deponti

I suddenly decided, if I could make "kOlams" for our festivals, why not one for Independence Day?

I was walking along Delmar Loop when I saw a street artist with some chalk. I didn't like his work at all, but paid him a few dollars for his trouble, and then bought two chalk crayons from him. One was yellowish-white and one was blue on one side and pinkish red on the other: I knew I had the material to create my own 4th of July kOlam:




That shadow is me, documenting my own work! Sorry, I could do only 9 stars, the other 41 will have to be imagined!


Happy Independence Day, all you Americans. And one day in advance, happy birthday to idahoswede, who is off on a boating trip having a great time!

The sun starts dipping towards the west...




( if you want to watch some sunset scenes... )


And as night fell, it gathered light to itself, to reflect it and shed moonlight in the skies...



That last pic was taken on the MLC2 by chaibacca....yes, he will be accepting compliments!

I cannot understand the fact that advertisements are now totally associated in our minds with fiction...we treat them as a form of entertainment, and often remember ads even when we don't remember the products they are supposed to be promoting.

An ad, in the distant, innocent past, started out to be a description of the goods to be sold; but now, between fraudent and exaggerated claims, celebrity endorsement, slick ad film-making, and special effects, ads often purvey more fantasy than other forms of fiction.

Why have we condoned this dishonesty? We know that Mr Show Rook Cone is most certainly NOT driving a Santro, that Ms. Amma Moll Ini is not thinking of the purity of water in her home being dependent on ABC water purifier...then why do we look at these stupid ads? Why do celebrities get obscene six-figure amounts for lying about products that they do NOT use?


I also take exception (though I love reading the dreamy prose) to the hyped-up descriptions on the cartons of stuff that we buy. Have you ever seen a shampoo bottle that says it will clean your hair and that's it? No, of course not, every shampoo will add sheen and gloss and make your hair thicker and stronger until Tarzan can use it instead of his jungle vines....I challenge any shampoo to make my hair fly like that, when it's all of 3 inches long...

What brought this on were the boxes of cereal at home. Do the boxes just list the ingredients as just oatmeal, or banana, or pecan, or whatever? Oh noooooooo, how could the copywriters survive then?

Here's a quotation from two of the cereal boxes:

Apple Caramel/Pecan Crunch:

"Welcome to where apple orchards and pecan groves meet. A sweet, flavorful harvest of crisp apples and roasted pecans, made even more delicious with the added richness of caramel baked oat clusters and nutritious whole grain wheat flakes. An indulgence that comes from a canopy of shady trees..."


Apple orchards? Pecan groves? Here in the suburbs where each family has a small plant-trying-to-be-a-tree and 1.5 cars and 1.75 kids? I am NOT in any canopy of shady trees, the only thing that I see that's shady is the ethics of prose like this...



Cranberry Almond Crunch:

"It's a curious fact. The firmer and fresher the cranberry, the higher it bounces. That's why cranberries under the 'bounce test'. If you drop cranberries onto wooden boards, the best berries bounce into the air. We specially select cranberries to accompany....buttery-tasting almonds..."


I totally REFUSE to believe that at the assembly line in this cereal-making factory, there are dozens of people throwing cranberries, and picking up the ones which have bounced off the wooden floor and adding them to the pack. Yeugh, I don't want the bounced-off-the-floor berries in any case.

Great Grains (Raisins, Dates and Pecans):

"Funny thing about raisins. They just love hanging out there on the vine (oh, Happy Raisins!) basking in the sun. Because the longer they stay o the vine, the sweeter, plumper and juicier they get. ...we specially select our raisins for our flavorful (oh, favorite word!!) medley of naturally sweet dates (you mean there are some with sugar injected into them?), nutty pecans (not as nutty as the copywriter)...." Oh, and what happens to these Happy Raisins when the pickers come? You can probably hear them screaming for mercy, miles away, shouting, "Let us get just a little more sweeter, plumper and juicier!"....


Every single product on the supermarket shelves carries some romantic, sugar-spun tale like this and it makes me wonder...where DO all the ordinary (or sub-standard)veggies and produce go? If EVERY tomato that I buy is sun-ripened and "lives on the vine until it's bursting with flavour" (makes me think of a terrible red explosion), if every piece of meat is tender and juicy, where are all the rest? What do you mean, there is NO b-grade produce any more?

And the photography for the ads....I read that often they use completely different stuff (NOT the food that it's supposed to be) so that the food will look good...look better, in fact, than the real thing!


Excuse me, my grand-daughter (naturally raised and organically delivered) is awake (no stimulants used) and demanding her all-green (er, sorry, white), Mother Natur produced dairy product from the honey-brown...er...skin...of her Earth Mother...

One of her dresses announces on the front, "My baby loves green"...HER baby? she's all of two months old herself...and anyway, if it's she who loves green, it's no wonder that she often fills her nappies (organically grown, unbleached, pre-used to a fine softness, Indian cotton...which means, KM and a friend's old dhoties) with a lot of green...


What irks me more is, why can't *I* get a job writing this kind of bilge? I could laugh all the way to the beautiful, shady, eco-friendly, save-the-wildlife bank...

Here are two snaps that I like; they are both of birds on buildings, but it's the photographs that I like...









Some of the detailing on the buildings and houses that I pass on my morning walk are so beautiful. An artistic touch speaks of the pride of the workman in the job being done...

Amazingly,someone actually had a sculpture of me enjoying my morning walk!

( want to see that? )

I do enjoy the lack of dust, the good roads, the right of way that the pedestrian always has, the pathways that are there on all roads....oh, there's a lot of things about my morning walk that I will miss when I go back to India!

The fireflies put on their light-without-sound show every evening, and yesterday, one of them got into the house. I did a catch-and-release, but before the release part, I took a photograph:






And here's an article about fireflies in today's New York Times...they apparently have their own light-based Morse Code!

Here's a June beetle (this seems to be bug season...everywhere I find "bug traps" and tips in the newspapers on how to deal with insects:



Here's another beauty that I found on the porch this morning:



Wow, what a variety of appearances!

Where does her appeal lie?
In her cheek, or in her eye?
Can someone tell me why
I feel so strong a tie
As she listens (wide awake) to my lullaby?

On LJ, as on other social networking/blogging sites, "friends" need not always be *friends*, I heard someone say. But for me, that doesn't work. Friends have to be friends. Most of my LJ friends are actually people whom I have met face-to-face, whether before or after they have become my friends on LJ. And many, whom I have not met, I email or call on a personal basis!

So today I would like to talk about some friends on LJ, who are A's.

One A, whose real name does not begin with A, but whom I have come to refer to by her LJ name. She delights me, because she lives so thoroughly in the moment, and absorbs and enjoys her surroundings through all her senses...and writes so well about the experience. She has a great sense of fantasy; sketches, paints, and photographs those fantasies, too! She's a real delight, and very rarely do I find negative posts on her blog.... thank you for being my friend, asakiyume.

One A, whom I befriended because I thought he was a birder, always writes very well; he is a very good wordsmith, and is always honest about himself and his experiences, at work or elsewhere. I enjoy his short poems a lot. It's been nice to get to know him personally, and his delightful wife, who is also an A. Thank you, birdonthewire.

One A, who is really an A, started commenting on my posts, and then I found that she posts a lot of stuff that I like very much, particularly when it comes to film music! She's a person who has braved adversity, and yet has not lost her sunny outlook on life! Thank you, inspirethoughts.

One A, who is an A both on LJ and in real life, is a very interesting and complex person. He does a lot of pro bono work in the fields (pun intended) that he is interested in, and is interested in a lot of varied things, too. He's helped me so much with a lot of software stuff, and often disagrees with me about a lot of things....and the debates are fun! Thank you, anushsh.

One A, who is also an A BOLJAIRL (Both On LJ And In Real Life), is someone I met on a wildlife trip, and with whom I share my love of wildlife, and whose photographic skills I really appreciate. I have watched him go through ups and downs, and grown into a confident person...he's always sent me great music, and his sense of humour is infectious. Thank you, amoghavarsha.

Wow, let me stop right here before the list grows any longer.

You know, I started this list with one A, and kept adding to it...because each of my friends on LJ is very special in unique ways....!

What will they do
When they meet again?
Walk quietly in the park.
Let the silences speak.
Hold hands in the dark.
Let happiness wash off the pain
Of separation.
Shed a few tears.
Trembling, emotional,weak,
Speak of their fears
That their meeting would be too
Tough after the preparation.
Find each other the same.
Whisper each other's name.
Experience a little bliss
As they exchange a kiss.
Let one's joy pour into the other's heart
Erase the pain of having been apart.

inspirethoughts..how do you like my romantic verse? "mein shAyar thO nahin..."!

( more about 'milan'.... )

Of the eight rasAs, shringAra rasA, or romantic love, is divided into two: yOga shring!r and viyOga shringAr: love in the forms of being together, and of separation.

...well, after my usual morning walk, I came back with the papers, and read in the St Louis Post-Dispatch that there would be a walk to help defeat ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease ...the most famous person suffering from this disease is Stephen Hawking , which shows how important it is to find some treatment or cure for this disease.

On the spur of the moment, I decided that having missed so many walks and meets for various causes in Bangalore, I would go for this.

The Visitors' Center in Forest Park was the starting point, and that's just a shade over a mile from home. Well..."shade" is the WRONG word to use for today's walk. The temperature certainly FELT like a hundred degrees, even though it might not have been...and though I had what I call my "firefighting equipment" ready (parasol, photochromatic glasses, a nice summery hat, a full water bottle, and a wad of damp tissue that I kept passing over my face and neck), it was NOT an easy walk!

Walking is SO pleasant in cool weather...and sooo enervating in hot and humid climes!


Well, here's one of the posters at the venue:



And one that puns on the fact that we were using our feet:




( read about the ALS walk )

However, the most telling poster against ALS, that progressive disease, was this one:





It was awfully hot, but I enjoyed that walk as I have not enjoyed aimless ones!

Having walked all over Forest Park when I read in the local newspaper that there would be a guided walking tour in the Park, I could not miss the opportunity

Tuesday was the only day they had a walk in the evening...with the temperatures in the high 90's, there was no way I was going walking in Forest Park at 10 am or 1 pm!

I was at the Visitors' Center at five minutes to six, and met Harry Leip, a volunteer, whom you can see just outside the Center as we started our walk:






Yes, indeed he was Harry Leip:




( some more images.... )


Oh, well, it was the end of another day!

http://www.z100.com/cc-common/news/sections/special/michaeljackson/


He was such a mixed-up person...but his prodigious talent was undeniable. I hope he has finally found peace...


In his memory, one of my personal favourites:





I remember an old joke where a parent was trying to explain to the child about God. "God...is neither black, nor white, neither male nor female, neither good nor bad...." The child thought a little, and said, "Oh! God is Michael Jackson!"

People move on...it's wise
To release someone,and realise
That it's not that they like you less
It's just a game of chess
Where the action has moved
From the square where you stand.
Something has been removed
Someone's flying onwards; you are still bound to the land.


The boat floats past, that's its nature:
The riverbank cannot think of the boat as its own.
Once again, one's alone...
To know this is to be mature:
Rather give thanks for what one had,
Wish the other person well,
Than hold on to the past, and be sad,
Repine... and suffer more than one can tell.

When a bird wants to fly, it flutters in your hand;
It might tarry a little if you hold it tightly;
You cannot hold it long, you have to understand...
Let go when you feel the flutter even slightly.

Friendships come to an end,
The leaves fall from the tree:
To accept this, and continue to be a friend
Can show how the level of one's maturity.
To accept the passage of time is wise...
But...so many people are otherwise.

I know squirrels are extremely common animals, and are sometimes regarded as pests, but they are so interesting to watch!

They watch you from the ground...




They watch you as they climb the tree quickly, to get out of your way...




They continue watching you carefully after they are in the tree (oh, I really loved photographing that beady little eye!)





But when they *think* you're not watching....they do have fun!





And..you want to know what traction is?







Here's asakiyume's post about a squirrel and his tail...

I really wish I could write fantasy the way she, or inspirethoughts, do...but I guess I am a very factual and dry person; my fantasy life is very poor indeed!

Sometimes I don't need to go into Forest Park at all, to see interesting birds...it so happened that this morning I decided to take along MLC2 (the weather seemed Not Rainy and Not Too Humid) and it was great, as I saw three DOWNY WOODPECKERS jumping around on a tree-trunk, on the Metro Rail bank, near a bridge that I was crossing.....I managed to get a FP (Foozly Photograph) of one:




And then quickly set MLC2 to movie mode and got this quick burst before they all disappeared:





here's what the Wiki entry says about these birds.

Why are they called "downy", I wonder? Is it because of the down feathers they have, or does the word come from the Old English "down" which means hill, or is there a reference to their ability to quickly hop out of sight...."downy" has a meaning of "savvy, smart"?.... I don't know...

Folks..meet Karen of Crane Creek, El Portal, Yosemite National Park.




In fact, given that the population of El Portal is....wait for it...635, I was wondering, why not rename Crane Creek as Karen Creek? :)

I had met Karen when Uma , a fellow NTP member, introduced me to her when we went birding in Nandi Hills


Here's more info about them .


On Saturday May 30th, yathin decided that we would see as much of Yosemite as we could before coming back to roost for the night, so by the time I reached the Amstutz home, it was past 10.30pm! Things were not helped by our mistaking another house for that of the Amstutzes and having that homeowner (Karen says he is quite grouchy...trust us to pick the only grouchy neighbour, possibly, in El Portal!) tell us he didn't know where the Amstutzes lived (they lived some houses away!)....so I just went in and crashed, and decided to have all the interaction in the morning...but even in my tired state, the beauty of the guest room (they have enclosed a patio to make this) was stunning:





( More about the Amstutz home, and the wonderful morning I spent there )

You'll agree, that's a very beautiful home, in tune with the surroundings of El Portal! I also enjoyed myself hugely, watching Lupin riding a horse...





Eliza is so responsible, that Karen left the other two in her care and came away to spend Sunday with us; and the little neighbourhood is so known and safe, that the children could wander around for the day! Can one imagine such a quality of life in larger towns in any country?

I loved your home, and the warmth of your family, Karen...thank you for making a memorable visit to Yosemite possible!


I'm off to a guided tour of Forest Park this evening..pity it's on a day when the temperature is 36 deg C!...but I don't want to miss the opportunity!

We were driving through Forest Park when I realized that this was a bird I was familiar with, but hadn't seen before in the US:





Well, here was a WILD TURKEY crossing the road! (No, please don't immediately ask, "Why did the turkey cross the road?" ...that one IS a turkey!)


I got this shot of the bird at the side of the road:







I wonder how turkeys came to be associated with Thanksgiving ....! All turkeys must have been wild once, but nowadays the only wild thing about them is the wild rice that they are sometimes eaten with in this country!

Gardening, said my daughter, cannot be called a creative or green pursuit.

My eyebrows went up, and she explained.

Gardening seems to be as much about exclusion as about inclusion. Even while you want certain grasses, certain plants, certain flowers, you are always doing your best to NOT have certain grasses, certain plants, certain flowers. The process of murdering all these is called weeding.

Then the whole problem of insects. I too noticed, while on a visit to the hardware store that the summer season has brought with it a full complement of insect poisons as well as weed-killers....


Anjana told me how she had been speaking to a lady who had a very beautiful garden, and who seemed gentle and loving towards her plants...UNTIL she came to the subject of deer which visited her garden. Anjana said this lady had a lot of choice words to describe the pests which came and ate up her best and most expensive plants, and was ready to disembowel these animals and eat them whole! She said the Jekyll-and-

The same would probably go for moles, possums, rabbits, and seed-eating birds, too!

A's neighbour and I were admiring her garden, and she said, "I just love Nature!" and a little later, when I observed that the large tree in the house opposite was shedding a lot of seeds, she said, "That tree's got to be cut down!"

And it can be very frustrating to see fungus on your plants, your lawn withering away and not growing lush and green, and your flowering plants with aphids on them... indeed, rather than relaxing one, it can mean a lot of frustration, especially if one adds that wonderful Saturday ritual os suburban America, the mowing of the lawn in the heat and humidity!


So...I think I would agee with A's view that gardening need not necessarily be a great hobby...!

Update...as we were driving somewhere, we saw a van with "Critter Control" painted on it...the list of "critters" to be controlled was (no, I didn't have MLC2 with me):

Possum,Raccoon,Geese,Moles,Bees,Skunk,Deer,Rabbits,Wasps...oh wait, I googled them up...

their website

gives a list (only vertebrates in this list)


"We can handle the animal control of rats, snakes, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, rodents, bats, moles, coyote, foxes, and birds."

Add to this, the notice that I saw in Forest Park (put up by birders, mind you!) where house sparrows and starlings were listed as pests and destruction of their nests is encouraged.

One man's wildlife is another man's pest...reminds me of the amateur naturalists who waxed lyrical over the "social behaviour of the macaques" when they observed the monkeys in the forest, but screamed for them to be killed when they raided the aforesaid naturalists's kitchens!

I have stopped taking MLC2 out with me on my morning walk these days....it's summer, and I have to leave really early to get back before the temperature rises to uncomfortable levels, and I don't feel all that safe to be carting it around. But a few days ago, I did, and here are some random things that I caught...


A lovely Cardinal that needs the wind to move:




I took up a challenge that I have to prove...

I said I'd link up these pictures with verse..no matter if my readers see red, and curse!


( Read more... )

These lions are celebrating one hundred years !







I did it, I did it! :)