)

Small: Okay, Okay!

       (pours more)

Small: That's enough.

       (pours more)

Big: Are you sure?

Small: Yes, okay.

       (pours more)

Big: You can have more.

Small: I don't want more.

Big: There... it's filled.

       (pause)

Small: It's too full.

Big: It's maximum.

Small: It's toooo much.

Big: Get your money's worth.

Small: I can't finish it all.

Big: Here's a lid, for later.

Small: It won't be fresh.

Big: Then just toss the rest.

Small: I know how much caffeine I can take--that's why I only wanted a small. 

Big: I'll pour some out then.

Small: No! I don't wanna waste—

Big: It's only coffee.

Small: But still--

       (Mr. Big goes to pour out the extra coffee.)

Small: NO NO NO, PLEASE! DON'T!

       (Mr. Big stops.)

Big: Calm down, Miss--it's only coffee!

Small: Then pour the extra into another cup.

Big: That will cost me an extra cup.

Small: So the cup costs more than the coffee?

Big: Yes, it does.

Small: Why did you pour me so much?

Big: For your money's worth.

Small: But I never want to waste...even coffee...someone else can use that coffee...someone else can get a perk from it...that coffee...was not made to be thrown away...

       (Mr. Big gets another large cup.

       He slowly pours half of Ms. Small's coffee into the other large cup.)

Small: But this will cost you--

Big: No, I'll...I'll drink it...

Small: O good.

Big: …later…

Small: It won't be fresh.

Big: I don't mind.

Small: But you'll really drink it?

Big: It's really just pennies if I don't...plus extra for the large cup.

Small: It's not the money, it's the planet...it's other humans--we can't afford to waste what we have--

Big: I'll drink it now.

       (pause)

Small: Let's, then...together--

Big: Cheers.

Small: Cheers.

       (They sip coffee together.)

End of Play

[About the author:

Alice is our home grown Valley girl: Born in Seattle, grew up in the San Fernando Valley, attended and taught at the Saturday Chinese school in the Valley, was cheerleader and student body president at Chatsworth High School in the Valley, graduated with a major in economics from UCLA (just South of the Valley), worked as an English teacher at South China Normal University in Guangzhou, which was an exchange university of CSUN in the Valley. She is the playwright of the award-winning "Last of the Suns" that was premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Ikebana” at East West Players in LA, as well as many plays staged in New York. She has also taught play-writing at Cal Arts, Brown University, and around the world including Hong Kong and Africa. — by Paul Chow]

Just when I had my first bite of the dumpling,

“Grandpa, this is not the way to enjoy dumplings,” the girl, with two short pigtails dangling behind her neck, spoke with a soft Shanxi twang.

How so? I asked.

“We Shanxi folks love rice vinegar, and Shanxi has the best vinegar in the country.” She was radiant with pride. “Our vinegar brings out the taste of food.”

Surely, I dipped my dumpling lightly in the vinegar dish on the table, and had another bite.

“Not so lightly, Grandpa,” the braids swung as she shook her head. “The whole dumpling must first be draped in vinegar. Only then will it taste great.”

Obediently, I then had a third bite.

“Come on, Grandpa!” 

What now? I wondered.

“Not such a small bite,” she seemed exasperated at this point with this hapless old man. The melody of her twang kept dancing, “You must now put the entire dumpling into your mouth, and chomp wholeheartedly. That’s the way to enjoy it.” She blushed as she was getting feverish.

At this point, I found myself helplessly falling in love with this bubbly apricot-eyed country girl. I wanted to adopt her as my granddaughter. 

烏魯木齊旅館裏的早餐桌上，每天都踫到各式各樣，各處來的人，國内的、國外的都有，大都是遊客，這樣年紀的還少見。有天，一位卡車司機與我共進早餐。祖籍河南，出生在新疆。從他父親，到他兒子，三代都是司機。他建議坐車貫穿「塔克拉瑪甘」大沙漠。「塔克拉瑪甘」 是中國第一大沙漠，也是世界第二，僅次於「沙哈拉」。路況好，安全，而且會是一次難忘的經歷。

老太太要去塔城，過去要坐一天的火車，現在有航班了。她由女兒陪同從美國賓州來，還有孫輩跟著。他們不像本地人，是滿洲皇親貴族之後嗎？「哪兒的話，我們是陝西人，姓安，家裏當兵的。」原來她家祖上是左宗棠的部下，入疆平囘亂後就沒離開。

說著，說著，突然女兒冒出一句，「你是臺大校友嗎？」顯然聼出我的臺灣國語，「傅斯年是我外爺爺。」

我上大學時，身為五四健將的傅校長早已過世，傅校長與先父在學界有來往，傅家的樂成和樂中分別與我姐和我相識，樂中是我中學和大學的學長，又是研究所同學。

「他們是我舅舅，樂中舅已去世。」

突然間，彼此的距離拉近很多。由於國共相爭，傅家分成了兩半。大陸的一半被下放到新疆，吃了不少苦。我家遭遇也差不多。這位校長的女兒後來嫁進安家。因爲美國的親人，十幾年前移民到賓州。

「塔城是好地方，值得您走一趟。」老太太和我聊開了。還要去伊寧，她在那兒成長，結婚，就業。 「高原，水草豐滿，風景好極了。」此行目的之一是要帶年輕人看看新疆老家，了解家族和民族歷史。「趁我還能動，」說罷，哎的長嘆一聲。

       In 1972, Nixon visited Beijing and began the dialogue between the U.S. and China. In 1979, the diplomatic relation between the U.S. and China was formalized. Shortly afterwards, China opened its doors for cultural and educational exchanges. It dispatched a number of delegations of higher education to the United States. One such visiting group of dignitaries was made up of faculties from China’s two top technology institutions, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). Tung-Po happened to notice that one of his high school classmates was among the  delegates. So he invited him to visit our university, Cal State Northridge (CSUN). The invitation was accepted on the condition that the entire delegation be included. 

       “The University will extend the official invitation and facilitate their visit,” CSUN President Cleary said to us, “as long as you will provide for their lodging, meals, transportation and activity schedules.”

       We mobilized the entire Chinese community in the Valley, Yow-Ming and Grace Lee, Ching and Pansy Liang, Winston and Jean Lau, Tung-Shan and Yolanda Chen, Larry and Lan-Ping Lee, Peter and May-Fah Chew, Kwang-Nan and Marguerite Chow, Tom and Judy Woo. Did we leave anyone out?

       Each host family was given the following instruction: “Besides housing them and feeding them, your responsibility is to take them to the flagpole in front of the university at eight in the morning and pick them up at five in the afternoon, every single day for the entire week. We will take care of the rest.”

       Tung-Po took up the job of scheduling their activities, including meeting our faculty and administrators, visiting classes and research labs and visiting other institutions such as Cal-Tech, UCLA and Cal State Dominguez Hills. I-Shou was in charge of transportation. Paul was assigned to accompany them on all their visits as a cushion to their cultural shocks.

       The morning after their arrival, Zhou Yiping, Party Secretary of BIT, told us that he did not sleep a wink all night. “There was a whole stack of 中央日報, in my room at the Liang’s…Those newspapers were so interesting that I stayed up all night reading.”

“For the six remaining nights at the Liang’s, what would you like to read?” we asked. 

“金庸”.

At a meeting with CSUN faculty, President Liu Zhongpu was asked about the student-faculty ratio at HIT. When he gave the answer “Four”, the Americans broke out with Oohs and Aahs. The bewildered president turned to us and asked, “Too high or too low?”

       The visitors could not comprehend how we could accommodate five times as many students on a campus roughly the same size as theirs. When we told them we scheduled our classes from 8am to 8pm, they asked, “Don’t you guys eat and take naps at noon?”

       A few families complained to us that their houseguests tossed used toilet paper into the wastebaskets instead of into the toilets. “It stinks up the house!” 

       “Hey, they are being considerate,” we told them. “You see, toilets in China are mostly uncovered trenches that one squats over. Flush toilets are few and mostly in colonial style houses or fancy hotels. Besides toilet paper there is very coarse and can easily clog up sewer pipes. So they all know not to throw paper into flush toilets.” 

       Forty years later, Paul and Vera went to China. Flush toilets were common place，and many had gone paperless, replaced by water jets and air blowers. Paper money had also disappeared in marketplace, restaurants and subway, replaced by cell phone scans. Our exchange universities, BIT and HIT, are graduating ten times more scientists and engineers than CSUN does. How did China advance so fast? Take a look at their trains: It takes just a couple of hours to travel the distance that used to take half a day. We felt like 刘姥姥进了大观园. China has indeed come a long way!

“誰屁臭？”          “哎，桶破了。”   

“P. Chou?”          “Tung-Po!”

Submission date:  March 1, 2023

This is Tung-Po Lin’s last submission to 故事你我他.

He went to bed on the night of March 4, 2023 and never woke up.

編者註 Notes of the Editor:

1.   中央日報：the official Nationalist Party Daily News

2.   金庸：Hong Kong based author of martial arts novels

3.   刘姥姥进了大观园：Granny Liu coming to the great mansion, as in the classic, 《Dream of the Red Chamber》

今年的西洋情人節（Valentine’s Day）剛好落在我們這一群老青年每星期登山的日子。我們才80歲年輕熱情的領隊，決定帶著這些已過「從心所欲」之年的爺爺、奶奶們，把這段浪漫的時光，消磨在雷根牧場 (Reagan Ranch) 裡。雷根總統和南西是二婚，他倆在牧場上的生活據說挺浪漫的。

雷根總統曾經擁有過三個牧場，這是第一個， 不同於在聖塔巴巴拉的雷根牧場中心(Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara)， 或是在格里塔的天空牧場 （Rancho del Cielo in Goleta），也非西米谷的雷根圖書及博物館 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley)。

走進了牧場，就面對著一片大草原。過去數月間幾場大雨的滋潤以後，春草展露了清新動人的一面。只是這過度的熱情，幾乎掩蓋了原有山徑，讓我們幾度迷失在茵茵綠草的懷抱裡。草原邊密集的大樹後，遮遮掩掩的該是原有的穀倉和馬厩吧？樹前的小屋和圍欄，似乎還帶著一些西部牛仔的味道。

走在蜿蜒曲折的小徑上。兩旁的綠草中，不時有些早開的花朵偷偷的冒出頭來。稀稀疏疏，羞羞答答的。該是春天的腳步才剛到來的緣故吧。山遠草近，風微雲聚，隨著山徑起伏，終於踏上了山頂。俯瞰腳下是一汪湖水。兩岸屋脊錯落，舟楫時見，才想到什麼什麼《桃花源記》之類的，耳邊就響起了一聲，“那裡買菜多不方便啊！“ 說得也是，又不種菜，也不養豬，說什麼過田園生活呢！

忽聽見走在前面的老兄喊道，“有花！有花！”果然，加州罌粟出現了。青草綠中的一抹橘紅。不到一片，不止一朵，剛好數叢！

徘徊流連了一會，那山、那水，那花、那草，那風、那雲，那你、那我，還有那一座高壓電塔。那就這樣，走向了歸程。沒有走來時一路向上，視野開闊的山路，卻選擇了殊途同歸，路遠而緩的幽徑。向著那一對在草坡上野餐的年輕情侶揮了揮手，走出了情人節。

情人節的一天，寫得出過程卻表達不出感覺。不如透過影像音樂，讓大家看看，聽聽，沿途的風景以及花兒們都說了些什麼。

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8xLe9rn8cNdMDH2x9  

備註：

1.位於Agoura的雷根牧場在Malibu Creek州立公園的最西端，可以從Cornell Road和Mulholland Highway交界處以南的28754 Lake Vista Drive (Agoura Hills, CA 91301) 旁的停車場進入， 這裏不收費。

2.雷根於 1951 年買下這個佔地 300 多英畝的牧場， 1966 年當選加州州長後，將牧場賣給了 20 世紀福斯公司作為外景場地。後來又被賣給了州政府並成為Malibu Creek州立公園的一部分。

It is a place of fascinating contrast. Along the highway is a lush green belt of farms. Beyond the farms are mesas that are devoid of any vegetation and are monotonously gray--just like the lunar surface. In the late afternoon sun, the gullies and crevasses of the mesas produce most mesmerizing shadows and shades. As I passed through, I slowed my car down in order to absorb all these.

A white roadside fruit and vegetable stand somehow attracted my attention. I pulled over and went in. There he was, a hillbilly, who had this “Forest Gump” look. The way he dressed, he actually looked sillier than Forest Gump. His subsequent conversation showed, however, that he was anything but - nothing like the slow wit character in the movie.

Although not a Mormon, he had about 10 acres of land in this Mormon country. He grew many kinds of peppers, melons and vegetables, and sold them in towns nearby. With few machines he did most of the farming by hand. He showed his hands to me which were full of calluses.

Born in a farming family in South Dakota, he always wanted to be a farmer. The depression there drove him out. He spent 20 years working in Salt Lake as a handyman and got married. With money saved, he bought this land in Southern Utah and became a farmer.

Both of his grown sons were away because none of them wanted to be a farmer. Life was not easy. This was a bad year because of too many bugs due to a mild winter. Yet he was not complaining because he was doing what he always wanted to do and felt very content.

I bought a loaf of bread which he baked that afternoon. He also made a smoothie for me using soy milk and melon he grew. Both were delicious.

Video Clip of “Luna Mesa”

       這幾年來，老朋友見面都挑選離公路較近便，而且肯讓客人飯後繼續聊天喝茶的餐館，約在中午聚餐，以避免路擠天黑時開車。倒是有位跟我們同屆的老友，老早就買了特斯拉電動車，由於用上了車上附帶的輔助駕駛功能（auto piloting)，即使天黑了在公路上開長途，仍舊覺得安全順暢，並不辛苦。多次搭他便車時，見他開啓輔助駕駛功能，輕鬆省力的開著車，車子加速運轉操控一流，車上的視聽娛樂資源豐富，音響效果也非常優良，讓我暗下決心，等特斯拉發售全自動駕駛（無司機）的車型時我就要買上一輛。

       一年一年如飛一般過去，不知不覺已經是2023年元月15日。那天照常在YouTube上隨意瀏覽觀望之際，偶然看到特斯拉各型電動車突然大幅度降價，其中最受年輕人歡迎的高科技表率 Model Y，  竟然一口氣降了$13000（原價的20%）！更妙的是這次降價，正好把它車價降到 $52990。聯邦政府三個月前才公布的電動車國稅優惠 $7500，限定SUV車價得低於 $80000 ，轎車得低於 $55000， 才合格受惠。其實 Model Y 是 特斯拉用旅遊車規格製造的SUV，有四輪驅動及雙馬達，車重也超過六千磅，但國稅局硬把它歸類於轎車。減價後的 Model Y （with 5 seats）車價已低於$55000，如果能在今年三月底之前購買取車的話， 就可受惠於 $7500 的國稅優惠。再加上開電動車既能減少碳釋放有益環保，還能節省不少越來越貴的汽油費，現在真是買特斯拉Model Y 的好時機。

       正好我們家的Chrysler 廂型車服務了我們21年之後，去年終於引擎出了大問題，得花大錢才能修復，已經考慮報廢換車。於是當機立斷，決定買一輛2023年的Model Y。特斯拉行銷方式採取網上直營，上網選定車型顏色付了$250 訂金就到附近的展廳去看車子。我最關心的三點是：1. 車子夠不夠大 ？老伴身材高大不喜歡開小車。 2. 進出方不方便？我人老體僵，很怕彎腰抬腿費勁跨越有坎的車門。 3. 存放行李物件箱空間夠不夠大？ 我們常跑長途，還喜歡用車裝運大物件。看車後，三方面都超滿意，也就簽了合同，安心回家靜待車子送到家門。

       在Youtube上看了無數視頻並親自驗車後，我覺得特斯拉Model Y更像是個放在四個車輪上面的 iPhone14+，而不是傳統意義上的汽車。 使用、駕駛、控制和維護它的方式與我們對待傳統汽車的方式完全是兩碼子事。

       我興奮地打電話給住在北加州的女兒，告訴她我剛剛在特斯拉下的訂單。 不出所料，她震驚之餘，緊張的告訴我，我的購買是多麼魯莽和不理性。 她完全無法想像在她眼中那位非常不懂高科技，且至今仍無法有效地使用 MacPro筆記本電腦，或 iPhone 6 的 80 歲老媽，怎麼敢妄想駕駛一輛像 Model Y 這樣充滿高科技功能的電動汽車。她自己也一度曾對此型車很感興趣，還特地約好親自去試開了一次，結果卻知難而退。我從她的急切話聲中可以聽出，她真的很擔心我給自己買了一輛我不會開也不該開的車。 後來經過多番勸阻無效，知道我已經鐵了心腸不會聽勸撤銷訂單，她只好再三要求，當特斯拉員工來交車時，我務必要求他/她進行仔細徹底的示範。為了安撫她， 我答應她，我絕對會聽話照辦。

       事實上我反正是退休在家的人，每天最不短缺的就是時間。Model Y不愧是當前世界上銷售量最大最的電動車，幾乎每天都有兩三個新的車主發出介紹有關Model Y各方各面的視頻。不論中英文，我都逐一觀看，覺得好的還保留下來反覆重看，而且一邊看一邊拼命學習兼記憶，把當年高三時準備聯考的認真勁頭全都給用上了。自忖，iPhone 跟 MacPro 用得不夠純熟沒什麼大不了，有問題時問問老伴或女兒都能解決，了不起小小的被他們嘲笑一下。 而一旦坐上Model Y的駕駛座，手上掌握的可是架馬力十足生命攸關的大機器，操作時可萬萬不能出紕漏。

       經過這十幾天認真努力的學習，對Model Y的車體構造，外觀內飾，特斯拉 app 的性能特點，操控維護的方法訣竅, 可說是都已經了如指掌，有信心車子送到我家時就能順順溜溜的開車上路。我會把這方面的訊息都告訴女兒，讓她放心。 也會把幾個好的視頻傳送給她，讓她也觀看學習，這樣等我們下次到北加州在她家小住時， 她也能學會開我的車。

       還要告訴女兒，雖然我這個決定做得比較突然，但絕不如她說的 ‘魯莽’。 前年我們家在屋頂裝配太陽能版時，我已經預料遲早會買電動車，到時就可在家里快速充電，因此要他們在車房裡加裝了充電樁，當時並不需另付裝置費。否則現在如加裝充電樁，價格不菲。現在買電動車的人迅速增加，許多專業的電工乘機抬高價格，聽說安裝費有時甚至高達兩千元。

       這輩子對於名牌豪車從未關心過或追逐過，說了這麼多，絕不是要炫耀我這個80歲的老太太居然不要命的追逐時尚，去買了輛當今年輕人趨之若鶩的高科技炫車。只是這回看到Model Y本身的種種優點， 例如，配有能高度消減駕車疲勞的輔助自動駕駛功能，已經證明有高度安全性的堅固車身，非燃油對環保有益，等等，趁著它此刻大幅降價，配上今年的國稅優惠，對於喜歡開車出遊的中老年人來說，現在的確是買一輛Model Y最好的時機。寫上這長長的一大篇，也就是野人獻曝而已。  

       It was the first Christmas I spent with my wife, Vera, back in 1956. We were fresh off the boat then and attending San Francisco City College.  Vera had a job as a housemaid for an invalid old woman, while I worked as a houseboy/chauffeur for the owner of Safeway stores at the time,  Mr. Magowan. His mansion was situated at the Nob Hill Neighborhood.

       Christmas to Americans was like the traditional New Year to us Chinese. Mrs. Magowan mobilized the entire household staff to decorate the mansion, including a tall pine tree draped with fancy ornaments and strung with colorful lights. Then their whole family traveled back to New York for the holidays. The household staff were sent back home for the duration. That left me alone to look after the gorgeous empty mansion and a most beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

       For students like us, Christmas was a time to earn some extra money. Both Vera and I found jobs in the department stores located at the bustling Union Square. I was a stock boy at Macy’s. Vera was busy with gift-wrapping work at H. Liebes Department Store. Along the streets at the Square, colorful lights were festooned across the rooflines, around the windows and up and down the lampposts, just like how it might have been during the Lantern Festival in China. Christmas songs and music filled every corner inside the buildings and outdoors in all the open space. 

We started working on our jobs as soon as school went on recess until late on Christmas Eve. After the crowd of last-minute shoppers thinned off, we took off in the Magowan’s Buick and drove to Lake Tahoe for midnight mass in a small chapel at Squaw Valley. After the worshippers all left, we climbed into our sleeping bags in the back of the car. 

       We woke up to a serene scene like in a Christmas card. The chapel was covered with a thick layer of snow, from the top of its spire to the bottom of the building and all over the ground. The pristine field was spotless without a single footprint of either squirrel or deer.

       We did not stay to enjoy the rest of Squaw Valley. We had to rush back to the city to work for the after-Christmas sale. The highway going downhill was wide open and completely empty. Ours was the only car on it. Vera had her first experience of putting her hands on a steering wheel. Two days later she went to take the test for her driver's license. On the same day, she got a ticket for driving too slow on the Bayshore Highway.  

       What an unforgettable Christmas!