切勿滑倒

Amazing Chinese Treasure

一句

有一句說一百句的是文學家，這叫文采；

有一句說十句的是教授，這叫學問；

有一句說一句的是律師，這叫謹慎；

說一句留一句的是外交家，這叫嚴謹；

有十句說一句的是政治家，這叫心計；

有一百句只說一句是出家人，這叫玄機。

廁所對聯

Is my time up?

A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience.

Seeing God she asked "Is my time up?"

God said, "No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live."

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her teeth!

Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it. After her last operation, she was released from the hospital.

While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, "I thought you said I had another 43 years. Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?"

God replied:

"I didn't recognize you!"

Cracked pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled , "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

The Wooden Bowl

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.


The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.


The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.


'We must do something about father,' said the son. 'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'


So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.


When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.


The four-year-old watched it all in silence.


One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.


He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded, 'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up. '


The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.


The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.


That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.


On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.


I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.


I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life.'


I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.


I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.


I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you.


But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.


I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.


I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.


I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.


People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.


I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

Birds "Air Show" in Scotland

In the Scottish town of Gretna Green, from late autumn to early spring you can watch the amazing bird "air show".

During the annual migration to wintering in Scotland, European starlings fly (sturnus vulgaris), driven by the frost from their homes in Russia and Scandinavia. Soaring, flocks of these birds, like great black clouds in the sky, forming bizarre shapes.

The annual migration of starlings recalls that winter is on its way: Each year the birds arrive here from colder places, and remain until spring. Their wintering habitat is located in the southern part of the British Isles, but birds are especially numerous in the small Scottish town of Gretna Green, where he made these pictures.

During the winter, starlings every day suit "air dances": approximately an hour before sunset with a flock of all neighborhoods of the hordes of birds.

During the winter every day at sunset a lot of starlings, "they go to dance" in the sky, executing collective pirouettes.

More than a million birds, flying along and across the great flocks, ignorant people can be easily mistaken for fast looming thundercloud.

Millions migrated from Russia and Scandinavia, to avoid the winter frost, the birds gather in flocks of incredible forms.

Scientists are not sure exactly how and why starlings make these celestial dance. Even complex algorithmic models can not explain acrobatic sketches of starlings, which change their direction for the one hundredth milliseconds to avoid a collision, but at the same time and predation.

Despite this display of power, the number of starlings in the UK in recent years has fallen considerably, possibly due to reduction of nesting sites. But the birds still live in rural pastures of Great Britain, going to sleep after" an evening of ballet."

Collective bird pirouette so impressive that in Gretna Green, attracts tourists to watch the evening "air show".

Many come here to witness the flying huge group of several thousand individuals, while they simultaneously repeated twists, parry and land on the ground, scattering over a large area.

Synchronously moving in the air, the birds create the amazing and sometimes amusing shapes.

English in numeric

Wonderful Nature 大自然奇景

Pamukkale (Turkey土耳其)

Pamukkale在土耳其文就是棉花城堡的意思，只要親身看過這裡的景色，就會知道為什麼會為它取上這個名字，石灰華順著溫泉流出，隨歲月不斷累積而成一片白色大地，而消失在歷史中的Hierapolis古城，則早已和Pamukkale合而為一，任憑遊客瞻仰其遺留下來的建築遺跡。

Mount Erebus, Antarctica 埃里伯斯火山冰塔(南極)

埃里伯斯火山是世界上最大的活火山之一，從火山口噴發出來的熱氣，不只成為火山湖的「最佳熱水器」，從其他岩縫中鑽出來的熱氣，在低溫的環境下，冷卻成為一根根冰塔，形成冰火同源的神奇自然現象。

Flyspring, NV, USA Fly間歇泉(美國內華達州)

如果光看照片，可能會以為照片中色彩鮮豔的岩石八成又是什麼Photoshop搞出來的，其實這可是純天然完全沒有加工過的自然景觀，嗯......其實也不是沒有加工過，當年地主為了開採水源，不小心挖到位於地熱帶的水源，才出現了這個美麗的意外，如今Fly間歇泉仍屬於私人領土，如果想要進來一保眼福，可得先取得許可喔！

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks, NM, USA 帳棚石山群(美國新墨西哥州)

Kasha-Katuwe在印地安話中是白色峭壁的意思，而這些看起來跟帳棚真的有點像的石山群，是六百萬年到七百萬年前火山爆發後所形成，然後任憑風吹雨打刻劃出現在的模樣。

Ischigualasto National Park, Argentina (Ischigualasto国家公园，阿根廷)

當地人稱Ischigualasto是「放月亮地方」，但真正來到Ischigualasto，看到的不是月球隕石，而是經過幾千年來的風化作用之後，形成的一尊尊媲美女王峰的岩石與一顆顆光滑宛如珍珠的卵石，由於月亮谷過去曾經十分富饒，如今雖然成為荒漠，卻留下許多珍貴的動植物化石，供考古學家們探索、挖掘。

Danxia, China 丹霞地貌(中國)

其實中國許多地方都看得見丹霞地貌，也就是紅色的沙岩，被河川侵蝕之後所形成的山群，而上面的照片，便是在中國甘肅張掖的丹霞地貌所拍攝，陡峭的山脈和崎嶇起伏的地貌，讓人不禁讚嘆大自然的鬼斧神工。

Enchanted Well, Brazil (巴西)

位於巴西Chapada Diamantina國家公園的Poço Encantado洞，120呎深的地下湖，湖水清澈得連湖底的石塊、古樹都看得非常清楚，光線在湖面上形成的藍色折射，讓人看了就捨不得把視線移開，為了保護這裡的自然環境，出入都受到有關單位的高度管制。

Stone Forest, China 石林(中国)

中國的石林是地理上喀斯特地形的最好教材，石灰岩經由水的溶蝕，留下灰白色的石柱，低頭對著湖水顧影自憐，若能再加上一葉輕舟划過水面上的波紋，就是一幅最美的山水畫。

Wulingyuan, China 武陵源(中国)

位於湖南的武陵源是另一個喀斯特地形經典，石英砂岩經過長期的風化所形成奇峰異石，真是好有華山論劍的感觉喔！只是有了如此美景，誰輸誰贏又怎麼還會重要呢？

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia (玻利维亚)

Salar de Uyuni是世界上最大的鹽原，在四萬多年前，這裡原本還是Minchin湖的一部份，然而湖水逐漸蒸發，留下兩個主要鹽水湖Poopó Lake和Uru Uru Lake，以及兩個鹽漠Salar de Coipasa和Uyuni，如果將白色的鹽原踩在腳下，在溫度上應該會比白雪更有種親和感，但怎樣都比不過，走在淺淺的鹽水湖所倒影出來的天空，那種漫步在雲端的錯覺吧！

Antique Cars 古董车

3-D Street Art by Kurt Wenner