回到故鄉貝蒙市・遊德州香格里拉

《回到故鄉貝蒙市・遊德州香格里拉》

許多年過去了，

當車子緩緩駛進 貝蒙市（Beaumont） 的時候，

一股熟悉的氣息，悄悄滲入心底。

那是南方的風，帶著溫熱的潮氣與油田的氣味；

那是青春的味道，記錄著我們七十年代的夢。

那時，我們還是年輕的留學生，

在 拉馬大學（Lamar University） 的校園裡，

懷揣著知識改變命運的信念，

在異鄉追尋一條屬於自己的路。

白天在圖書館與實驗室之間奔走，

夜裡在簡陋宿舍裡談論理想與未來——

那段日子，既艱苦又燦爛，

如同南方的陽光，刺眼卻溫暖。

如今重返這片土地，

時光彷彿在風中回旋。

我再次踏上這條熟悉的公路，

向著不遠處的 香格里拉植物園（Shangri-La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center） 緩緩前行。

那是一個遠離塵囂的地方，

是自然與靈魂的交會之境。

木棧道靜靜延伸進濕地深處，

兩旁的香柏與水楊映在湖面，

陽光碎成金色的片羽，落在我的肩上。

每一步，像是走回青春的記憶裡——

那些初來乍到的日子、那些孤單卻堅定的夢、

都在這片寂靜的自然中，

重新閃爍起柔光。

我想，也許這就是命運的循環。

從故鄉出發，再回到心靈的故鄉。

貝蒙，是現實的起點；香格里拉，是心靈的歸宿。

兩者之間，是我一生的旅程——

從懷抱夢想的青年，到回望歲月的行者。

在這個午後，我站在藍月之池旁，

微風輕撫臉龐，鳥聲迴盪在樹梢間。

一切如此安靜，如此美好。

我知道，我又找回了那份久違的平靜與感動。

走進德州的香格里拉，

彷彿走進心中的桃花源。

而回到貝蒙，

則是回到那個，從未離開過的自己。

 Returning To Beaumont — Journey To Texas Shangri-La

Many years have passed, yet as the car slowly entered Beaumont, a familiar breath rose quietly from the southern wind. It carried the warmth of the Gulf,
the faint scent of oil fields, and the echo of our youth — a time when dreams were raw, and everything still seemed possible.

It was in the 1970s, when we came to this southern oil town as young students,
eager to learn, eager to build a life through knowledge and perseverance.
At Lamar University, we spent our days between classrooms and libraries,
and our nights in humble dormitories,
talking endlessly about the future,
about the vast and unknown America ahead of us. Those days were hard, yes —
but they burned bright, like the Texas sun,
fierce yet tender, marking the beginning of everything that was to come.

Now, returning after so many seasons,
I find the city both changed and unchanged. From Beaumont, I take the road eastward, toward a place that seems to exist between memory and a dream —
the Shangri-La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas.

There, the boardwalk stretches quietly over the wetlands, framed by towering cypress and tupelo trees. Sunlight spills through the branches in golden fragments, and the reflection of sky and leaf dancon stills the water. Each step feels like walking back through time —
back to those early years of hope,
of solitude and resilience, of youth shaped by both struggle and wonder.

Perhaps this is what life circles back to —
a return not only to places, but to the essence of who we once were.
Beaumont is where the journey began;
Shangri-La is where the soul finds rest.
Between them lies a lifetime —
the arc of a dream carried across continents and decades.

Now, standing by the Pond of the Blue Moon, the breeze brushes softly against my face. The call of birds lingers above the water, and for a moment, everything is still —peaceful, golden, eternal.

To walk into Texas Shangri-La
is to walk into the heart’s own paradise.
And to return to Beaumont
is to find the part of myself
that never truly left.