My parents grew up during the Depression(大萧条) attending small country churches. At the close of Christmas Eve services, each child was given a brown paper bag containing an apple, an orange, nuts and several chocolates.

Years later, whenever Dad recalled that tradition, his eyes shone reliving the memory. My mother didn't share his enthusiasm. She always said the chocolates tasted cheap and old.

    Cheap chocolates or not, the paper bags with goodies were an event. Gifts of any sort during the Depression were rare, especially in large farm families with seven children.

    When our children were young and we were home for Christmas one year, Mom and Dad gave each of the grandkids a brown paper bag holding an apple, an orange, nuts and several chocolates. When we finished the 8-hour drive home after the holiday, there was a message waiting on the phone when we walked in the door. “Your ungrateful kids left their apples and oranges in the back of our refrigerator. No more fruit for them!” Grandpa and Grandma were joking, of course, but still there was a degree of disrespect in the kids leaving behind thoughtfully chosen gifts.

    But the paper bag didn't have a context for our children. They had never known fruit to be a scarcity(缺乏). They didn't appreciate the gift because they had never experienced the need the gift was meant to fill.

    The same is true of Christmas today. We don't appreciate the true gift of the season because we don't understand the need the gift was given to fill.

It's not like we don't know we have needs. We know them, all right—patience, love, self-control, strength, courage, faithfulness, forgiveness—it's just that we have become experts at numbing(使麻木) ourselves to our needs.

    The true gift of the season is a perfect fit for our every need. When a gift like apples and oranges fits a need, there is a cheerful satisfaction. When the gift of a Christmas tree fits a need, there is the joy of Christmas.

Come and join us to celebrate his birthday.

    Zoe Chambers was a successful PR (Public Relations) consultant (顾问) and life was going well—she had a great job, a beautiful flat and a busy social life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through.” she said. “After everything I'd done for the company, they dismissed me by text!I was So angry and I just didn't feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life.”

    Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.

    “The moment I arrived at Kathy's farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay.” said Zoe.“ Everything about

my past life suddenly seemed meaningless.”

    Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. “It's a hard life, physically very tiring. ”she says. “In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and one of Kathy's wonderful dinners. ”

    Zoe says she has never felt bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing-—watching a lamb being born is unbelievable, she says, “It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I could never go back to city life now. ”

    Kulangsu Gallery of Foreign Artefacts from the Palace Museum Collection

    Location: Kulangsu, Xiamen, Fujian Province

    Dates: May 13, 2018 through September 24, 2018

    The gallery is a major place for the Palace Museum to showcase its splendid collection of international art. Most of these works have been kept in the storehouse of the museum and have never been shown to the public. Originally from Europe, East Asia, and North America, these international works date from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.

    Exhibition Commemorating the 120^th Anniversary of Zhang Boju's Birth

    Location: Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying dian)

    Dates: April 3, 2018 through May 6, 2018

    The exhibition features traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy from state-owned museums. Divided into three sections, the exhibition displays artwork organized in order of time, which offers a comprehensive overview of Zhang Boju's collection through this impressive gathering of the collector's works.

    Discovering the Hall of Mental Cultivation

    Location: The Gate of the Correct Department (Duan men)

    Dates: April 3, 2018 through April 24, 2018

    The exhibition allows visitors new ways to explore the history of the forbidden city with a simple click and celebrates the 92^nd anniversary of the establishment of the Palace Museum, established on October 10, 1925. Adding to the museum's new displays, this exhibition combines traditional Chinese culture and contemporary technologies.

    Treasures from the Al Thani Collection

    Location: The Meridian Gate (Wu men)

    Dates: April 17, 2018 through July 18, 2018

    The Al Thani Collection allows visitors to see cultural landscapes that have been lost in the depths of history. Artefacts from Egypt and Persia throw light on mysteries known to few. Different peoples have marked these relics with their own styles, which reflect the unique sources of each culture but strike the viewers with an equally powerful charm.

    I stopped to watch my little girl busy playing in her room. In one hand was a plastic phone; in the other a toy. I listened as she was speaking to her make-believe little friend and I'll never forget the words she said, even though it was imagined.

    She said, "Suzie's in the corner because she's not been very good. She didn't listen to a word I said or do the things she should." In the corner I saw her baby doll well dressed. It was obvious that she'd been put there to sit alone and think.

    My daughter continued her "conversation", as I sat down on the floor. She said, "I'm all fed up and I just don't know what to do with her any more. She cries whenever I have to work and wants to play games too. She tries to help me with the dishes, but her arms just cannot reach... And she doesn't know how to fold towels. I don't have the time to teach. I have a lot of work to do and a big house to keep clean. I don't have the time to sit and play - don't you know what I mean?"

    And that day I thought a lot about making some changes in my life, after listening to her innocent words cut me like a knife. I hadn't been paying enough attention to what I hold most dear. I'd been caught up in responsibilities that increased throughout the years.

    But now my attitude has changed because in my heart I realize that I've seen the world in a different light through my little darling's eyes. So let the cobwebs (蜘蛛网) cut the corners and the dust bunny rabbit rule the floor. I'm not going to worry about keeping up with them any more.

    I'm going to fill the house with memories of a child and her mother, for we have only one childhood and we will never get another.

    Compared with solar and wind energy, which are booming, tidal (潮汐的) power is a loser in the clean - energy competition. But if you did want to build a tidal power station, there are few better sites than the mouth of the River Severn, in Britain. Its tidal range, the difference in depth between high and low tides, of around 15 metres is among the largest in the world.

    Engineers and governments have been toying with the idea since at least 1925. But none of the suggested projects has materialised. Price is one objection. A study thought that tidal energy might cost between ￡216 and ￡368 ($306 - 521) per MWh of electricity by 2025, compared with ￡58 - 75 for seagoing wind turbines (轮机) and ￡55 - 76 for solar panels. Environmentalists also worry that any plant would change the tides, making life harder for wildlife.

    An engineer called Rod Rainey thinks he has a way around both problems. He plans to replace the conventional turbines of previous plans with a much older technology. Specifically, he plans to span (横跨) the river mouth with a line of water wheels. This is a design that dates back to the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Examples can be found fixed to the sides of old watermills (水磨).

    But there would be nothing old - fashioned about Mr Rainey's wheels. Thirty metres high and sixty wide, they would be made from ordinary steel. Two hundred and fifty of them, along with the supporting structures, would be floated into place and secured to the seabed, creating a line 15km long. Together, they could supply power at an avenge ate of 4GW. That is about as much as two biggish nuclear power stations would manage. Substituting one of the wheels with a set of locks would provide a shipping channel about twice the width of Panama Canal, permitting upstream ports such as Avonmouth and Cardiff to continue operating.