The Deer and The Cauldron

[wandering]

have a safe trip

[rati4u]

your, your.....whatever

sounds so funny

[smurf120]

Have a good trip!

The old monk cracks me up. This is another one of those weird moral divergences. I can understand that the old monk grew up in the monastery so he does not know or understand sex. But how do city travelling heroines like Green/Blue Girl (who do not seem like they grew up around other people much less a farm), understand what "being a wife" or "getting disgraced" mean? especially in these presearch engine times.

[KChill]

This detailed dialogue b/w AK and WXB was totally omitted from Minford.....very interesting. Thanks, Foxs and have a good trip.....my family and I are headed to Myrtle Beach this week but I'll be looking out for ya.

[JoeLee]

Wow, your a machine foxs!! I have a lot of catching up to do - thanks for the translations.

[crazee]

This detailed dialogue b/w AK and WXB was totally omitted from Minford.....very interesting. Thanks, Foxs and have a good trip.....my family and I are headed to Myrtle Beach this week but I'll be looking out for ya.

I read a translation posted somewhere in this site...no way to know if it Minford's but reading those translation makes me feel some what wanting....just as if I'm reading some preview or summary.
As I do not have any material to compare, it's only thru the serials...HK and China ones and those are also not too accurate I suppose.
Now that I get to read Foxs, beautiful translation, I know what is missing...
Thanks a lot Foxs.....

[foxs]

Sky, Crazee, Gubrak, Wandering, Smurf, thanks for the wishes. We started from Phoenix on Saturday late afternoon, and arrived here Wednesday early afternoon. I started my first day of work this past Monday. Lzydude, I am in Kirkland, north of Seattle. AFAIK, only one spcnet member resides in this area, but I guess she is not following this thread. PM me when you are here. rati4u, it was kind of hard to translate ... KChill, Myrtle Beach, huh? Unfortunately, you did not wear a shirt that says 'KChill' ... JoeLee, thanks for stopping by. Anyway, I guess we are stuck with this girl for a while.

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The girl heard the exchange between those two, she cried out in fear, “I don’t want you to unseal my acupoints, I don’t want you to touch me!”

Wei Xiaobao contemplated, “Massaging the inside of her knee for an hour is indeed not too proper. I really want to unseal her acupoint, but she will definitely think that I am being frivolous. Although a husband can be frivolous toward his wife, I still have to follow Heaven’s rule and the Earth’s way; much less this is a good opportunity that I must not lose, if I fail, I will lost her forever. It’s just that this girl’s temper is very fierce; as soon as I unseal her acupoints, I am afraid she would immediately drive me to the wall and kill me. And then Wei Xiaobao indeed won’t have any son won’t have any grandson.”

Turning his head, he raised his voice and asked, “Men and women should not have direct contact. As people who have left home, we must pay special attention to the rule. If I don’t want to massage her, is there any other technique I can use?”

“Yes,” Cheng Guan said, “Shishu precisely and rigorously abides by the commandments, Shizhi is full of admiration. There is a way to unseal other people’s acupoint without touching. You can use the light brushing of the corner of your sleeve, or use the ‘one finger Dhyana’ through the empty air … Aiyo, it’s not right, Xiao Shishu [young martial uncle] has not cultivated internal energy, you cannot use these techniques. Let Shizhi think it over …”

Actually, all he had to do was to enter the room himself and lightly brush the corner of his sleeve, or perhaps use the ‘one finger Dhyana’ through the empty air, then the girl’s acupoint would be unsealed immediately. But since his martial uncle had asked, he must try to come up with an answer. However, how difficult it was for someone without internal energy to unseal acupoint without using fingers or massage? Even if he thought about it for a year or so, he would not necessarily be able to come up with anything.

Listening to him for a long time without getting any answer, Wei Xiaobao pushed the door a little bit, and saw Cheng Guan was looking up with a blank stare, lost in thought. He would not be surprised if Cheng Guan could stay motionless and speechless like that for six hours. Thereupon he closed the door and turned around, thinking that when he unsealed Mu Jianping’s acupoint at the Imperial Palace that day, he was using first-class technique all the way to the ninth-class technique: pinching, massaging, beating and jabbing, without the least bit of second thought. Although she was a junzhu[2] who should be respected, in his eyes, he did not consider her important at all; however, in front of this nameless young woman, why did he tremble with fear and venerate her as if she was a deity?

Glancing toward the girl, he saw her delicate eyebrows were tightly knitted together with a distressed expression; he could not help but feeling a deep compassion toward her. Picking up a wooden fish mallet, he walked over toward her and said, “In the previous life Wei Xiaobao owed you a debt. In this life I fear neither the Heaven nor the Earth, yet I fear you, a young Miss. Right now I surrender to you, I really want to unseal your acupoints, and not deliberately want to take advantage of you.” Finished speaking, he took off his monk robe, and gently struck the inside of her left knee several times with the wooden fish mallet.

The girl stared at him coldly, her small mouth was tightly shut. Wei Xiaobao jabbed the mallet several more times and asked, “How do you feel?”

The girl said, “You … other than speaking some rogue words, you don’t know anything.”

Cheng Guan’s internal energy was deep, his light poke with his finger penetrated deep into the acupoint, although Wei Xiaobao’s placement of the wooden fish mallet was very accurate, his strength was lacking, he failed to unseal the acupoint. Hearing the girl’s sarcastic remark, he could not suppress his anger, and struck the wooden fish mallet heavily down several times. “Ah!” the girl screamed. Wei Xiaobao was startled. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

“I … I … I …” the girl angrily said. Wei Xiaobao moved to her right knee, but this time he started beating gently. After pounding several times, the girl’s body slightly trembled. “That’s it!” Wei Xiaobao happily said, “Originally Shaolin Pai only has 72 unique skills, from now on there will be 73. This new unique skill is invented by the Eminent Monk Hui Ming Chanshi, it is called … it is called the ‘Wooden Fish Mallet Acupoint Unsealing Divine Technique’, hey hey …”

While he was feeling complacent, suddenly he felt a dull pain on the small of his back; he was dumbstruck. The girl suddenly rolled around and sat up, she reached out to snatch his dagger and thrust it into his chest. “Aiyo!” Wei Xiaobao cried out, “You murder your own husband …” and fell sitting down on the ground.

The girl snatched her willow-leaf saber that was placed by her side; pulled the door open, and bolted out of the meditation room.

Cheng Guan stretched out his arms to block, he called out in alarm, “Nu Shizhu, you … killed … killed my Shishu … that … that …”

The girl moved the willow-leaf saber from her left hand to her right, ‘Shua! Shua! Shua!’ she hacked three times in succession. Cheng Guan flicked the sleeve of his robe. The girl’s legs went numb and she tumbled down.

Cheng Guan rushed toward Wei Xiaobao’s side; he flicked several times with the middle finger of his right hand to seal the acupoints all around Wei Xiaobao’s wound. “Amitabha, my Buddha is merciful,” he said. With three fingers he pinched the hilt of the dagger and gently pulled it out, blood was seeping out of the wound. Noticing the bleeding was not too bad, Cheng Guan hurriedly untied Wei Xiaobao’s clothes, and saw the wound to be approximately half a cun [± ½”], and the cut was not too wide. He repeatedly said, “Amitabha.”

Wei Xiaobao was wearing his treasured vest; if not for the fact that his dagger was incomparably sharp, he would not have been wounded at all. Although the dagger penetrated his clothes, its force was greatly reduced and only went into his flesh shallowly. However, looking at his bleeding chest and feeling the pain from the wound, he thought his life would be difficult to save. He mumbled, “Murder your own husband … cough, cough … murder your … your own …”

The girl was lying on the floor, she cried and said, “It was me who killed him, Old Monk, quickly kill me to … to pay for … for his life.”

“Ay,” Cheng Guan sighed, “My Shishu has enlightened you. Nu Shizhu, if you persist on your wrong doings, there is nothing I can do. But a violent crime like this … a murder, it is rather too much.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I … I’m about to die. Cough, you murder your own …”

Cheng Guan stared blankly. Dashing out of the room, he fetched the medicine to treat metal-cut wound and applied it on Wei Xiaobao’s wound, saying, “Shishu, you have great compassion and great mercy, you enlightened the fierce and uncontrollable, your karmic reward has not been exhausted yet, you won’t die this easily. Besides, your injury is not serious, it’s not a big deal.”

Hearing Cheng Guan said that his injury was not serious, Wei Xiaobao’s spirit was greatly aroused, and felt that his wound was not too painful after all. “Stoop down,” he said, “Aiyo, I am going to die, I am going to die!”

Cheng Guan stooped down and put his ear next to Wei Xiaobao’s mouth. Wei Xiaobao said in a low voice, “You may unseal her acupoint, but don’t let her out of the room. Wait until she finishes using all martial art skills she knew, and then … and then …”

“And then what?” Cheng Guan asked.

“At that time … at that time we …” Wei Xiaobao stammered, while saying in his heart, “Even until then, we still cannot let her go.” He said, “Just … just follow my instruction … quickly … quickly … I am about to die; once I died, I cannot die again!”

Although Cheng Guan did not understand his intention, hearing the urgency in his voice, he turned around and snapped his fingers to unseal her blocked acupoints.

The girl saw how sneaky Wei Xiaobao was talking to Cheng Guan, she thought that this young evil monk was wily and mischievous, at the death’s door, he must be planning some treacherous scheme to deal with me, otherwise, why would he want to let me go? Immediately she wanted to leap up, but her acupoints had just been unsealed, the blood had not flowed freely yet, her legs were still numb and weak, she tumbled down again. Cheng Guan looked at her with blank expression on his face, while his mouth repeatedly calling the names of Buddha.

The girl was frightened even more, she shouted, “Quickly kill me with one palm strike, tormenting people like this is not the act of a hero and warrior.”

Cheng Guan said, “Xiao Shishu said we cannot let you go at this time, naturally we cannot kill you either.”

The girl was greatly alarmed; her face blushed, she thought, “This young evil monk said that no matter what he must take me as his wife, otherwise he would die without his eyes closed. Could it be … could it be that before he breathes his last he wants … he wants to make me … make me … whatever … whatever wife?” Leaning sideways, she picked up the willow-leaf saber from the floor and forcefully chopped it onto her own forehead.

Cheng Guan flicked the sleeve of his robe again, it coiled around the edge of the blade, while the left sleeve brushed toward her face. The girl felt a strong gust of wind sweeping her face, and had no choice but to release her grip on the saber and leaped backward to evade. Cheng Guan flicked his sleeve again, the willow-leaf saber shot up, ‘pop!’ it stuck on the beam of the roof.

Seeing Cheng Guan was looking up at the saber, the girl kicked her left foot and slipped away from his left side. Cheng Guan stretched out his hand to block. Forming her right hand’s five fingers into a claw the girl attacked his eyes. Cheng Guan flipped his hand to catch her right elbow, he said, “’Smoke Over the Eyes’, this is Jiangnan’s Jiang Family’s martial art.”

The girl’s leg flew toward his lower abdomen. Cheng Guan slightly bent his waist and the kick hit an empty air. “This is ‘Sound of Footsteps in an Empty Valley’, originated from Jin Yang of Shanxi, a Shatuo people’s martial art,” he said, “But Shatuo people must have another name, Lao Na [old cassock – referring to self] is ignorant and inexperienced, I looked everywhere but could not find out. I wonder if Nu Shizhu knew the original name of this move.”

Why would the girl pay him any attention? Her fists punched, her feet kicked, her fingers poked, her elbows struck; launching move after move endlessly. Cheng Guan identified all the moves one by one, only her movement was really fast, he did not have enough time to say it out loud; he had no choice but parrying the attacks and simply memorized everything in his heart. The girl successively launched several dozen moves, but Cheng Guan effortlessly neutralized everything. Seeing it would be difficult for her to escape, she was extremely frightened; her breathing failed to flow, she swayed several times, and fell down, fainted.

Cheng Guan sighed and said, “Nu Shizhu is greedy and covetous, you learned various schools and sects’ exquisite moves, yet without possessing enough internal energy; naturally you won’t last in a prolonged fight. In Lao Na’s opinion, you’d better cultivating internal energy from the beginning, and in a proper way. Fighting this time, your strength failed. If I help you by waking you up, undoubtedly you will want to fight again, and then inevitably you will suffer internal injury; you’d better lie down to rest for a moment, what does Nu Shizhu think? But you must never misunderstand, thinking that Lao Na is only watching with folded arms, knowing you are fainting and paying you no attention. Aiyo, Lao Na is so muddle-headed, you are already fainted, of course you won’t hear a thing, yet I kept talking endlessly.”

He went toward the couch to check Wei Xiaobao’s pulse, and found it to be steady and solid, there was no indication of danger at all; he said, “Shishu, don’t you worry, your injury is not the least bit serious.”

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[2] Princess, not of royal family.

[smurf120]

Poor old monk - I wonder how much he understands of what's going on....

This episode is not making me dislike Green Girl (Ah Ke) any less....can we move on and bring Shang'er back? (Talking to Jin Yong, not you Foxs - still incredible translation!).

[smurf120]

Forgot - 1ST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs and welcome back!

[aliderhamy]

3rd

thanks foxs

[crazee]

Hi Foxs, Glad to have you back. Thanks again for the translation.

Oh yes, this green is really a tough nut to crack.
But she's quite a character. Determined and strong willed.

Yes! I miss shuang er....

[KChill]

Green needs to be put over WXB's knee and spanked...something that shouldve happened to her during childhood. Thanks Foxs......t-shirts at the beach??? C'mon man....

[foxs]

Smurf, Crazee, the girl is gone in this part. Sky, thanks. KChill, are you saying you were stark naked at the beach ... Ali, sorry I forgot to mention your name earlier.
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Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Do you remember all the moves that the Little Miss used?”

“I do,” Cheng Guan replied, “But to find techniques to deal with her that are simple, clear and easy to practice is indeed not easy.”

“Just remember the moves she used,” Wei Xiaobao said, “As for how to deal with her, we can think about it slowly, it won’t be too late.”

“Yes, yes,” Cheng Guan said, “Shishu’s direction is correct.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “After she has finished using all her punching and kicking skills, have her use her saber, and take note of her moves.”

“Right,” Cheng Guan said, “We must also remember her moves using a weapon. There is one difficulty though: her willow-leaf saber is stuck on the beam. I am afraid she cannot jump that high, she won’t be able to retrieve it.”

“What about you?” Wei Xiaobao asked, “Can’t you jump up to get it?”

Cheng Guan was startled, then he burst out laughing and said, “Shizhi is indeed muddle-headed.”

His laughter had awakened the girl. Propping herself up with both hands, she ran toward the door. Cheng Guan flicked his left sleeve to push the side of the girl’s body. The girl staggered and hit the wall. Cheng Guan flicked his right sleeve toward the wall to support her body gently. Instantly the girl was able to steady her footing. She was startled, and realized at once that in all honesty that the difference between her martial art and this old monk’s is simply too far. If she continued fighting, he would make a fool of her without her able to do anything. Thereupon she took two steps back and sat down on a chair.

“Uh,” Cheng Guan was puzzled, “You are not fighting anymore?”

The girl angrily said, “I am not your match, why would I want to fight you?”

Cheng Guan said, “If you don’t fight, how can I recognize the style you are using? How can I think of a way to counter that style? Quickly fight!”

The girl thought, “Fine, turns out you want me to fight so that you can understand my martial arts, I simply won’t let you know.” Suddenly she sprang up, her fists went straight up and down, waving wildly and hitting arbitrarily, her feet also kicked randomly, without using any technique at all.

Cheng Guan was greatly astonished. “Uh! Ah!” he exclaimed, “That’s odd! Strange! Ay! Wow! What’s that? Amazing! That’s weird!” He had a feeling that he had seen those moves before, but it also seemed that he had never seen them. Some moves seemed similar to certain school or sect’s style, yet the resemblance was so little, the difference was so great; the moves looked right, but felt wrong. In that instant his brain was overloaded with confusion. He felt that the martial arts he diligently and painstakingly accumulated over the dozens of years had suddenly changed, the moves he learned following the Heaven’s law and Earth’s principle, the golden rule and jade regulation, in a split second everything was shattered and nothing was left.

He did not realize that the girl did not move according to any martial art style, she was simply beating and kicking randomly. She knew that no matter what move she used, this old monk could not possibly harm her, at most he would only seal her acupoint so that she would lie down on the floor without being able to move at all, nothing more. If he really wanted to subdue her, it would be as easy as lifting his own hand. Even if she had used the most exquisite of martial art move, the result would be the same; so she might as well beating and kicking randomly. You want to study my martial art style, I simply won’t let you take a single glimpse.

Cheng Guan was very familiar with the world’s each school and sect’s martial art; however, he had never thought that in this world, there are millions of people who have never learned martial art, who, when they fight, if they want to punch they would simply punch, if they want to kick, they would simply kick. They do not understand any fist technique or kicking technique, do not know whether certain move is correct or wrong. Seeing the girl executing strange move and weird style, each one seemed more bizarre than the previous one, each one he had never seen in his entire life, each one he had never even heard about, he could not help but feeling frightened and was at a loss.

In all his life he had always lived inside Shaolin Temple, from the time he shaved his head he had never left the Temple’s gate even for a single step. Whenever someone was using his fist and feet in Shaolin Temple, naturally each move would follow some kind of style or technique; whenever someone was talking about each sect’s martial art, naturally he would mention some exquisite and original move. Everybody in the world would have seen people punching and kicking wildly like this little girl, only this Head of Bo’re Hall of Shaolin Temple, who was extremely knowledgeable in martial art, Cheng Guan Dashi [great master], had never seen anything like this, and had never heard people mentioning this either.

After watching a dozen more moves, he was even more stunned, he could not even sigh or say something like ‘strange, amazing, weird’, and so on. All kinds of styles came thick and fast before his eyes. “That looks like ‘Falling from Dragon Ride’ of Wudang’s Long Fist, but the style appears to be incorrect. Perhaps it is an alteration of Kongtong Pai’s ‘Dragon Prancing on the Cloud’? Uh, that kick looks even weirder, if she kicks straight out like that, the opponent could easily catch it, and grab her ankle. But in martial art study, greatly skillful person may not necessarily win over clumsy one, there must be an extremely formidable change that comes later. Ah, in this move she is grabbing with both hands, apparently she wants to grab my hair, but obviously I do not have any hair, so this move must be a fake one. Martial art study pays particular attention to solid in the midst of void, and void in the midst of solid. Why would she want to grab Buddhist monk’s hair? There must be a profound meaning behind this, I simply must consider the details carefully …” The more the girl moved arbitrarily, the more Cheng Guan was baffled. From being puzzled, his admiration slowly grew; from admiration, he slowly became frightened.

Wei Xiaobao could see that the girl was moving randomly, yet in all seriousness Cheng Guan was diligently watching and studying everything; he could not help but make a ‘Ha!’ sound as he broke into laughter. This laugh affected his wound, which became really painful that he could only clench his teeth trying to endure. In that moment pain and amusement mixed together, and it was really difficult to endure.

Cheng Guan was at a loss, anxious and perplexed, suddenly hearing Wei Xiaobao’s laugh, he blushed from ear to ear, thinking, “Shishu is laughing because I do not know this Nu Shizhu’s fantastic moves; perhaps he would ask her to be the Head of Bo’re Hall.” When he turned his head around, he saw Wei Xiaobao’s painful expression, and felt even more grateful, “Shishu is indeed kind-hearted, he wants me to hand over the Head position to this Nu Shizhu, but he cannot bear to say it.”

Seeing the girl’s punching and kicking was getting more and more chaotic, he thought, “The people of old said that when one has reached outstanding attainments in martial art, even hanging something on the antelope’s antler won’t leave any trace that’s possible to seek[?]. I heard that in the previous dynasty there was this Dugu Quibai [Dugu Seeking-a-loss] Daxia [great hero/knight], and then there was Linghu Chong Daxia, who defeat a move without a move; they were unequalled in their era. Could it be … could it be …”

He wanted to try, hence he stepped forward and casually punching and kicking, trying to overthrow the girl. However, when a martial art master is making his move, he must look clearly the opponent’s move first, and then thinking about a way to counter it later. Since he was already at a complete loss over the girl’s random punching and kicking, it was like a tiger cub that saw a donkey for the first time, terrified endlessly.

Actually, the girl did not dare to attack him. One was punching and kicking randomly with anger that was difficult to restrain, the other was having his imagination running wild while his heart was extremely frightened. After moving around randomly for quite a while, the girl’s hands and feet were exhausted and aching. Thinking that in any case it would be difficult for her to escape, her heart turned bitter, she swayed and abruptly sat down on the ground.

Cheng Guan was greatly shocked; he thought, “According to legend, when someone has trained martial art to an extremely high level, he could sit down on the ground and still injure the opponent from a distant. I am afraid … I am afraid …” His brain was overloaded with confusion; in his fright, his blood surged up, slowly he sat down and passed out.

The girl was startled but delighted; afraid that those two monks were setting up some sinister scheme, she did not dare to step forward and kill those old and young, two monks, but sprang up and ran out of the meditation room.

Suddenly seeing a woman rushing out, the monks of Bo’re Hall were taken by surprise. Without their superior’s order, who would dare to step forward and stop her? Wei Xiaobao was lying on the couch and could only watch helplessly.

After quite a while, Cheng Guan slowly regained his consciousness. With an ashamed expression he said, “Shishu, I … I am really ashamed to face our Temple’s forefathers and ancestors.”

Forcing a laugh, Wei Xiaobao said, “Where do you think you want to go?”

Cheng Guan said, “That Nu Shizhu’s martial art is exquisite, Shizhi did not recognize a single move, I am ignorant and inexperienced, I am really ashamed.” He tried hard to remember the girl’s style, but her moves changed irregularly without any pattern, completely without any set of rule he could follow; how could he remember it? Shakily he tried to stand up while supporting himself against the wall, but he almost faint again.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You … you think moving around wildly like that is an exquisite martial art? Ha ha … hee hee … this … this is so … so funny … I want to die!”

Cheng Guan was puzzled. “Is Shishu saying that … that was moving around wildly? And not … not exquisite martial art?”

Wei Xiaobao pressed down his wound and struggled hard not to laugh. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He could not refrain from coughing and said with a laugh, “That was something that … that all children in the world can do well. Ha ha … aiyo … I will die of laughter!”

Cheng Guan blew out a breath, in his heart he was still half believing half doubting, but a smile appeared on his face. “Shishu, was that really moving around wildly?” he asked, “How come I have never seen anything like that?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Naturally there has never been such martial art in Shaolin Temple.”

Cheng Guan stared at the ceiling and was lost in thought for half a day. Finally he slapped his thigh and said, “That’s right. Although that Nu Shizhu’s punching and kicking is peculiar, it is actually very easy to neutralize, we only need to use Shaolin Long Fist’s shallowest move to prevail. It’s just that … it’s just that Shizhi thought that there is no such easy thing like that in the world, great skill may appear as clumsiness, great intelligence may appear to be stupidity, good merchant may hide his treasure away so that no one knows about it. There must be a profound martial art principle hidden inside a style that looks extremely easy on the outside. Who would have thought that those random punching and kicking were not profound martial art at all? This is very strange. Why did that Nu Shizhu display such style, which seems to be unfit for elegant hall, in here? Won’t that means she was simply making a fool of herself?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “I think it’s not strange at all. She could not produce any new style, hence she simply moved her hands and feet randomly. Ay, ha ha … hee hee …” He could not help bursting into laughter again.

[Gubrak]

Thanks Foxs

[crazee]

Hi, Foxs, Thanks....

It seems that the girl ran away, but can she run away from WXB's mind?
I'll bet she will remain in his mind always after all he had been trying so hard to get her.

Really pity the monk....so innocent and being used by our hero.....

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

Finally gone! Let's get on with the story now.

[KChill]

Thanks foxs.

Finally gone! Let's get on with the story now.

Thanks Foxs! Not quite -- I was a bit to sober for that. Turns out the week after I return, I am caught up in an earthquake and a hurricane just a few days apart though! What a way to end the summer...

[SkyWalker]

Thanks Foxs! Not quite -- I was a bit to sober for that. Turns out the week after I return, I am caught up in an earthquake and a hurricane just a few days apart though! What a way to end the summer...

Definitely a summer to remember here in the Northeast. Scorching heat in July and then the surprised earthquake and hurricane. Thankfully not much damage done here in NYC.

[crazee]

Definitely a summer to remember here in the Northeast. Scorching heat in July

Halfway round the globe, it's also scorching heat and humid....