Lavender Cottage 薰衣草森林

I was not sure what hit her brain today when I asked if she would go out with me just for my sake and she obliged without an ounce of hesitation.

不知甚麼緣故她突然想通了，當筆者以“陪我出門走走”為藉口邀她時，竟然得到她爽快地回應。

Anyway, we packed and hustled out the door in less than 10 min. lest she changed her mind.

唯恐她改變注意，三下兩下收拾了東西，不到十分鐘地時間我們便出了門。

A less than 30 km drive, off we went and climbed.
三十公里不到的路程，先是平路，不久就爬坡上山。

Lavender Cottage  www.lavendercottage.com.tw A beautifully manicured courtyard on a sloppy incline nestled up at the mid level of the mountain ridges. Upon entering the place, one was met with variety of plants dotted with flowers of many colors neatly lined up on the path. And the air was filled with flowing fragrance of lavender. Green was everywhere, near and afar. Fresh breeze and mountain mist made one’s mind tingling awakening and sensory crispy clean. The whole place was sprinkled with purple.

這地方叫“薰衣草森林”，藏在半山腰中，躺在一片斜坡上，一個坐落有次的精緻小花園。踏入園中，開滿各式花朵的盆景沿路整齊地擺放著，空氣裡飄著薰衣草的芬芳，遠山近地草木蔥茸。清爽的微風和山嵐叫人耳目一新，為之興奮，紫色的花和物點綴了四周。

That must pumped up not just mine, but also, most of all, Eileen’s dopamine in her brain. Like Alice in the Wonderland, she trod through all parts of the garden high and low. That was quite an exercise equating ascending and descending our five story townhome few times, more to this, on much steep staircases in many of its wooded paths.

不止本人，藹玲更有其事，一陣一陣的愉悅感讓人有點飄了起來。她像是掉進仙境的愛麗斯，上上下下地踏遍園子的每個角落。算一算幾乎是家裡五層樓梯幾上幾下，又條林道的坡度遠比家中的陡。

This excursion cost about $15 per head including a sit-down lunch. Sitting on top of the property, its center piece was a three level Scottish cottage like building. Its white walls accentuated by dark brown trims and big window panels on all sides made its façade rather modern looking without a trace of ostentation. The building simply blended in well with its surroundings. Sitting on the top level where the floor was spacious and mountain and garden view were from different directions, we enjoyed our meals immensely. That was worth the trip!

門票加午餐花了千百來塊錢。一座三層樓高，看似蘇格蘭洋房的建築坐落在坡頂，其乃園子的中心。白牆黑邊，面面被玻璃窗包裹的外表透著現代氣息，與周圍的環境融為一體，不俗卻雅致。坐在頂層寬敞的樓面享用午餐 ，遠山近園的景致四面八方目不暇給，實在令人陶醉，值回標價。

On the way home, reflecting on the experience I probed her on why her jumping on my invitation of this field trip so ready. Readily she gave me the answer. The couple hundreds yard “long” walk to visit Daphne’s dad who was stricken with leukemia, after finishing up our own visit with Dr. Chiu at Taipei Veterans General Hospital the other day made her walking out of her own valley of the shadow of death.

回家途中，筆者不禁好奇地追問女主角今天刮的甚麼風讓她如此爽快赴約。她三言兩語高興地回答說，是前天在榮總看完邱昭華大夫的門診後‘長途跋涉’前往探視倩芬師母患白血病的老父親後讓她走出自己的死蔭幽谷。

As a matter of the fact, She realized that she was fit to walk long and didn’t collapse as she was anxiously anticipating. She had carried on a stigma, “I-am-too-sick-to-have-a-long-walk” since last surgery. She wasn't gasping for air after all, by which she was emboldened and relieved.

自肺切除手術後，她一直活在“自己元氣大傷無法長距離行動“的恐懼中，事實上那趟路程並沒有像自己耽心的攤在半路上，一路走下來上氣和下氣接得好好地，叫她如釋重負又壯了膽。

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28a)

“我們曉得萬事互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處”羅馬書八：二十八上

An emphatic amen. Another day this is!

阿門！這一天還真不賴。