Each time I see a balloon, my mind flies back to a memory of when I was a six-year-old girl. It was a rainy Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course." she said.

    "Can we write him a letter?"

    She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."

    My heart jumped. "How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.

    "No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it was for.

    "Just wait, honey. You'll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Mom was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.

    She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped the balloon string. We went outside and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.

    "Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."

    The balloon, carrying my letter, darted upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds.

    Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No matter what he suffered, he'd persevere, hang on, and finally transcend this cold world and his sick body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary. I prayed to be a balloon.

    In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music, dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.

    At the same time, the Fringe appeared as a challenge to the official festival. Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform, and they did so in a public house disused for years.

    Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.

    Today the Fringe, once less recognized, has far out grown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre, music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959, with only 19theatre groups performing, some said it was getting too big.

    A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.

    Most kinds of rose plants come from Asia. But roses are also native to other areas including northwest Africa, Europe and the United States. Some people say roses are difficult to grow. But you have a good chance of success if you start with a few suggestions from experts.

    You should plant your roses where they can get sunshine for about six hours on bright days. You can buy roses from a garden center or by mail order. You can buy potted（盆栽）roses, also known as container roses, or bare-root（裸根）plants. Each kind has its fans.

    Some gardeners say potted roses are easier to plant. They say the roots develop better. But Jeffrey Dinslage, president of Nature Hills Nursery in Omaha, Nebraska, points out that bare-root roses come without soil. So they weigh less to transport. If they arrive before you are ready to plant them, make sure the packing material is slightly wet. Keep the plants in a cool, dark place. You plant the roses while they are not active. The resting plants have no leaves but still need water.

    When growing roses, the soil should be wet. Watering should be done in the morning. That can prevent problem called black spots. But do not water too much. Jeffrey Dinslage says people often ask him about becoming discolored on rose leaves. He says the problems are usually caused by too much water. After heavy rains or too much watering, he advises pulling away mulch（覆盖物） from around the roots for a short time. This will help dry the soil. If your soil is very dry, you can add compost(堆肥), which returns nutrients（营养）to the soil.

    If you want to know more information, please click www. Planting.com.

    "When your mother scolds you, you can look elsewhere and think about other things. Just ignore her words. But remember: such a tough attitude cannot be used often." These words are from a series of cartoons which outline skills for children to fight against their mothers. The images have created heated debate among Chinese netizens (网民).

    Regarded as "a book for children aged 6 to 12 who are always scolded by their parents", the cartoons, drawn by two 10-year-old Beijing girls, list over 20 skills which children can use to deal with their mothers' anger such as crying, pretending to be ashamed, fleeing into the toilet and pleasing her afterwards. Each skill is described with vivid pictures and humorous notes. The creativity of the young girls has amazed netizens, the Yangtse Evening Post reported on Thursday.

    According to one of the girls' mothers, her daughter once received a poor mark in an exam, and the mother blamed her and compared her performance with another classmate. The daughter's feelings led to her creating the cartoons. The girl's father, who first posted the pictures on his Sohu Microblog on Monday, said he hopes parents pay close attention to the pictures, allow children to feel free to develop their own characteristics and try not to criticize them so often.

    "The cartoons, although an individual case, reflect a modern phenomenon and some of the problems within Chinese family education," said Yu Qinfang, an expert on family education. According to a survey of 104 children and their parents, Yu discovered that as many as 51.9 percent of primary school students hate being urged to do things by their mothers. "Not giving children enough time and hurrying them to do things seems to be a very tiny detail within family life, but it is potentially a huge problem which can easily be ignored by parents. A mother's blame may lead to negative feelings within her child's heart," Yu said. "Parents should learn to blame less and be more patient."

    Travelling can be a fun way to gain life experiences, especially during a week-long school vacation. But what if you're a student and don't have enough money for a trip? Don't worry.

Here are some useful tips.

    Save: This probably is the most important preparation for travelling. Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you'll have more choices about where to go and how to get there.

    Plan ahead: Don't wait until the last minute to plan your trip. Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice. Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security(安全)and savings.

    Do your homework: No matter where you go, research the places you will visit. Decide what to see. Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants.

    Plan sensibly(明智地): Write down how much you expect to spend for food and hotels. Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything.

    Travel in groups: Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places. By travelling with others you can share costs and experiences.

    Work as you go: Need more money to support your trip? Look for work in the places you visit.

    Go off the beaten path: Tourist cities may be expensive. You may want to rethink your trip and go to a lesser-known area. Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights.

    Pack necessary things: The most important things to take are not always clothes. Remember medicine in case you get sick and snacks in case you can't find a cheap restaurant.

    Use the Internet: The Net can help to save money. Some useful websites include www. Iravelocity.com, www.bargains-lowest fare.com and www.Economy travel.com.

    By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel. Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime.

In our magazine's document room, from the June 1920 issue, I discovered a piece, What Editors Do, by Hazel Miller. What she talks about caught my eye: The first World War and its ending just two years before.

"During 1917 and 1918, when the World War was going, there was a huge demand for war material," Miller writes. "Most magazines were carrying practically nothing but war stories. When the War ended in November, 1918, some editors still had a goodly supply of war fiction and articles—for which they had paid real money—on their hands, which most people by now are fed up with."

Her words have stuck with me for the past 12 months as we've weighed which COVID-19 stories to run and which to hold. I'm writing these words with thick snow outside my window, but they will reach you in the green of spring. Will you be vaccinated(接种疫苗) and tired of reading about COVID-19 then?

We say writing is an art, and publishing is a business, but I worry we forget that publishing is also a gamble(赌博), Except for the immediate publication, everyone in the industry—agents, acquiring editors, magazine and journal editors, etc.—are betting on a story's success in a future we cannot see. As is the nature of fortune telling, we are not so sure we will not occasionally lose: The 1920 editors sitting on a store of war stories no one wants, for example.

With so many factors outside your control, and so much uncertainty in the industry, isn't it better to have stories written from the heart that you are truly enthusiastic about rather than some to please an ever-changing publishing market?

My future reader, it's my hope that this issue finds you this spring doing just that: Writing the stories you need to tell—and the ones that will delight your own future readers for years to come.