Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Straight out of the frying pan into the fire｜又中又英

There were so many hot days during my recent visit to Hong Kong that my plans for country park walks were ruined. Spring was not that hot during my childhood in Hong Kong. I was looking forward to cooler US weather when I left Hong Kong last month, but I went straight out of the frying pan into the fire. If you jump out of the frying pan into the fire, it means you go from a bad situation to a worse one. After mixed weather in San Diego I flew to Austin, Texas to visit my younger brother.

The blistering (extremely hot) Texas weather made it impossible to go outdoors. During my stay there, the daily temperature reached over 40 degrees. Texas has been baking under a heat wave, making it one of the hottest places on earth. The word "bake" usually refers to cooking, such as “bake a cake”, but it can also mean extreme heat. If a place is baking under the sun, it means it’s extremely hot there. I am now in Atlanta and it’s also baking under the sun although not as hot as Austin. I like walking in the woods near my niece’s house but can only do it in the morning when it’s not so hot.

The expression “the woods” means an area with thick trees. The smoke from Canada’s wildfires has also reached cities where I will visit next. The heatwaves in the US and Beijing, wildfires, and California’s recent rainstorms are caused by climate change. The world needs to take it seriously.
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我最近回港的時候，有許多天都是非常酷熱，導致我閒遊郊野公園的計劃泡湯。我童年在香港時，春天並不是那麼炎熱。上個月離港時，我很期待美國較涼快的天氣，可我卻是剛跳出了油鍋又入火坑（straight out of the frying pan into the fire）。若你jump out of the frying pan into the fire，意即你由差的環境進到一個更糟的境況、情況愈來愈差。在聖地牙哥經歷過陰晴不定的天氣後，我飛往德州的柯士甸去看望我的弟弟。

德州超級酷熱（blistering）的天氣教人無法出外活動。我待在那裏期間，每日氣溫超過40度。德州一直在熱浪中「乾烤」（baking under a heat wave），令它成為地球上最熱的地方之一。Bake一字通常是用在烹飪中，例如 “bake a cake”就是焗蛋糕，但它也可以解作極度酷熱。若一個地方is baking under the sun，意即那裏暴曬於烈日下、炙熱無比。我現在位於亞特蘭大，那兒也是烈日當空，非常炎熱（baking under the sun），但就沒有柯士甸那般熱。我喜歡在侄女住屋附近的森林（the woods）漫步，但只能在早上還不那麼熱的時候出遊。

習語“the woods”是指由大樹組成的樹林。加拿大野火的煙也徐徐飄到了我將要到訪的那些城市。美國和北京的熱浪、野火，以及加利福尼亞州最近的暴風雨，都是源於氣候變化。全世界必須認真看待。
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中譯：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧