Christmas Tree 2011 (Union Square, San Francisco)
Merry Christmas to you all my dear friends.
Happy holidays!
Merry Christmas to you all my dear friends.
Snow in Bay Area?
Snow in September, in Bay Area! Impossible. This is just the salt deposit on stones.This beautiful shore appears on highway 84 on Dumbarton Bridge my way to work. Today I could not resist taking pictures. I was even hoping to get handful of sea salt. But I realized that real salt was bit far from my reach.
This area is always windy and if you are a bird watcher it's a fairly good spot. The birds will disappear soon after noon and comes back again in the evening. Their usual schedule. And the white salt lining can visible only this time of the year. When water label decreased and evaporated.
Not much to say. But continuous hot and warm days have been a bit frustrating. No indication of colder air flowing towards the Bay Area. Hope to get some rain soon.
Have a lovely week ahead and drive home safe.
The City
A shop in Haight-Ashbury (Hippies are long gone but this area is maintaining the culture as it was around 1960
We are almost at the last part of the summer so quickly, that past three month was accelerated bit first in my life. Mild cold was reminding me I have left my jacket at home. Who cares.
The fog, the clouds and the almighty is busy creating the stage for Fall to dance on it. It's San Francesco.
The energy of the city was on it's high and even though I visited from a suburb it took a minute to evolve in to the city ambiance. That's I like about San Francisco. No stranger feeling.
The melting pot of Art and Technology inclines the city towards new innovations. There are more then dozens of software company responsible for new innovations almost every field of human beings day-to day life. Actually, someone can see those visionary, dreamer and artists walking down the street.
Even though I am not too fanatical about murals, but I do admire the rich colors and deep thought behind each art. As morning slide down to noon, we went to the famous Balmy Alley. The Alley is famous for murals on it's wall. The painting are beautiful, thoughtful with positive messages to spread. Mostly about peace and global warming.
Their was an authentic Mexican restaurant located near the alley, that serves genuinely authentic Tacos. The fresh cooking small from their open kitchen was overpowering the whole place and spreads to the alley. We followed the irresistible smell and end of having their Tacos. Warm corn tortillas filled with spicy chicken that accompany with fresh lime and diced onion. The warm tacos absorbed some of the grilled chicken juice, that made them melting in my mouth. Well, it was simply the best Tacos I ever had.
We covered couple of other places in the city in the same day, after our lunch. I wish I could share some more picture and my own observation on the city, but I think it's enough for this time.
As the summer is almost ending and the nights are getting longer, I hope to get extra time to write and finish some of my important work. But twenty-four hours is the maximum we all can get and how to use them? It's a math.
A Beautiful Place!
We got the wonderful opportunity to volunteer in this Meyer's Estate Dry Creek Gardens, last Saturday. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and company of other volunteers was an amazing experience.
Roosters, hens and peacock and bunch of pigs are the proud residence of the garden. They are hospitable and tolerance to outsiders like us. I found many old and beautiful furniture, decorations, that have still the old charm and some story to tell that obviously I don't know. Just imagining how the place and the cottage could be a peaceful as will as vibrant place for the Meyer sisters who dedicate their life for social work and at the end donate the place to the park.
Here is a link you can read about the garden and it's history.
About the Garden
Wish you all a lovely week ahead.
My childhood's secret desire
To write novels. I still could not understand why?
When I was in 3rd grade I had a close friend two year younger then me. Among our many combined activities, reading comic books to her was the favorite one. My father is a voracious reader and he never was too tired to read me a book, before going to bed. "The Phantom" and "Mandrake, The Magician", both were in the top list. And both written by the same writer. While reading comic books to my little friend, if there is a hard difficult sentence, I tells the story from the illustration. But either case she thinks I am reading to her line by line. As long as reader and listener both are excited and walk with the story or with the writers mind, recognizing the words really not matter in high.
As I entered in high school I was not into stories, busy with school home work instead. but I remember I had never enjoyed Television.Those programs were too boring for me since my imagination was too colorful. I found myself deeply planning and thinking about writing a novel. On the back-end I was reading a lot and enjoy being lost incorporating my imagination, into stories.
When I was in High-school, started writing stories."Ghost" was my first published story. My best instant adviser was my older brother, who knows everything. I asked him how to approach the editor. He guided; just include a letter with the story and mention how you liked their magazine so much. Simply tell them they are the best. I did as instructed. It worked. After 15 day I got a free magazine with my story published. Then I wrote to another kids magazine.
This time the story name was "Two Cheater". Success. I got a free magazine once again. But I was not super delighted or something close to that. It's all because the burning desire for writing novels was too high, I overlooked the small success.
I remember I choose a name after "Gautama Buddha's" name, for my novel. I don't have any idea again why that specific name. But was not interested to writing for kids. May be I was too philosophical at my age.
I wrote some more children stories and notice them published. Then I tried writing stories about the problem in the society. Like unemployment and economical inferiority complex. In my first year of college I got a letter from a news paper editor that they liked my story about an unemployed guy and his feelings. They are going to published it. With that they mentioned, I should take my studies seriously though. Even though I don't like the second part but the letter was a big achievement. Really huge. I repeats the letter many time, slide my finger gently on the handwriting to feel it. Fresh from publisher. Eventually the letter got a place under my pillow that same night. I felt satisfied indeed.
Time past so fast before I realizing it. I was busy with studies and other hubbies. In the mean time, pursuing my desire to write novels had been omitted unintentionally. May be because writing novels was only my childhood desire.
Now after a lot of years, I discovered that writing was not just my childhood desire, it was my sole's prime purpose. While liberating myself, flying through the wings of letters recently wrote a children novel. It's a long process to see it published. Happy for now!
Keep writing!
An Old Farm!
The place was not far from my home. It was an old agricultural farm, turned into a delighted place for recreational activities, for people living nearby areas. Last Sunday it was a perfect afternoon with plenty of sun sign and mildly windy. We grabbed the water bottle and zipped out to see the horizon, to listen the wind and may be to experience the silence.
In between the silence I can here the Moo...from the cows grazing and relaxing, a few dozen yards and nothing else really matters in high but to watch, observe and admire the great creation...
There was also a display of old farming equipment and those machinery seemed so perfect for agricultural work.
Wind Energy
Dutch invented windmill and Americans gave it a twist. The final result is the huge windmills generating power. These windmill farm in the picture is hard to overlook on the Altamont Pass Road, between Livermore Valley and Tracy, in Northern California. The oldest windmill farm contains more then 4000 wind turbines captivity of 576 megawatt of annual electricity generation.
Talking about alternative energy source, these good old windmills comes first in the list. Here is one of the post where I had a chance to explore the organic toys and alternative source of energy, in a kids museum.
Organic Toys A View!
Ahh! I really like to see those dutch windmills in the city.
Happy New Year!
Happy Holidays!
Nothing is more welcoming then the trees are showering the shiny golden leaves at this time of the year. It looks marvelous indeed. We are already in the door step of new year.
I had a goal to complete a children website and lunch in Dec 2010. Sadly enough I have not reached the goal yet. Well, on my defense I can convince myself that I am on the track. But I know, that is an excuse. I am stuck in searching a domain name and also some legal part. I was assuming that the domain name part is the easiest one but having a real hard time finding one. Its seems like any name I touched are already taken.
I learned the lesson in a hard way that "the most easy job in the planet is really hard".
Happy Holidays! to you all and please wish me luck for finding a domain name!!
Rain
Last Sunday we got rain. A lot. The raindrops were huge. It was windy. Muddy too. An opening the door a slight, could dominants your presence with flash of wind with microscopic water particles. Feeling of moist and little wet, not bad at all. Rainwater had been streaming down the street, with dry lives and god knows what else. But one thing for sure, a virtual water park had been created within my visual distance.
Have a lovely weekend!
Have a lovely weekend!
Halloween-My Experience!
The name of the Apartment was Broadmoor, in Minnesota. Surrounded by tall trees some of them were maple. They were hibernating to face the frozen lonely winter. I arrived to The Broadmoor at the middle of the Minnesota winter, where some days, the wind chill falls dangerously low, which was enough to turned your finger blue in a minute. It was my first snowy winter experience in Minnesota. I watches those trees form my big bay view window on fourth floor, which was apparently the last floor. After my Hubby left for the office and in between my house works. I was new to the country and newly married. I felt like, I got a fever which called new. The air even seemed new to me.
The Broadmoor mostly occupied by retired old tenants. It was a comfortable living arrangement with library in the Third floor and indoor swimming pool, a green house where you can get your hands dirty. Each floor decorated by good looking chairs with foot rest, conference tables, artificial trees in between the settings and beautiful curtains, which obviously was giving a rich look to the Broodmore, from inside. Outside...
But still, there was something unseen, unexplained fear building inside me in my own apartment. I tried to get outside as many times as I could, I would or even I went to my husbands office with him in the excuse to get out from the apartment. But at the nights. Me again stuck in that six-hundred square feet apartment.
Thump...Thump...Thump...A thumping noise interrupted us around 12 o'clock at night. The source was from the roof top. My husband said teasing me," ghost!... trying to enter through the roof top, because no one can enter without a key to the apartment building". He added in a ghostly voice," It is called secured apartment".
The teasing was frightening enough since I had been already developed sufficient amount of fear about the apartment. Next day...the noise arrived at same time...another day passed...
We talked about the noise on the dinner. On the phone. On a drive. With friends. It eventually, get qualified for our hot discussion list.
We went to the twenty four hour manager office which was in the first floor and asked her about the noise. She looked at us with wide eye raised eyebrow. Then said, an old lady died in your apartment, before you moved in. That was it.
It's now my turn to raised the eyebrow. She added," may be her ghost is still there, but, she was not a trouble maker and nothing to worry about it". We eventually moved from that apartment to a more open and brighter one. But, I am still unsure about the ghost of the old lady or its my inner feelings about the fever called new.
Literacy Celebration!
Books, Cotton Candies, Free Balloons, Popcorn and Puppet show! We got it all, at our local library in the last day of summer literacy celebration. Kids were whirling at the booths like honey bees at the flower.
Oh..! I did not mention, they were having face painting too. The glittery butterfly was the most common one all most every kids had on their cheeks.
The balloons had logos on it "Read, Learn, Write", the traditional and effective mantra to achieve knowledge. There is not any short cut. At least, until now.
Grownups were even more amused then ever, by resting their eyes on the books they liked. Paperbacks were one dollar. Who cares Borders, at least for some time.
Morning Walk With Nature!
The smell of hot tea is soothing. My eyes are still watery. It's 5 o' clock in the morning. Usually I don't get up so early. That's my little luxury, may be a lot . But this morning I had decided to go for a walk, early. The morning breeze was smelling like an unknown Chinese herbal tea that you could not figure out the exact smell but loved it. Besides the morning breeze there ware many things caught my attention. I met with a squirrel, who was almost lost in the process of opening a nutshell in the middle of the road. I noticed a lovely Weathercock on the roof of a cute empty seasonal shop, I vaguely had noticed it before though.
Most probably, by preparing their wooden stove, crews of neighborhood burger shop were getting ready for their early bird customers. The woody smoke had been coming out from the chimney, creating a environment of food is ready, what more you want.
As I walked by passing tall trees, bushes and wild poppies on the side walk, finally I decided to spend sometime seating on the frosted grass of Gurudwara Indian sikh Temple. Since it has been on an up-hill, the morning mood of the town can be viewable.
It felt like, layer of morning clouds, the lonely roads and everything else around has freshly woke up after a good night sleep.
I returned back with a refreshment of mind and body. It was the best walk, I can say without any doubt.
Happy Fall, every one!
Books...
I received my books yesterday by mail. These had been in my wish list, while talking to my husband I had mentioned last week. Wish full filled. He was kind enough to place the order, and surprised me.
I had first introduced to Laura Hendrie's "Remember Me" at our local library. While surfing in the bookshelf, I touched the very first book remember me. Subconsciously I had been started reading. And reading...
Other two I got are Stephen King's " On Writing", and " The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon".
Let me know which book you are reading.
The Looks...
It's been a very hot and humid week here in California. And I must say it is even harder for this little kitty who has born here in the gap of the fence. There were three of them, but I discovered only one, since the other two are adopted by local kids. They have a unique ability of recognizing the trust, between them and the human being. Even though born being homeless I noticed they are very self respected. Of course they love to have milk, but only after using all their charms and tricks. And after developing a reasonable amount of reasons and excuses for me to love them.
In fact they don't know and they will never know that I fell in love with them, at first sight. As I am writing this post the last kitty in the picture has been adopted by a kid already.
Have a wonderful weekend.
A Lovely Break!
There was not any defined propose for my sudden zipping down, towards the nearby trail. But to closely observe the vanishing summer and slowing down my regular working process, might be an appropriate answer. Earlier this week I have been realizing that juggling between Ideas, talent, goals and work simply produce nothing but severe back-pain and one more thing to add is, seating in a wrong posture for many hours in-front of the laptop, is calling another disaster. So, I took a break.
Soon after I reached the nearby trail (my all time favorite spot). I realized that it's about to get dark soon. I was anticipating a little music from the geese band resides in the nearest lake that accompany great with the chirping of home bound birds. As I walked down towards the lake, the dominating view of waving water with reflecting sun rays, was waiting for me. I gladly encountered a perfect light and sound show from the nature.
I decided to come down here frequently, for the sake of a perfectly lovely break.
Andaman Islands!
One of the remote beaches in Andaman Island (India)
It may look like the surface of Mars, but this is one of the many spectacular beaches in Andaman Island (India). Dead and live corals have swept away from the sea because of the tide.
Ah.. it's lovely here, at this beach. The whole time I was there, I passed over all the happenings in my life. Feeling the wet sand, touching corals, colorful stones or live seashells, no wonder I was well enough in myself. I wondered if I could remotely work from here. But this is practically impractical. So with a positive force, I had to pulled myself back to the civilization, with as many pictures as I could take for my memory.
Native people (Jarawa) are still living in those Islands without the sensitive skins of modern civilization. They are self-content, believe and depend on nature. This tribe is under government protection and also hard to find them.
Even though there is no real boundary between the coconut field, but the village folks know which tree belongs to whom. No one touches, if a coconut is lying down on the ground, except the owner of that tree.
Even-though they resemble stones (those three together), they are not. In fact they are the seeds of some kind of tree I found on the beach (Port Blair, India).
The boats are little bit different, as the balance is added to the boat by another wooden structure.
The Fishing BoatHope you all have a lovely weekend.
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