BIG PAPI

老爹是我的小狗的名字，取自於大聯盟紅襪隊 David Ortiz 的外號；因為他們都長的黑黑壯壯。2007年中出生，雖然不知道確實的出生日期，但從小就註定要成為一隻了不起的“犬物“。牠堅強而具有勇氣，不論上天或者入地都沒問題；每每能從生活中獲取靈感，並像對待愛人那樣小心呵護，不讓那些靈感輕易溜走。

老爹把我每天帶牠出去當作一天最重要的事；只要看到我穿起準備要出門的褲子，就興奮的轉圈跳躍。我並沒有為他的興奮付出什麼；反而是牠給我機會讓我離開電腦桌前，到戶外透一口氣，看看文化中心廣場上的夜空，或者到新光碼頭聽聽海風帶來什麼遠方的訊息；若是風向轉了，也順便麻煩它幫我捎個回文。


If I should attempt to tell how I have desired to spend my life in years past, it would probably surprise those of my readers who are somewhat acquainted with its actual history; it would certainly astonish those who know nothing about it. I will only hint at some of the enterprises which I have cherished.

In any weather, at any hour of the day or night, I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of two eternities, the past and future, which is precisely the present moment; to toe that line. You will pardon some obscurities, for there are more secrets in my trade than in most men's, and yet not voluntarily kept, but inseparable from its very nature. I would gladly tell all that I know about it, and never paint "No Admittance" on my gate.

I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travellers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.

我們每個人都有曾失去的，而當我們跟其他人提起時，如果他是一個「同人」，就會心有戚戚；五年級同學共有的記憶，豈是七年級以後的學生可以瞭解。曾經對一個朋友說，常常不確定一個人在國外讀書的時候留下的回憶到底是真的還是夢境，或是自己後來想像的；因為沒有其他人共同參與，無法求証。但是那些刻在手杖裡的記錄，實在清晰，難以磨滅。我的朋友說，她知道我的感覺。