Pesum Porchithiramae ! - #7

With the trips to a couple of National Parks and the canyons, the "park ranger" bug caught the elder one. We got him a small ranger tool - a whistle, compass, thermometer, flash light etc etc all in one. Not one to get left out, the little one also made sure she got one for herself and started to furiously work on her compass reading skills like her brother. On our way back from the Grand Canyon trip, we stopped at Hoover Dam. In the elevator ride from the bottom of the power station, it took a while for us to reach the ground. Surrounded by people and no sense of direction inside, she decided to put her compass to use during the elevator ride up. She took one glance at it and proudly declared "We are going in the north direction!" Can anyone confirm or deny ?

This last experience involving the little one ended up being a delicate, queasy moment for the entire family. Somewhere between Las Vegas and Barstow, we stopped at a road side business strip for gas. On the way back to the highway, we were at an intersection. Some distasteful local bunch had decided to install a totally nude male statue there. My wife, in her anger, blurted out her displeasure at the scene. Only then apparently the kids noticed while I desperately tried to speed up from that place. We realized the damage was officially done when the little one commented "Oh..., that's how boys are!"  Both me and my wife pretended we didn't exist for a while. 

Pesum Porchithiramae ! - #6

A summer road trip this year to Grand Canyon area led to some cute memorable comments from our little 5yr old daughter.

* On our way to Page, AZ, we stopped at the Native American thrift shops selling Indian artifacts and crafts. The "Dream Catcher" caught my eye and was inquiring about its legend. Apparently the little one had heard about it already and explained to me how it is supposed to catch bad dreams during sleep. Then all of sudden with a stern face she declared "But it doesn't work!". We didn't know how to react with the shop keeper and others watching us. Upon asking further, she clarified that she had made one such dream catcher in her Kindergarten art class and that night, she apparently still got a bad dream in her sleep and hence lost the trust that the "Dream Catchers" work ! Who can argue with that ?

* Our next stop that day happened to be the famous Horse Shoe Bend on Colorado (see picture). While breathtaking a view for sure it was, I was constantly worried about the lack of any railing protecting the overlook. I held the younger one tightly and let her peep down the few hundreds feet of abyss to see the bend. Down below, were people camped out in the floor with their tents/rafts visible from up top and we were commenting about that. Our little one couldn't fathom the idea of depth she was witnessing but made sure she joined the conversation "But why are they so small ? Are they LEGO people ?". We didn't bother to correct her and just enjoyed the stress-busting comment.

Pixel Poems #12

Finally got the chance to visit Sri Swaminarayan Temple in Chino Hills. Beautiful creation. The inside of the temple was just fine craftsmanship on marble but no photography allowed. Also met some old college days  friends there by chance which made the occasion even better. The picture with the California palms in front of ancient Indian style wood work carvings on the front wall of the visitor center  provided an interesting juxtaposition of the cultures.

Crib View

If this is the "view" from the place I am mostly in, I would be crying too !! 

Colors through Colors..

Halloween Art at Home

Rain Art

This happens to be my 100th Blog post. Evening showers in my town inspired me to capture some Rain Art. I have given two of my favorites below. For the entire set, refer to my Flickr Set here

Pixel Poems - #6

Foggy Christmas Morning

Solitude

Pixel Poems - #3

Pixel Poems - #2

I have never bothered to think too much about the non-dairy creamer my office has in the coffee break-rooms excepting that they are a poor substitute to milk and I have put up with that for many years now. Recently when putting creamer into a cup using a plastic spoon, I noticed the creamer leaving a rather fine art in the spoon. Initially I thought it was something engraved in the spoon. But its the creamer powder still sticking to the spoon. Each day it was different. I captured two of them here with my cellphone camera. Notice the fern plant like pattern drawn by the creamer.

Pixel Poems - #1

Bamboo door and Conifer leaves - symbol of Japan and its local fauna - at Japanese Garden at Balboa Park, San Diego.