'Auld Lang Syne' - Happy New Year

'Auld Lang Syne' (YouTube video)

The Anglicized version of 'auld lang syne' means old long-since,
old long-ago, old long past, or times gone by.

The best-known use of the phrase is Robert Burns' poem Auld lang
syne, the words of which are sung in English-speaking countries
around the world each New Year's Eve, to a tune that Burns said he
transcribed from an old man's singing of it. (The Phrase Finder)

The theme of 'auld lang syne' is the past. It is a nostalgic, bittersweet,
loving song, which calls upon us not to forget the old times past, but
to cherish them as wonderful and sweet memories.


Beautiful Version Of Auld Lang Syne (YouTube video)

Happy New Year!


Robert Burns' poem "Auld Lang Syne" (1788):

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wandered mony a weary fit
Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.


Yeh Tze

Star Wars

Star Wars Theme Song (YouTube video)


No matter what holiday we celebrate, it’s always nice to have a family
tradition.

The Christmas holiday season is a special time when family come
together to celebrate, create memories, and recall Christmas's past.

For us this year, we are able to have all our children and their families
come home to cerebrate, create new memories and recall Christmas's
past.

Three generations together watching the original Star Wars trilogy:
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, is one
of the new memories for us this year.

In the early 1980s, the Star Wars films were among those we watched
together with our children during the Christmas holiday season.

This Christmas Eve, our son introduced the original Stars Wars trilogy
films to our grandsons, who are 4 and 6 years old respectively.

While they were together watching the movies, the two youngsters
periodically raised questions for their uncle as they were often so
curious and eager to know the outcome of certain story events in
advance. They believed their uncle must have watched the films
hundred times and remembered very well every sequence of events in
all these tall tales.


Yeh Tze

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice (YouTube video)

冬”至”, the “Arrival” of Winter

The shortest day and the longest night of the year, the winter solstice,
or “冬至”, falls on December 22 this year. In the old days, it is the
day when everyone tried to get together with their families, "冬至團圓吃湯圓".

Although it has often been marked as First Day of Winter, it is actually
the middle of winter. In my opinion, 冬至 means "winter (冬) extreme
(至)", instead of "the arrival of winter".

《後漢書》禮儀志：「冬至前後，加子安身靜體，百官絕事，不聽政，擇吉辰而後省事。」

The ancient Chinese poets had also noticed the seasonal significance
of this particular 時節:

杜甫, in his poems “至後", said: “冬至至後日初長”, and in "小至",
"冬至陽生春又來".

In the poems about “冬至夜”, 白居易 wrote: “一年冬至夜偏長”, and
“何堪最長夜 俱作獨眠人”。


Yeh Tze

故鄉

念故鄉 (YouTube video)

Hometown is the city or town where one grew up. It can also be one’s
birthplace.

It is a place where one cherished good memories and spent part or
most of one’s life time.

Many people also have so called "第二故鄉", but they often don’t feel
the same affinity as they do for their original hometown.

Taipei is my hometown as well as my birthplace. For many of my
classmates from high school, however, it is their "第二故鄉". As most
of them grew up there, if not born there, Taipei might have been
their primary hometown as well.

In her book, "大江大海一九四九", the author (龍應台) stated:

“所有的顛沛流離，最後都由大江走向大海；所有的生離死別，都發生在
某一個車站、碼頭。上了船，就是一生。從1949年開始，帶著不同傷痛
的一群人，在這個小島上共同生活了六十年。.............. 六十年來，我們
從來沒有機會停下腳步，問問對方，你痛在什麼地方？........................ ."

I recall, while I was stationed in 馬祖 island during my military service
in 1969, I had the opportunity to work with a "老士官" who happened to
be assigned to my Medical Office. One day, I asked him where his
hometown was. He replied, and bursting into tears, he further described
his unforgettable ordeal. He told me that one day he was happily playing
as usual in the front yard of his home, two armed soldiers came to the
village and took him away by forth (捆挷) in front of his grandparents
while his parents were working in the field. He was only 12 years old
then. He hoped one day he could go back to his 故鄉 and see his parents
again.

That was more than 40 years ago. I hope he had the chance to fulfill his
"一生的心願".


Yeh Tze

曉霧晨霜

霧の朝 (YouTube video)

The early morning scene in our area during this time of year is often
misty and murky, especially after a rain overnight, and when 天色將
曉, I see "曉霧妝成野外".

Occasionally, when the ground surface temperature falls below
freezing point during the night, I wake up to a crispy and frosty
morning the next day, and 到來朝, 天色已曉, I notice "晨霜染就荒郊".

Once a week at dawn, we drive to our neighboring town to pick up our
granddaughter and bring her to our place to stay with us for a couple
of days. Cruising through the lovely countryside on the rolling hills
is always a pleasant experience.

We enjoy the picturesque scenes of "曉霧妝成野外" and "晨霜染就荒郊" .


Yeh Tze

萬事到秋來，都搖落。

YouTube video (Uploaded by Karishen890)

The recent bitter, cold and gusty winds had shaken autumn down.

The falling leaves drifted down and covered the ground with their

multi-colored splendor, red, orange, gold, brown,……. . They are

nature's blankets with delicate texture, crisp and crackling.

It is that time of year again. The autumn days are almost over.

覺人間，萬事到秋來，都搖落。 (宋 辛棄疾)

Yeh Tze

“Beyblade”, What is that?

“Beyblade”, What is that?

As the Holiday Season draws near, people start to find the perfect

gifts for their friends, family and loved ones.

The other day, I called my daughter on the phone and asked her

what would be the best gifts we as the grandparents should buy for

our grandsons. She said: “Beyblade.” I asked again: “What is that?”,

thinking that I did not hear it well.

When our children were young at our grandchildren’s age, we had

no problem buying any gift for them as we knew well what they

wanted, or what the popular items were then.

For the boy, during the “Star Wars Era”, we bought our son's

favorite figures, such as “Luke Skywalker”, Han Solo”, “R2D2”,

……........…….......... .

Obviously, we have not kept up to date of the young children’s toys

for more than a quarter century.

Yeh Tze

"此秋聲也"

YouTube video - Autumn Wind (Giovanni Marradi)

I woke up this morning to a gusty autumn wind.

The north wind seemed to be trying to shake autumn down. The

falling leaves drifted by the window. The rushing wind swept the

heaps of orange and brown fallen leaves on the ground in such a

hurry that it sounded “淒淒切切, 呼號憤發”.

In his “秋聲賦, 歐陽修 in the 宋 Dynasty wrote：

歐陽子方夜讀書，聞有聲自西南來者，悚然而聽之，曰：「異哉！」

初淅瀝以蕭颯，忽奔騰而砰湃；如波濤夜驚，風雨驟至。其觸於物也，

鏦鏦錚錚，金鐵皆鳴；又如赴敵之兵，銜枚疾走，不聞號令，但聞人

馬之行聲。 余謂童子：「此何聲也？汝出視之。」童子曰：「星月皎

潔，明河在天，四無人聲，聲在樹間。」

余曰:「噫嘻，悲哉！此秋聲也，胡為而來哉？蓋夫秋之為狀也，其色

慘淡，煙霏雲斂；其容清明，天高日晶；其氣慄冽，砭人肌骨；其意

蕭條，山川寂寥。故其為聲也，淒淒切切，呼號憤發。................ 。」

The autumn air is crisp and the wind can be "淅瀝" and "奔騰". The

acoustics of autumn are often “淒淒切切” and “呼號憤發”.

Yeh Tze