Time Brings Changes           楊曉容

Do you know that one of Taiwan’s nicknames is the Kingdom of Fruits? You will be surprised to know that there are so many kinds of fruits in Taiwan, from summer fruits (star fruits, pineapples, dragon eyes, leeches, yellow watermelons, lanwus) to winter fruits (apples, oranges, pears, shiga). The Taiwanese might eat delicious fruits all year around, but guavas, only guavas, have lots of meaning for me.

40 years ago, in Taiwan, I lived in a Japanese style house with my family. In our back yard, there were banana trees, orange trees, grape vines, and a big guava tree. The guava tree was there before we moved into the house. It was fun to venture into the yard; especially, to climb up the guava tree and to sit on its branches. I like to see the world from between the guava leaves and think about my dreams.

When winter comes, many ripened guavas are ready to be picked. My siblings and I were always excited to get them down. We collected used bamboo stems (people hang their laundry on them), split the end into two, and them inserted one small stick between the open ends. That was our hand made picker. We held the long picker to aim at the ripened guava, but our little bodies and short arms did not cooperate with our big hearts. We seldom got yummy guavas by ourselves. Whenever the wind or the grown-ups shook the branches, we never missed a chance to get guavas from the ground and put them into our special basket. Then we shared and enjoyed them together later. There were several times when typhoons blew down the guava tree. My father and our neighbors pushed it backup and it grew back very nicely. Through the years, it grew big, delicious fruits for us again and again. Then we moved away.

 

兒子昨晚因為有場少年籃球賽要當裁判，所以沒跟我們來，今天 早早把事情辦完，趕中午前回家。雖說他已是十七歲了，但作媽的，還是心理難免有些牽絆。

冬日的太陽，大清早灑在身上，打心裏暖和，給老爸買份「世界日報」，安頓他在車上讀報，曬太陽，我們推著推車走進「大華超市」。這個女兒口中的「中國人的Costco」是我們一家三代都愛來的地方，每週一次，也沒嫌多過。

老媽自個兒推著車去挑她的葡萄柚，女兒和老公選著他們要的各國花樣的飲料。(今兒的四季豆不錯，選些吧！)我低著頭翻撿著眼前一大攤的綠豆子。「怎樣『選』，Mom ！」不知女兒什麼時候站在我身旁，「找比較細的，比較瘦的，那些比較嫩。」三十年前一樣的對話，「女兒和媽」，我由女兒變成了媽。

 

When I first came to Los Angeles, I was so surprised to find guava juice. Unfortunately, it tasted like sugar with a little guava flavor. Time moves on; places change. I cannot control most of the things around me, but I know I can do something for myself. I added some ice cubes to the guava juice and drank it. This time, it tasted better.

 

兒子自小對漢堡、熱狗情有獨鍾，卻對有歷史文化的中國菜，毫無興趣。不知何時，他改變了肚腸，開始對中國食物發生了感情，尤其是「婆婆的炸醬」，每回北上探親，婆婆疼孫，在回家時，總給我們帶回吃上十天，半個月的醬，有時還塞上幾包新鮮麵：「這麵，你們洛杉磯買不到。」(是嗎？)

有一日，孩子們說「星期一不上學」，喔！金恩博士生日，由於沒防備，也沒計劃，這三天的長週末得去那兒消耗呢？

「北上探親！」眾口一致，三十分鐘打包成行，一路上，男生輪流開車，女生昏昏睡睡，一眨眼就到了。北加親人對這突訪，毫無準備，一時亂了他們各家的生活起居，交際應酬。三天匆匆過去，臨走，母親拉著我兒子「婆婆這次沒準備，下次一定給你炒一大罐炸醬。」母親塞給兒子冰箱裡僅剩的醬，「沒有關係！沒有關係！婆婆！」……再見！Bye-Bye！再見！Bye-Bye！

一家四口，搖搖晃晃六個小時的車程，又回到洛城的家。晚上，母親的炸醬配上菠菜，一碗碗的炸醬麵安慰了五臟六腑，也平撫了心裡說不出來的滋味。

二日一早，個個早起，上班的上班，上學的上學。這一板一眼的日子，「朝七午三」、「早九晚五」，沒一天好變卦，大門內的家，非得過了午後三點，才漸有氣息。五點了，大門「卡啦」一聲，滿身大汗，臭不稀稀的兒子回來了，「Hello！Mother，今晚，是不是吃炸醬麵？」(有沒有搞錯，昨兒，不是就吃完了嗎？)(但是兒子想吃！)(嗯！冰櫃裡有碎肉，櫥櫃裡有豆瓣醬、甜麵醬，冰箱裡有蔥、薑、義大利蕃茄)，(行！媳婦終究要熬成婆，)心想著母親炒醬的程序(一、二、三、四、五？)(不！五、四、三、二、一？)(不行！完全沒把握，)撥個電話(510)xxx-xxxx，「媽，我是xx，那炸醬……」我母女二人就靠兩個電話，他一邊說，我一邊做，花了四十五分鐘，完成了我的「處女炸醬」。

晚飯，餐桌上時時有人稱讚「好吃！好吃！可以得九十分。」我知道，絕不可能得一百分，因為我是媽，不是婆婆。

 

When all my siblings settled down in CA, my parents also decided to move here.

They bought their house in San Jose, and there were several fruit trees in their back yard – apple, peach, lemon, and apricot. In late summer of the second year, there were many small tablespoon sized, olive shaped green fruits on a bush in their back yard. Their grand kids picked some. Hey! It tasted like a guava. It had more meat and less seeds than Taiwanese guava. Since then, whenever we go to visit the grandparents in late summer, we like to take some American guavas (pineapple-guavas) home.

Time streams between people’s fingers, and people can never hold on to it.

 

女兒對誰沒飯吃，誰沒衣服穿的事，最熱心。因此，家裡的大小櫥櫃，隔一段時日，就會被她叫嚷著搜索一遍。「媽，這藍斗篷還要，對不？」我順手接過來，往身上試了試，再把它掛回架子上。

這藍斗篷少說也有三十年的歷史，怎的隨我飄洋過海？多次遷移為何都未曾丟棄它？幾年前，整理衣櫥時，發現了這斗篷，開心的穿在身上，站在鏡子前，前前後後轉了老半天，叫女兒也試試，「妹！這外衣比妳還老耶！以後妳出門，可讓妳借著穿！」「O.K.！Thanks , Mom .」她一溜煙兒的下了樓。

記得這藍斗篷是母親的一位乾女兒學裁縫上課時，幫我做的，但為什麼為我做？我已記不清，只記得當初做好的樣式是上、下兩層，從領子到肩膀一層，從領子到膝又一層，為什麼修改得只剩下一層了了呢？

現今這藍斗篷，長度仍及我的膝蓋上，藍色的毛料，花格子的領子，在前面，靠雙手的部份，有兩個格子圓圈圈，手可從那圈圈兒伸出來，前排的五顆扭扣，是五個小金環壓著同樣式的花格子布做的，斗篷內層是同樣藍色的裡子。

一年裡，春、夏、秋、冬，每穿上那藍斗篷，總滿合身的，試完了，又每每把它掛回去，這一晃一往，可曾變化？

 

Two years ago, “brother” Chang and Grace, a married couple, planted a Thai guava tree in their back yard. They said, “ The guava is as big as a fist, and it has much more meat and much less seeds than Taiwanese guava.” Last year, after Chinese New Year’s Celebration, the Changs invited us for hot sweet soup at their house. At the end of the party, Grace gave me three Thai guavas from her back yard’s guava tree. I am lucky to have friends to share their fruits with me.

 

隔壁的Kathy 為她兒子過生日，買了個可以推進推出的籃球架，一群九、十歲的小傢伙佔了整個 Cul de sac ，看他們跑來追去，一個個臉上紅撲撲的，甚是可愛。

老公看了一個下午的球賽，探個頭出來，刮了一眼，兩秒鐘，又失蹤了。我跟 Kathy 閒磨牙，天南地北的糊譸一通，突的，車房門「嗯呀，嗯呀，……」的關了，老公手臂下夾了個球，從邊門出來，「Hey！」他虛應了鄰居，就在車道上來回跑著運球，帶球上籃，遠射……。

這車房上的籃球架，已是第二個了，記得兒子八歲的時候，想參加少年籃球隊，愛子的父母，孝順的我們，當下到 Target 買了個球架，等運回家來，才想到「球架要如何才能裝到車房上？」「等星期四，園丁來，給些錢，請他們幫忙裝裝。」「爸爸，我可以幫忙，妹妹也可以幫忙。」「對！太太，我們四個人可以裝得起這球架。」(是嗎？一個八歲，一個六歲，兩個能有多大的奶娃力氣？)(可是，我知道，這球架是我們一家這週末的「不可能任務」。)

「好！我去拿梯子。」「哥哥，你把妹妹帶到草地上坐好。」

「梯子不夠高，搆不到車房邊。」「沒關係！把桌子先抬出來，再在上面架個梯子。」「行！這就夠了。」老公雙手一抬，舉起籃球架，頗具奧林匹克舉重選手的架式，「快呀！快呀！太太！」我心驚膽顫，居高臨上的的坐在梯子的頂端，拿著個槌子和些釘子，在老公的技術指導下，我們裝好了我們第一個籃球架。

老公和我收拾好工具，馬上拿出球來，在車道上前後跑籃，二小跟在後面直嚷「給我一球，給我一球，……」先生輪流抱起二小，讓他們''投籃得分''。

「Watch out！ The Car is coming。」兒子的車緩緩駛來，避開街上打球的孩子們，車開上車道，他和他的哥兒們下了車，兒子向Kathy招招手，他的哥兒們向我招招手「Hey！Mr. Lin, Mrs. Lin 」三個大男生走進屋去。

老公從車道底運球上籃，「太太，最後一球，關門球。」「今天晚上吃什麼？」

 

I probably lost something that had always belonged to me. However, I am not gloomy because there are always alternatives.

Just like guavas! Yes, just like them. Although I cannot have my original Taiwanese guavas, I can have American guavas of Thai guavas. I can also plant some Taiwanese guava trees in my yard of make guava juice from the fruits. No matter what kind of guava I get, I shall pay more attention and show more appreciation. Hence, my life will have more variety.

The sky is blue, the sun is shining and it is the time to collect the ripened guava again.        .