濕冷苦寒的黃昏，更念吐露港的白鷺，正值牠們慣常覓食的時間，趁到海邊蹓躂，順道看看牠們可安好。
走在往濱海的橋上，雨後的濕冷拂得頭臉赤麻，放學的、買菜的、下班的，都希望趕回好歹比外面暖和的家去，沒人有心情駐足細看橋下時有的獨特風景，只有我這類閒人，每回路過，總像不見鄰里不心安，冀尋鷺踪。
果然，在陰冷的河面上散浮的兩隻休業龍舟前沿，已各站一鷺，其一竟是夜幕低垂後方出現的夜鷺，另一是小白鷺，日夜作息各異的鷺鳥同時出現，實在少有，許是夜鷺不敵嚴寒，顧不得夜幕未垂，提早出動覓食。
雪白的小白鷺與黑背灰腹的夜鷺，各安其位，分立兩舟，順應著水流與魚踪，牠們間會換個位置，時而背向，時而同向，鷺愛立在水面上任何構築物的前沿，以便高瞻遠矚，追踪獵物，牠們會保持站姿，紋風不動，如僧入定，其實牠們並沒有發呆，只是需要安靜專注，方可察得水流中小魚游踪，魚兒一旦游近，牠們便瞬速撲擊，在水面上劃過凌亂水紋後，無論捕獲與否，旋即退回原位，保持一貫姿勢，再度等候，百折不撓；日復一日，每天一場又一場的垂釣守候，便是牠們的獨特的修行。因此，若我們只匆匆路過，便會誤認鷺鳥太過木納優閒，不種不收，懶散渡日。可是，今天牠們略為多動，也許天寒易餓，故此不再好整以睱，比平常較多改換姿位，虎視河面以下的魚游踪影，稍有發現，便趨前俯看，稍作研判，立即出擊。但今天太冷，魚兒也不游浮水面，兩鷺等候良久，均無所獲。
我在橋上看著，見小白鷺在隱隱流動的寒風中，苦候無果，但仍堅守陣地，忽然一陣冷風拂過，小白鷺一身鬆垮垮的羽毛如柳絮散亂，顯露了纖細的鳥軀，看似幼弱，堅立卻如磐石。龍舟上這一灰一白兩鷺，看得我暗生一陣感動，靠天吃天，靠水吃水，是生物的本能，飛鳥有巢，狐狸有洞，雖歷惡劣天氣，三餐不繼，但各安其本，各捕其魚，不相爭，不急躁，魚來便吃，魚不來便守，從不屯糧，每天的佇立守候成為牠們獨特的修行，生命雖比人類短促，但終生以天為幕，以樹營巢，以海生活，以等候渡日，練就一番世外高人似的性情，不徐不疾，不慍不火，平靜篤定的從容氣派。
回家路上，偶見街市外沿偶會出現的磨較剪的老漢，緊繞著腿坐在小板椅上，身旁的工具箱散亂地放著，頭上緊繫著一張行山用的舊頭布，眼睛冷得瞇緊，動也不動，似是守候微不足道的生意，也似在堅持生活的剩餘尊嚴。在即棄的年代，手藝早已不能維持生活，喊叫磨較剪剷刀巳成絕唱，靠天不成，靠地不容，靠人更難，老漢像那河中龍舟上的鷺，有一餐，算一餐。
想起幼學瓊林說，洪荒世代，野處穴居，有巢之後，上宇下棟......。工業革命之後三百年，
憶起前時在以農為主的台東小住，常聽得百姓口頭禪:[夠生活便算了。]，不多求，故不為虛妄而營役，靠天靠地，倒也優悠。
The Words from a Heron Watcher
It was a cold and wet evening, and I missed the egrets in Tolo Harbour, as it was their usual feeding time.
As I walked along the bridge towards the waterfront, the wet and cold after the rain made my face numb, and those who were leaving school, shopping for groceries and leaving work all hurry back home where it was at least warmer than outside.
I saw a night heron over the bridge that usually appeared after nightfall, and the other was a little egret.
There were always two dragon boats lying on the river. The snowy egret and the black-backed, grey-bellied night heron each stand in their position, in two separate dragon boats. They change position from time to time, sometimes backwards, sometimes forward, in response to the current and fish tracks. Once the fish is coming closer by the tide, the heron will pounce instantly, and after making a messy stroke on the surface of the water. Whether they catch it or not, they will return to their original position, maintaining the same posture and waiting again, never giving up. So if we were to pass by in a hurry, we would mistake the herons for being too passive and leisurely, not sowing or reaping, lazing around.
However, today they were a little more active, perhaps they were cold and starving, so they were no longer in their usual position. The egret changed its posture more often than usual, watching for fish below the river's surface. But it was a cold day, and the fish were not swimming on the surface.
As I watched from the bridge, I saw the little egret waiting in vain, but its persistence in this extreme weather touches me.
One grey and the other white, the two egrets on the dragon boat were a fantastic picture. Although their life is shorter than humans, they take the sky as their shelter, trees as their nest, the sea as their hunting place and the sun as their clock and directions. They have developed a living style that they only rely on nature, not by their efforts. When the night falls, even they did not eat enough, they must fly home. Tomorrow will be another day.
On my way home, I occasionally saw an older man sharpening shears. He sat on a small bench with his toolbox beside him. He has an old head cloth for hiking tied to his head to keep himself warm. His eyes were in a puzzle as he was waiting for his customers. The older man is like a heron, his life must move on with uncertainty, and so do we.
The older man is like the egret on the dragon boat in the river, he has one meal, but he has one meal. I remembered from my early schooling, Qiong Lin, that the flood generation lived in the wilderness caves. Three hundred years after the Industrial Revolution.
In the post-industrial era, people may think that they no longer need to rely on nature; the human being can create everything they need.
I recall that when I lived in Taitung, a farming town, I often heard the people's mantra: [We don't need much to live on]. It means that "I didn't ask for more, so I didn't work for fame, and I only relied on the creator."
If we define happiness by the state of life, the egrets live a much better life perched on the trees than we do in the high risings.
