清潔水晶燈有感

飯廳中垂掛的一盞水晶燈,多年來缺乏保養,已經沾染許多灰塵,燈上所有的水晶球失去原有的光澤,看似塑膠的偽製品.週一正好是假日(Martin Luther King Jr. Day),於是在太太叮嚀之下,決心將水晶燈好好清潔一番.這個從Costco買來的水晶燈,每顆一寸大的水晶都是用世界有名的Swarovski水晶做成的. 原本以為很快就可以完成的工作,卻因兩百多顆的水晶,在深怕打破之下,戰戰兢兢的一個一個取下,花了將近一個小時.之後,開始清潔的工作,每顆水晶都用在清水中洗淨擰乾之後的Leather Chamois布,將灰塵擦拭. Leather Chamois布是最好的清潔材料,不會損害細緻的表面.在清潔的過程當中,又是非常謹慎小心,深怕將水晶球打破.這個清潔的工作,總共花了兩個多小時.最後又花了一個多小時,將所有的水晶球掛回燈上.當整個過程完成之後,看到原本水晶燈的燦爛光澤,簡直不敢相信眼目所見,同時真是不由自主的讚嘆,早就應該定時清潔,讓水晶燈綻放美麗的光芒.雖然花了相當長的時間來清洗水晶燈,但能看到辛苦勞碌之後所換來的成果,知道這辛勞不是徒然的.此外,也學習到一些屬靈的功課.基督徒的靈命就像水晶燈一樣,日久之後,如不定時清潔,真是如燈失去光澤,我們的屬靈生命也失去了應有的功效.基督徒除了過禱告團契的生活,定時規律的讀經就像清潔的功用,讓我們的屬靈生命可以持續成長.

Skiing in the new year

Lijue said Phoebe and I were sneaking out to ski today. The fact was that she was still sleeping when we left home for Solitude. At Solitude we went to Eagle Express, Moonbeam Express, Apex Express (all Quad high-speed lifts) and Sunrise (triple) lifts exploring many new trails we haven't skied before. It was a sunny day after yesterday's snow. We took 2 big breaks (lunch and afternoon snack) and many small breaks on trails. Phoebe did very well and had fun because she was humming during skiing. She wants to go down a mogul trail near the Moonbeam lift and a gate racing hill. But I told her to practice more then I will take her to ski those places. Here is the video I shot today.

How We Began Year 2009

We were going to Solitude for skiing on New Year's day. About 5 minutes before we got to Solitude, Phoebe threw up in the car. So we had to drop Kevin, Randy and Ryan off at Solitude and drove back home to clean up the mess. Though 3 of us (Lijue, Phoebe and Yiwen) did not ski, it was quite nice to stay home with Phoebe. Kevin, Randy and Ryan had a great time exploring many different trails at Solitude.