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         我是比爾·斯垂佛，一位54歲的作家和三個女孩的父親。還有，比爾·斯垂佛是位激光光學物理的博士，可那不是我，我們只是同名，可是我最近還收到一封寄給他的郵件，而他1990年就去世了。我一直住在紐約州，我極少旅游。我去過幾次加拿大，假期里曾去過佛羅里達。而我最好的回憶是小時候那次去阿里桑拉沙漠。

Bill Streifer in 2008
© 2008 Bill Streifer & National History
國家歷史
ScideaNews.com

 
         My name is Bill Streifer, a 54 year old author and father of three girls. Although Bill Streifer, a PhD in laser-optics physics, and I share the same name, we are not related. Until recently I received his mail even though he has been dead since 1990.

         I have always lived in New York State in the United States, and have rarely traveled. I have been to Canada several times, as well as Florida on vacation. But my best memories are my visit to the Arizona desert as a child. In Flagstaff, Arizona I saw several famous astronomical observatories, and thirty-five miles east of Flagstaff, I visited Meteor Crater, the site of a large, well-preserved meteor strike in the desert -- some 50,000 years ago. Although I tried to fight the temptation, I took home a piece of rock the size of a skull from the bottom of Meteor Crater. To this day, I believe that "rock" was actually a piece of nickel-iron meteor. I have since lost it, so there is no way to test my theory. My understanding is that 50,000 years ago, Arizona was not a desert at all, but rather a woodland, inhabited by woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths, and camels.

         For the past five years or so, I have lived in Long Beach in New York State which has a population of 35,000 people. It is located about 26 miles (42 km) from the World Trade Center in New York City, and 12 miles (19 km) from John F. Kennedy Airport. It is walking distance from the Atlantic Ocean, a beautiful white beach, and a 2.2 mile (3.5 km) long wooden boardwalk. I learned in geology class that when ice moved down from Canada during the Ice Age, it carried bedrock along with it, and stopped just north of my city. Therefore, the land around Long Beach is smooth and level, while the terrain a few miles north is jagged and hilly.

         Several of the residents of Long Beach are of Chinese descent, including the mother of Yo Yo Ma (馬友友), the world famous cellist. Although he was born in France, his mother was born in Zhejiang Province. The postal worker at the Long Beach Post Office was born in Hong Kong. Derek Jeter, the shortstop for the New York Yankees baseball team, also owns a home in Long Beach.

         Of all my accomplishments, I am most proud of my three children – all girls. The youngest is a high school student. Her favorite subjects are art and meteorology. My middle daughter is in college, with hopes of becoming a lawyer one day. My oldest daughter is currently working toward her Master's Degree in Diplomacy, while working at APEC -- the Asian Pacific Economic Consideration -- in Melbourne, Australia. The goal of APEC is to encourage trade and cooperation between its member nations. China and the United States are both members of APEC. She plans on studying business in China later this year.

         I would like to share the history of Long Beach with you. Today, it is a "modern city" but its buildings, except for apartment houses, are no taller than three stories high. It is quite different than the city nearby, New York City, which has over 8 million inhabitants with numerous steel-and-glass skyscrapers, between 50 and 100 stories high.

         Long Beach's first inhabitants were American Indians who sold the area to colonist in 1643. Long Island's nickname is "The City by the Sea" and it became an official city in 1922. It is located on a 118 mile long island referred to as, of course, Long Island. Long Island is one of the few islands on the Earth visible from space. I like to think that the American astronauts in 1969 could have seen Long Island from the surface of the Moon, but they probably didn't take the time from their busy schedule to do so.

HighRes.Image.

Lauren STREIFER & John HOWARD.
      Bill STREIFER: "It is a photograph of my daughter, Lauren Streifer, with the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard. It was taken last year. Two years ago, Lauren worked in the Australian Consulate in Melbourne, Australia."
© 2008 Lauren STREIFER, John HOWARD & National History. Used by permission.

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Long Beach, New York, USA. 5 March 2008. (GMT-05:00).
Photograph by Bill STREIFER.
      Notes by Bill: "Here is the photo of Long Beach. I took it today. It shows the Atlantic Ocean, the beach, the boardwalk, and some apartment buildings. In the winter (now), the beach is empty. In the summer, however, it is filled with thousands of swimmers, surfers, sun bathers, volleyball players, and children."
Copyright © 2008 Bill STREIFER & National History. Used by permission.

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Bill Streifer, an author, now he is living in Long Beach in New York State, USA. Recently, he wrote "Professor Conundrum's Mysteries!", a math book for students disguised as four mystery stories.
Homepage: www.profconundrum.com Email: photografr7@yahoo.com

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Invited 20080302. Received 20080303. Online 20080304. Final 20080306. Chinese translated by LP.    
Copyright  © 2008 National History 國家歷史  ScideaNews.com