Bhooooooooooooooooooooth :-O

I'm not reviewing a horror film. Nor did I have any paranormal experiences to share in my blog. I just made the title a bit dramatic for the celebration of Halloween here in US. No no no, we don't celebrate it. But its kind of like any festival in India, what with stuff being advertized all over TV, stuff seen in all corridors of supermarts and the decorations in front of homes (thats the best part) :).

Halloween, Wikipedia tells me, is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31 (looks like I am 1 day early :-D), most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets. It was originally known as "All Saints' day". Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent.

For halloween, people decorate their front porches with jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, witches, ghosts etc. Usually kids dress up in costumes (everything ranging from Superman to Dracula :-D) and go door-to-door in their neighborhood, ringing each doorbell and yelling "trick or treat!". And they get some treats :). Nobody has come to my door till now. I hope nobody came on saturday and sunday as we had been out to Smoky mountains for our yearly autumn colours quota (thats the post coming up next :-D). But if some kids do come today/tomorrow, I have the chocolates ready :)).

Meanwhile, I saw many interesting decorations in my neighbourhood and was so impressed with the time and effort gone into some of those. The post is a result of that awe :).




Most of the house front porches are decorated with various things like artificial skulls, bones, pumpkins and scarecrows ofcourse :).




Even the trees are not spared (:-D):




The decorations are not really scary, but might be for little children ;-). The scarecrows and pumpkins are all smiling, but well maybe they are all smiling wickedly :-O.




But you can make out that some decorations have really taken some thought and lots of effort, like this one and this is my favourite of them all:




The cotton made to look like webs does look creepy ;-) :-D. Some porches had these paper ghosts that glow in the dark on the trees, big air balloons shaped like pumpkins (the balloons had all lost air, so couldn't get any pics of those :-p) and also various other creepy statues.




There was one house which had a Egypitian-mummy like corpse statue and a well. And this below one has a skeleton sitting in a chair :-D.




Its fun for everyone, for the people who put up the decorations and for the on-lookers as well. But there are some people who protest against halloween saying its a occult evil holiday and not a Christian religion celebration. It seems Halloween was not celebrated at all in the 1980's. In one apartment that we previously lived in last year, one of our neighbours had distributed these pamplets saying how Halloween is about cults who serve satan. We told them that we are not Christians and hence will not be celebrating Halloween anyways :-D. But most other people seem to think that Halloween is just a harmless holiday for the kids to dress up and enjoy candies :).

Anyways the celebration as such makes no difference to me, except for the fact that I enjoy the creativity of the decorations :). And taking photos :). And putting them up in my blog :-D.

Roses are red and violets are blue...

As promised in my last post, I'll be writing an essay about "My garden" today. Hehehehe, I promise to not make it sound like an essay :-D. There have been so many posts on others' blogs about their gardens and pictures of their flowers, that naturally I got jealous ;-). I already had a planted garden which had lots of flowers, I had also taken photos of the flowers and I still had not put up a post on it? Hmmmm. It was time to rectify the mistake :).

Some history before I say anything on my current garden. Gardening is not a hobby for me, it kind of is habitual. My parents are fond of gardening and since, we have mostly lived in independent houses which had land suitable for gardening, we always have had flowering plants and potted plants at our houses. So when my parents built their own house, obviously they left some space for gardening. Only its not a sophisticated compact garden, it has all sorts of plants/trees (its a have-it-all :-D). They have 2 coconut trees, 2 arekanut trees (no, my parents aren't farmers :-p), 2 avocado (butter fruit) trees, 2 guava trees, some banana saplings, many rose bushes, many hibiscus bushes, some curry-leaf plants, some crotons, some hedges and what not! They also have many potted plants and a space in the back where they have a papaya tree, colocasia and turmeric plants and a current vegetable plant (I think its avarekai as of now - we've had everything from brinjals to bittergourds there ;-) :-D). There's not too much space, so its kinda a mess, but I still love it, because its a haven for plants. Its almost as if no plant is refused shelter ;-).

I'd help out in trimming the hedges (there was no gardener available nearby) and watering the plants (whenever I got up early ;-), which was not often :-p). So I've always wanted to have a garden. After we came to US, we mostly lived in apartments, so a garden was not really an option. Even potted plants make a mess, so we didn't really want to buy any. But when we shifted to an independent house here in US, we had a lawn and some space in the back too. There was already a tree and a holly bush planted, but no flowers as such. So I started plotting :).

The gardening concept as such is very different in US as to what it is in India. There is huggggggggge sections allotted to gardening in supermarkets. There are lawnmowers, leaf-blowers, edge trimmers, various tools for gardening, seeds, potted plants, various types of soil and fertilizer mixes, plant food (:-D), weed/grass killers, insect killers and on and on and on. Since we had a lawn, one of our first purchases was a lawnmower due to the do-it-yourself policy. The first plants to arrive were 2 rose plants (potted), one red and another cream coloured. But buying plants means more buying ;-). We had to buy pots and then 2 bags of potting mix (its soil mixed with essential nutrients :-D). We also bought a jasmine plant (not the Indian variety I like :(, couldn't find that anywhere - we went to some 6 different nurseries) called Star jasmine and spearmint (pudina :-D). I meticulously planted these in the pots we bought using the potting mix. But I really wanted some sort of flowers planted in the lawns at the sides of the garage path. I looked and looked and was never satisfied with the plants and prices. Then the season of chrysanthemums (sevanthige hoovu) started :).

Here were flowers that were colourful and that had fragnance (believe me, fragnance is something thats not associated with most flowers available in US :-p). We bought 4 yellow, 4 orange and 2 pink chrysanthemums + 12 croton plants as fillers for inbetween. We also got pink and red geraniums. Next was planting time. So we even bought tools for the same. There was a seperate planting mix available for plants in grounds, so we bought that too :-p.

One fine day, we started off. I had planned precisely what plants go where, so we both started digging holes and planted 22 plants distibuted between the 2 sides of the garage path :). The geraniums, we decided to keep as it is (jn their containers)and not plant :). Since one side did look a bit empty, we even got a small stand and a hanging pot containing white, blue and red petunia flowered plants to hang on the stand. The flowers bloomed for sometime and then all faded away. Well, the plants do look better in shops, but this was the limit. But slowly, after days of pruning and watering, the flowers bloomed again. Meanwhile I bought 2 more yellow crysanthemum plants and put them in the pots. So totally we own 6 potted plants, 2 geranium 6-each potted sets and 22 plants on ground. Here's a comparison on how the house as such looked earlier to now (the photo angle is a bit different, so kindly adjust :-D).




The individual sides look like this:








As for the flowers, as I mentioned in my Deepawali post, they have been a total joy to me. They look oh-so-good! Its a plus that I have been able to make garlands and we have been able to use them in festivals and poojas :).




I made the above picture myself using Paint Shp Pro. It did take some time, but it came out nice. It cannot really be called a collage, but its a collection of snaps. You can see the individual snaps at flickr here. Well, I am having a 2-way hobby here - gardening + photography :-D. I daily water the plants, prune them often and Sri's role is to mow the lawn regularly.

Whats next for my garden? Tulips!! We already have bought Tulip bulbs pertaining to various colours. The bulbs need to be planted in autumn for them to flower in spring. We still haven't done that, so our next task is going to be, yup, you guessed it, digging holes again and planting them :). But its getting too cold to be outside for long hours and we are biding our time.

Sadly the flowers are not going to last long. There was a slight snowfall just a day ago (it happened in the night, so we didn't see the snow fall. Got up and went outside to water the plants and there was a thin sheet of snow on the grass and the flowers) and this is going to increase as days pass. My potted plants are all going inside the garage at night. But nothing can be done for the ones in the ground. Hopefully the supermarket will have some material to protect the roots of the plants (I'm sure it will ;-) :-D), for them to survive the winter.

Ok the essay is done :). Hopefully I'll have a post on the blooming tulips next spring :).


Where flowers bloom so does hope - Lady Bird Johnson.

Flowers are not made by singing "Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade - Rudyard Kipling.

Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them - Chinese proverb.

Tamasoma Jyothirgamaya..

Asatoma Sadgamaya
Tamasoma Jyothirgamaya
Mruthyorma Amruthangamaya
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi hi

Translated, it simply means "Lead us from ignorance to truth; From darkness to light; From Death to Eternity; Let peace prevail;".

Why the chant suddenly? The second line "Tamasoma Jyothirgamaya" (From darkness to light), I believe, is the essence of Deepawali. Yes, the festival of lights is back, though may not be with a bang :-p. Atleast not in US :-p.

Before I start off with my rants, first - Wish you all a very happy and prosperous Deepawali :).

This year there's still a tinge of pain that I'm not with my parents during the festival, but its not as much as it was last year. Two days ago I thought I was ok. But yesterday morning as soon as I got up, the first thought was "today is Naraka Chaturdashi and there is no sound of crackers anywhere :(". Later we did the enne shaasthra and again I was reminded of mom doing the shaasthra. Since Darsh wouldn't wake up early, she would wake me up so that I could sit with dad for the shaasthra. I miss it all :(. Shubha has written a post which is as if its coming from my heart as I can relate to it so much and absolutely suits my feelings right now..

Anyways, coming back to Deepawali (as if I was ever away :-p), it all started on Friday with the neerutumbso hubba :). One of the first things I did was to nenesu akki and uddinabele for the traditional Deepawali ereyappa sweet and khaara. Later I made both and they both came out very well (better than the last time and this time the mixer didn't break down ;-) :-D).




The dark brown ones are the sweet and the light ones are the khaara. Next I picked flowers (chrysanthemums of various colours) from our very own garden (a post on it is due next :-D) and made garlands :).




The flowers have been a delight as they have grown extensively and I have been able to use them for Vijayadashami, mainly for ayudha pooja. The car, cycle and even the lawnmower got decorated with flowers :-D. Anyways I'm digressing from the topic :-p.

Meanwhile Sri put oil into the hanathe (mud lamps) that we had got long time back, put baththis and lit them up. We lit lamps and performed pooja for the Gods in our devara mane first :).





The water heater was already full (neeru tumbso kelsa illa :-D), so I decorated it with arshina kumkuma (wanted to get chalks but I forgot :-p) and Sri did pooja to it.






We enjoyed the eateries and that was it for friday. Saturday morning, i.e yesterday, we got up, did enne shaasthra for both of us and had an enne snaana (oil bath) as per tradition. We did take some photos in the evening after the lamp and lights were lit.




If you squint, you'll be able to see the hanathe-s near my feet :-D. And the flowers you see in the garden is a preview of the post to come ;-) :-).




Atleast you can see the hanging lights in this snap :).

Later we went to Louisville temple and had a nice time there. There were hundreds of people there celebrating together and it was really nice :). There were some crackers being lit (both light and noisy ones), so it satisfied a bit of my craving for them, but not completely :(. I so so want to be in India during Deepawali time. Yeah there's lots and lots of noise as well as air pollution, and it might certainly be cruel of me to wish for things like that, but its the atmosphere I've grown up in. The festival air that lurks is so tangible there, the celebration so joyful. I can't help but miss it. Thats one of the reasons, we try to celebrate it as authentic as in India..

But Deepawali will be special to me no matter where I am, as it brought to me Sri. I met him on the third day of Deepawali (its tomorrow) and well, so its a festival close to my heart. So I better be cheerful atleast for that! Ok ok I'm ending my post now with a wish now in Kannada :).

ದೀಪಾವಳಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು

Of Flowers and Clovers :)

Blog-quiz mania time again. Here are a couple I took :).

You Are a White Flower

A white flower tends to represent purity, simple beauty, and modesty. At times, you are dignified like a magnolia. And at other times, you represent great ecstasy, like a white orchid. And more than you wish, you're a little boastful, like a white hydrangea.

What Color Flower Are You?

Your Luck Quotient: 72%

You have a high luck quotient. More often than not, you've felt very lucky in your life. You may be randomly lucky, but it's probably more than that. Optimistic and open minded, you take advantage of all the luck that comes your way.

How Lucky Are You?

Well, beating my own drums, I am :).

Seasonings Of Life :)

Seasonings Of Life




Its time for the most colourful season again
Autumn is here and lingering softly in the air.
Every sight seems like God's very own painting
Strikingly vivid, brilliant pictures everywhere...

Some leaves are flaming red as if with anger,
Others are a delightful setting sun orange hue..
Some leaves look like they have been tickled pink,
While others are still green and seem overdue..

But very soon the leaves will dry up and fall,
The now glorious panorama will sadly not last..
The shades, the strokes, the tinges and the tints,
Will subsequently be an account of the past..

Winter will arrive eventually, freeze and melt
Then spring will blossom, wither and be gone..
Later summer and then back to autumn again
And so the circle of life goes on, on and on..

Moonbows!! What next?

We have all heard of a rainbow. But how many of us have heard of a moonbow? Well, I hadn't until this weekend when Sri told me about it. A moonbow or a lunar rainbow is a pretty rare phenomenon and how lucky for us that Cumberland falls where a moonbow naturally occurs, is only 1.5 hours drive away :-D. So that called for a quick trip to Corbin, KY.

The tript being pretty short, not much was planned and we left on Saturday 7th October 2006 afternoon. As the moonbow occurs only during full moons and you guessed it right, there was a full moon that particular day, we headed to Corbin. A moonbow obviously requires moonlight and night, so we had considerable time after we reached Corbin. So we made a quick visit to the place where the famous KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) began. The place is just another KFC restaurant but has all these memorablia of Colonel Harland Sanders who is credited for all the recipes of KFC. It also features the old kitchen of Colonel Sanders with all of the original equipment. So it was kind of nice.




Thats me with Uncle Sanders :).




Some memorablia scattered all over the place and this is the kitchen below:




Well, as we are pure vegetarians we couldn't really taste the so-called delicacies there. But we did have some potato wedges and a corn on the cob (thats plain boiled corn) :). We had to contribute somehow to the place as they didn't really charge us anything for the "museum" viewing :-p.

Then we headed to the Cumberland falls. By the time we reached there, though it was dark, it wasn't totally night yet. The moon was slowly coming up. We saw the falls and there was lots of mist being generated by the falls. That was good because it meant that there were more chances of the moonbow to appear. But it was really cold there brrrrrrr.

As we were watching, the moonlight covered the falls and the moonbow just formed. It was simply breath-taking! It formed surrounding the falls and it was like a pale white dome glowing around the falls. Its something I never expected to see in my life simply because I never knew something like this existed. It seems Cumberland falls is the only place in the western hemisphere where such a phenomenon takes place.

The only sad thing was that I just couldn't take any photos. At all!! Nothing was visible from the camera, though I did try taking several pictures, all came out toally blank. Here I had this absolutely beautiful sight in front of my eyes and I had no way of capturing it :(. The others were also clicking away, but I peeped into their digital camera screens (>:) :-D) and couldn't see anything there too :-p. I did find the following photo on the internet, but I am not sure whether its a natural one taken on some powerful lens camera or some photoshop manufactured one :(.




Seems rather artificial. But this is how the moonbow looks. Only in our case the moonbow was over the falls. Its kind of a grey version of the rainbow. Its extremely rare because of some main points. Firstly, as I mentioned before, it requires full moon and absolutely no other city light interferences. That explains why its not seen in Niagara falls :-p. Also, the moon has to be in some angle to the raindrops or in our case, the mist. In Cumberland falls, the criteria are all satisfied and the result is fabulous. We stayed there till about 11PM in the night and saw the moonbow from various places and angles. Then went back to the hotel toom to rest for the night :).

Sunday 8th October 2006 morning, we drove to a place called Stearns where there was a scenic railroad trip available. We thought it would last for an hour but turned out it went on for 3 hours. Well, 1.5 hours of the 3 hours was spent in a station which had an old, now unused coal mine :-p (as I've said 100s of times, the Americans are capable of making anything a tourism point :-p). The train was an old steam engine train. But it was fun basically because there were lots of toddlers in the train. The kids were so happy that it turned out to be fun for us too :).




This is the train and the here is the coal mine. It was not the complete mine, but only kind of a museum view :-\.




There is autumn slowly creeping in Kentucky. So the train ride also provided some colourful tree glimpses :).

Once we were done with the train ride, we went back to Cumberland falls to see the falls in daylight :). With the moonbow still fresh on our minds, the falls was a little bit less impressive than the night before, but beautiful nevertheless.




We even walked down a trail to see the falls a bit closer (we did this the previous night too).




That was it. We returned home after 1.5 hours drive back. The best part is that we can go anytime there is a full moon, as its really near to us. But again, whats the fun when I can't capture any photos!!

Then again maybe some things are not meant to be captured....