美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Lingering Fields Of Yellow' As California's Super Bloom Begins To Fade

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

In Southern California, this year's super bloom has transformed the deserts and prairies into stunning¹ mosaics² of yellows, oranges, reds and blues³. It's also drawn⁴ massive crowds toting selfie sticks, trying to capture this quick burst of beauty for their social media feeds. NPR's Kirk Siegler sent this postcard from the tail end of the bloom at the remote Carrizo Plain National Monument.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE⁵: Just 2 1/2 hours northwest of Los Angeles, I'm in another world, bouncing along an old jeep road in the remote Temblor Range with my pal⁶ Michael Jackson - no relation. He is a professional photographer and amateur explorer.

MICHAEL JACKSON: The rainbow that these hills were for the last month is pretty much gone. I still find them beautiful, even when they're stark⁷.

SIEGLER: It's Michael's seventh trip to the Carrizo Plain since mid-March, when the bloom first started. He loves documenting the changes.

JACKSON: Other than the shapes of the hills, it doesn't look like the same place at all. It's like it's between paint jobs.

SIEGLER: There are still some purples, the lupines, the hillside daisies and, on the floor of the plain itself, a huge carpet of yellow, hundreds of acres. Down here, the plain is massive - daunting⁸, even - 40 miles long, 15 wide and ringed by mountains, with the San Andreas Fault cutting through it all.

JACKSON: If you go up on that ridgeline of that mountain and the light is right, it looks incredible - same from up in these mountains.

SIEGLER: Carrizo Plain has been protected federal land since 2001, but there are few amenities⁹ - even signs or marked trails. So in this little field of fading purple, you can see the Instagram masses made their own trampled¹⁰ trails.

JACKSON: People find their own way. But it's a shame to see it so cut up. And I think it takes the flowers a while to recover. As you can see, they're just gone from some of these areas, as if...

SIEGLER: Crowds have mostly thinned out now too, along with the bloom. So Michael is back to training his lens on the old decaying ranch¹¹ houses, with their collapsed¹² roofs, the Depression-era pickups and plows¹³ just abandoned in the fields.

JACKSON: I think life out here and in these places has always been really hard. The elements are all so extreme. You know that from all your time in North Dakota...

SIEGLER: Right, right.

JACKSON: ...And Montana. People have this idyllic¹⁴ image of what it's like up there, to have a little house on the prairie. The answer is brutal¹⁵. (Laughter).

SIEGLER: Beautiful - but out here, the afternoon sun is already brutal. In a few weeks, the temps will be in the hundreds and all the flowers scorched¹⁶ - fuel for summer range fires.

Here's the map. You guys can have...

UNIDENTIFIED HIKER: Oh, I didn't look at that.

SIEGLER: At a trailhead, hikers are reapplying sunscreen and topping off water bottles. We notice a family in a minivan that looks a little unprepared. Michael seems to be the expert out here. Everyone is asking him for tips.

JACKSON: And if you do go for that walk, bring a lot of water. It's hotter than you think.

UNIDENTIFIED HIKER: OK, I see.

JACKSON: OK?

SIEGLER: Oh, and by the way, we've seen two rattlers today.

JACKSON: Be careful of the rattlesnakes. You got your kids with you. And it's hot enough. They're out now.

SIEGLER: The woman asks where the best place is to still see the super bloom. There's really no good answer.

JACKSON: People want a quick panacea¹⁷ for finding the most beautiful stuff. But a place like this is different every day.

SIEGLER: We've driven up to the rim¹⁸ of a steep canyon¹⁹.

JACKSON: This is where I took my favorite photographs this year.

SIEGLER: There are still a few fields of yellow across from and beneath us.

JACKSON: I was here before it bloomed, here after. And I can tell a bigger story about this place now.

SIEGLER: That bigger story is about nature's impermanence, he says. It's artwork, constantly evolving, even though most people won't see it out here once the super bloom fades to brown. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, at the Carrizo Plain National Monument.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 mosaics   

n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案

参考例句：

• The panel shows marked similarities with mosaics found elsewhere. 这块嵌板和在其他地方找到的镶嵌图案有明显的相似之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The unsullied and shining floor was paved with white mosaics. 干净明亮的地上镶嵌着白色图案。 来自辞典例句

3 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

7 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

8 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

9 amenities   

n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快

参考例句：

• The campsite is close to all local amenities. 营地紧靠当地所有的便利设施。
• Parks and a theatre are just some of the town's local amenities. 公园和戏院只是市镇娱乐设施的一部分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

11 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

12 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

13 plows   

n.犁( plow的名词复数 )；犁型铲雪机v.耕( plow的第三人称单数 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• Alex and Tony were turning awkward hands to plows and hoe handles. 亚历克斯和托尼在犁耙等农活方面都几乎变成新手了。
• Plows are still pulled by oxen in some countries. 在一些国家犁头仍由牛拖拉。

14 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

15 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

16 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

17 panacea   

n.万灵药；治百病的灵药

参考例句：

• Western aid may help but will not be a panacea. 西方援助可能会有所帮助，但并非灵丹妙药。
• There's no single panacea for the country's economic ills. 国家经济弊病百出,并无万灵药可以医治。

18 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

19 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。