英语博客：Waiting to go South.

 　　It's that time of year when a lot of people are waiting to go South. Normally, by now, we would have snow, lots of it, and icy roads. This year, however, has been very strange. We experience hard frosts at night, but sunny days. Everyone is talking about how strange the weather is. Children have their winter boots, gloves, and hats at the ready*. At the first sign of snow, they will frantically¹ get dressed, and run outside to play in the glorious white stuff. But, it's just not happening. By now, also, most migrating birds have left to go to either California, Florida, Mexico, or some other sunny destination. But, even some of them are hanging around* the town still, waiting for the snow to come. I was coming out of Walmart the other day, when I saw a cloud of birds swirling² around in the sky, 'practicing' moving as a group. They looked playful, and amazingly skilled*. They moved to and fro* effortlessly like hundreds of acrobats³ working in unison*. As I got closer to my car, I saw that they had settled on a radio tower across the highway. I took out my new camera to zoom⁴ in and get a closer look. There were hundreds of them sitting on the metal poles. It was like a chatty, nervous group of people, waiting excitedly for something. I'm not surprised that they were excited. The thought of going somewhere sunny is very appealing right now. Many people I know have already made plans to spend a month or two in Arizona. They are usually retired⁵, and therefore can afford to take off* for a long time. Younger people can usually only go for a couple of weeks because they have to come back and work, of course. Golf or tennis are usually the planned activities for those Winter vacations. And, when the travelers come back, they show off their tans to the rest of us. I'm sure, even though the weather is strange this year, the migrating birds will soon be gone, and our retired family members and friends will have packed their bags and left too. Perhaps a heavy fall of snow will come a month late, so we can enjoy a little more sun for a little longer. Either way, we'll cheer up our long, dark nights with Christmas lights, and stay cozy⁶ by the fire.

　　Related vocabulary: at the ready, to hang around, skilled, to and fro.

　　1. Water pistols at the ready! The water fight is about to begin!

　　2. A group of suspicious young men were hanging around our neighborhood last night. We should find out who they were.

　　3. Look how skilled the potter is! The detail she puts on her ceramics⁷ are amazingly fine. She is excellent and exact at what she does.

　　4. I watched the bird go to and fro from its nest, bringing worms and bugs⁸ to feed to its babies.

1 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

2 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

3 acrobats   

n.杂技演员( acrobat的名词复数 )；立场观点善变的人，主张、政见等变化无常的人

参考例句：

• I was always fascinated by the acrobats at the circus. 我总是着迷于马戏团里的杂技演员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The acrobats' performance drew forth applause from the audience. 杂技演员的表演博得了观众的掌声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

7 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

8 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》