回到故乡贝蒙市・游德州香格里拉

《回到故乡贝蒙市・游德州香格里拉》

许多年过去了，

当车子缓缓驶进 贝蒙市（Beaumont） 的时候，

一股熟悉的气息，悄悄渗入心底。

那是南方的风，带着温热的潮气与油田的气味；

那是青春的味道，记录着我们七十年代的梦。

那时，我们还是年轻的留学生，

在 拉马大学（Lamar University） 的校园裡，

怀揣着知识改变命运的信念，

在异乡追寻一条属於自己的路。

白天在图书馆与实验室之间奔走，

夜裡在简陋宿舍裡谈论理想与未来——

那段日子，既艰苦又灿烂，

如同南方的阳光，刺眼却温暖。

如今重返这片土地，

时光彷彿在风中回旋。

我再次踏上这条熟悉的公路，

向着不远处的 香格里拉植物园（Shangri-La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center） 缓缓前行。

那是一个远离尘嚣的地方，

是自然与灵魂的交会之境。

木栈道静静延伸进湿地深处，

两旁的香柏与水杨映在湖面，

阳光碎成金色的片羽，落在我的肩上。

每一步，像是走回青春的记忆裡——

那些初来乍到的日子、那些孤单却坚定的梦、

都在这片寂静的自然中，

重新闪烁起柔光。

我想，也许这就是命运的循环。

从故乡出发，再回到心灵的故乡。

贝蒙，是现实的起点；香格里拉，是心灵的归宿。

两者之间，是我一生的旅程——

从怀抱梦想的青年，到回望岁月的行者。

在这个午后，我站在蓝月之池旁，

微风轻抚脸庞，鸟声迴盪在树梢间。

一切如此安静，如此美好。

我知道，我又找回了那份久违的平静与感动。

走进德州的香格里拉，

彷彿走进心中的桃花源。

而回到贝蒙，

则是回到那个，从未离开过的自己。

 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.