It has been 6 years since I last camped in a tent. I went with a big group. I didn’t have any camping gear back then. All I had was a $20 sleeping bag I got from Sports Mart right before the trip. Oh…and a fisherman’s hat, which I never wore again.

I shared a two person tent with another girl, Amy. Neither of us owned a tent.
Somebody had an extra. It was tiny. We had to arrange everything including ourselves just right so we could both fit in there with our bags.

I think when it comes to tent sizes, a person need to double the size to be comfortable in it. thats why we got a 4 person tent for the two of us when we shopped for a tent this time.

Regardless, that was one of the top 5 trips I had in my life. It won’t be an overstatement to say it was a life altering experience.

The camping trip liberated me. Being with nature and being in the wilderness made me look beyond my little castle. It was like someone flip over the rock that I was hiding in.

The trip last weekend was very different though. Since we camped near the city, the camp ground was completely full.
There were tents everywhere, kids screaming near and far. Quite a festival!

The real picture of our picnic table was a lot messier….

food is steaming….

and burning….

This kid loves to pose for cameras…he would drop everything and ran over every time someone was ready to take a picture, including climbing onto a truck..

Park rangers coming around to show us their collections of wild lives…

How many people does it take to do dishes?
Apparently 8, if you count the person behind the camera, too.
There are no pictures of the actual dinner because…everyone was busy…EATING!

6am…the next morning…getting ready

10am…READY!

Civilization!!.. the visitor center. We came here to look for snacks because the raccoon ate them all. But there weren’t any for sell. We returned back to the trail in hunger…

Random shot…but I love this picture! I got lucky because God loves me!

2.2 miles later, we got to the M*A*S*H site. This was an old van from the actual TV show.

“Why was my head cut off in this picture.”
“Because it would look artistic.”

Same Jeep from the TV show again…

端午节是最好玩的传统节日。元宵节因为有花灯，可以排第二。
端午节最有趣的就是绑五彩线了。端午的清早，熟睡的时候绑上。（当然万一中途不小心醒来还要继续装睡。）端午之后的第一场雨，扔到水里。
当然端午节还有吃粽子，顶鸡蛋，挂荷包，划龙舟。真的是各取所需全民同乐的节日。

不过，粽子不像元宵月饼那么出名，连韩国人越南人都会吃。所以粽子比较难买到。大部分人只知道糯米不知道粽子。 我带粽子给我同事吃，就被问为什么包成这样子。其中故事好像和屈原有关又不完全符合逻辑。很多传说都是这样以讹传讹的说不清楚。幸好可以交给wikipedia去解释。

前几天到家门口，看到门前树下躺着只黑猫。看起来好像前几天散步的时候逗过的那只。其实也不算逗。只不过我路过邻居的矮花坛，看到她趴在上面，就冲她miao了一声。她也没有回miao。今天她看到我回来，就很从容的从树根底下站起来。真的是非常从容的体态，比人还要从容。我边疑惑的边继续往家门口走，她跟着我后面亦步亦趋，就和我们每天都这样一前一后的回家一样自然。我对猫这种动物，感到阴森。特别是黑猫。有说清晨见到黑猫，会带来坏运气。所以，到门口掏钥匙开门脱鞋的一刻，我突然转身瞪她，猫往后一顿，我一跳进门里，咣当关上纱门，把猫留在纱门外。
我进屋洗了草莓来吃，过了半天，听见窗外有声音，趴窗一看，那只黑猫还蹲纱门底下。看到我，就楚楚可怜的冲我miao～miao～的叫。
洪飞要去喂她。 我说千万不能给吃的。给了就会每天早上叼开场破肚的死老鼠来门口送礼。我以前邻居就是这样。
洪飞说，猫是上帝派来的天使，你要对她好。 我说，就算你想喂，我们也没有吃的。还没做饭呢。除非她吃生菜叶子！
我时不时的从窗后偷看，总会被她发现，她就从纱门那边，扭着头望着我miao～～

就这么在门口miao了快一个小时。等我们做好饭了，出门一看，她已经没在了。
之后每天回来我都看看树根底下，她再也没出现。估计。对我们失望了吧。

在人生里，不断学到各种经验。
这些不管怎么样，总会不小心记得。
又不断强迫自己丢弃。
才可以崭新看待这个世界。
可是总有残留物。慢慢积累，不及时清理，会越长越多，最后被它打倒。

在争论进行太快而入戏太深的时候，只会赶快想下一句，最好强过上一句，然后就忘记当初想要的结果。
在追逐太烈而入戏又深了的时候，只要得到前面的目标，然后下一个目标，然后又忘记当初追逐的原因。
在世事里面不断修炼得人情练达的人，是不是真的了解自己？

人和人是多么相似。
可是又各个不同。
每个人都讨厌被同类化。
希望遇到崭新的人，被崭新双眼看待。
可是，有经验的人们，只看一眼，就可以迅速分门归类，好像脑袋里放了中药店一排排的小匣子一样。
这些被归类的人，同样去视觉模糊的看别人。

经验的可怕之处，在于让我们没有真凭实据，就快速做出判断，还沾沾自喜。
经验很多时候很准确，因为，也许是不爱清理也许是追逐太烈，大部分人最后还是殊途同归，不外是名利权福禄寿。
经验才会如鱼得水。

Day 3 Full bloom~~

It looked nothing like the tulips we saw in stores.
The petals grew in different directions and transform into these wild shapes, thriving with life…
The colors looked like last rays of sunshine burning through the clouds right before sunset.
This glorious flower made everything else in the room look insipid in comparison. Objects around it quickly faded into the background.

Day 4 Taking a line from “the blade runner”, “The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long – and you have burned so very, very brightly…..”

These last couple days had been unusually warm, too warm for tulips. From the way it looked last night, we knew it reached the pinnacle point. We hurried and took pictures even though the lightening from the lamp was completely uncomplimentary.
I put it back outside the next morning.
By the time we got home, the flower had already turned brittle and dry.

Day 5 Gone in the wind….
The flower was completely gone. Only the stem was left. We looked near and around the patio for traces of the petals and found nothing. I felt the rough wind on my face, and gave up on the search.

After thoughts…
We planted two seeds back in December. After three months of staring at the blank surface of nothing but brown dirt, we saw the first sign of green in February. After that, I woke up every morning and found it bigger and taller. This Monday, it burst into a flower . Five days later, we found ourselves starting at an empty stem again.

I watered my much neglected, leafy, non flowering, yet long lasting plant today, and thought about that age old question, “Is it better to burn out or fade away?”

I ran through these pale green leaves with my hands. They may not look as lavishing as tulips, but at least I can put my hands on them. Ha!

Well, see you next year tulips!