Babbling from our new home.

It is good to be back to blogosphere after a hiatus of nearly a month. It has been an eventful month so far. With S accepting an offer from a chip-maker in Portland just days after our first wedding anniversary and a year of happy home-making, it was time to bid adieu to sunny San Diego and head to the very green Portland. And so during the week of our birthdays, incidentally they fall just a day apart, hubby and me were busy with boxes. Instead of unwrapping gift boxes, we were busy packing our year old home into cartons that would carry some wonderful memories into our new home. The excitement of looking up apartments on the internet, calling in and enquiring about the rent and amenities, the curiosity of trying to know all we could about the new neighborhood meant my visits to fellow blogger's posts became sporadic and my own posts went to pause mode. What's more I even missed my first blog-o-versary, sorry dear blog, I'm sure you understand. I have been babbling all along, but just not on the blog. I hope to catch up with the posts of the blogs I regularly visit within a few days, do bear with me.

After a string of farewell dinners and good-bye sessions with friends including one to the car that I learnt to drive here in the US of A, we flew into Portland on a saturday morning that was exceptionally bright and sunny almost making us feel that we were still in San Diego. The tall green trees that seemed to kiss the blue skies told us we were in the region also known as the "Silicon forest". We drove straight from the airport to our new apartment we had leased out over phone calls and emails. The apartment complex itself was quite different from the one we had left behind in San Diego. The absence of elevators meant we had to haul our suitcases up three flights of stairs. But the excitement of new home in a new place meant we hardly felt any strain. Portland welcomed us with gentle showers the next morning that decided to turn into rain by the evening thus giving us a taste of the uniquely wet and green Portland. In the days to come, I'll share more about this "City of roses" or "City of bridges" that is known as Portland on the globe.

Every dog has his/her day!!

Starting yesterday a new television channel is hitting the air waves here in the US. Now what is special about it is its target audience. It is an exclusive channel for man's best friend, yes that's right a TV channel for the dogs and it is called "Dog TV"!! The pilot channel run was on for a couple pf years here in San Diego and from today this will telecast nation wide on Direct TV with paid subscription. As per the findings of the trial screenings, dogs have enjoyed their channel with noticeable quiet esp in dog shelters. Did you know that dogs are color blind? Apparently they can only see blue and yellow,  they cannot see red and green like humans, so if you happen to watch any telecast of Dog TV, the color might seem bit out of place to human eye but then it is specially designed for the doggy viewer.

Ever since I have come to US I could not help but notice the preferential treatment dished out to the pets here. Dog-walking is a fairly common job on the side for students and anybody looking to earn a few extra bucks.They have fancy restaurants with special menus to tickle their taste buds, care centers where you can leave your pets when you take a vacation or want to head out for an evening sans worries about your four-legged friend. You have pet-friendly restaurants where while you enjoy your dinner, your dog also gets his own water-bowl and meal. And guess what, there are places where you get special discounts if your pet accompanies you. There are supermarket chains that cater exclusively to pet needs. There are pet-parlors where they offer grooming services including hair coloring and hair care, nail filing and the like. What's more you ask, well there are boutiques that offer a wide range of apparel choice for your pampered pooches. It is fairly common to see pets sauntering beside their owners dressed in their best outfits looking smarter than their owners at times.

In every community park, there are special areas designated as dog parks, two separate ones for the large and small dogs. Here they can run around and play with their other four-legged friends. Another thing I have noticed is that the dogs here are very well trained, they do not bark at strangers while walking in the park, some of the smaller ones do try to sniff you if you are close enough but generally they are very unlike the dogs back in India. Sometimes I wonder if these dogs have been trained to the point of forgetting their natural  instincts. With the changing times and lifestyles, most people are finding greater comfort in the company of canines and other pets and are over-indulgent in their care.

Every dog has his/her day!!

The big bay boom!!

Last week saw USA celebrating its Independence day on the fourth of July. Traditionally the celebrations include parades in the morning in various cities and fireworks to close the night that sees many families gathering for lunches, picnics and barbeques. Since it happens to fall during the beginning of summer(21st June is the official first day of summer), people gather in huge numbers near the waterfronts, beaches and parks. They set up tents and cabanas, many of them sporting the national colors of red, white and blue in styles ranging from patriotic to funny to outright wacky. Most of the stores offer special "Fourth of July" discounts and shopaholics have a gala time too.

San Diego boasts of a natural bay that is popularly known as "The Big Bay" since it is surrounded by five cities and houses the city port and many vital naval installations. It is also home to many museum ships, the largest of which is the USS Midway, a one-time aircraft carrier that sailed in the high seas and is now showcasing the military achievements of US Navy and offers insight to the life of the brave heroes. There is also a  Maritime museum that is a floating collection of ships and boats, one of which is called "The Star of India", apparently the oldest active sail-ship. The Midway is anchored right next to seaport village. Now seaport village is like a parking lot for the boats, so you have rows and rows of personal sail-boats and cruise-boats that are anchored there. It presents a very organized picture.  You can settle down for a family picnic on the grass-lawns that dot the stretch along seaport village.

It is in this bay that fireworks are launched simultaneously from four barges every year on the night of Independence and needless to say it is spectacular. The event is known as "The Big Bay Boom" and attracts hordes of spectators. This is where S and me had decided to head for the fireworks display. The first step was to know when was the show, once we learned that it was at 9PM and would last for nearly 30 minutes, we started looking up the internet for other info like from where could we get the best view and what time should we be there to grab a prime viewing spot. We decided that a walk along the harbor drive would be festive and landed there in the evening a full four hours before the spectacle. Having parked our car at the nearest spot we could find but at a safe distance from the crowds, we began strolling along the harbor. On one side we could see the airplanes landing and taking off from the San Diego International airport while on the other side the boats parked out in the harbor were bobbing in the water. You can enjoy pedi-cab aka cycle-rickshaw rides along this stretch and some of them were decked up specially for the occasion.We chose to walk and could see that people had already settled into some of the benches with food and shawls and jackets in anticipation of the fireworks. It is a long stretch of more than a mile and when we entered the seaport village, we could literally smell the festive spirit. The aroma of grilled food was wafting through the place blending with the sea-breeze and the playful excitement of children and chatter of people enjoying a mid-week holiday gave the whole place a vacation-like touch. Quite a few street musicians were entertaining the crowd with their talents on guitar, drums and the like. Barbeques were up in front of tents, there were food-vans dishing out burgers and hot-dogs. With stalls selling t-shirts, funky jewellery and glittering accessories ranging from eye-masks to hats to funny headgear, it was like a typical "Mela" only this one was located in US :)

 We walked around soaking ourselves in the leisurely spirit, not minding the winding queue for a hot fudge sundae, relishing our choice of scoops chunky-monkey and coconut seven layer bar. Summer here means the sunset doesn't happen until its nearly 8PM, so as the sun began to descend below the horizon, we began our search for a spot to watch the fireworks. Luckily, we found ourselves a nice lookout on a pier near the USS Midway and stood waiting for the spectacle to unveil. We had a radio jockey of the local Walrus FM station for company and he was hosting the show live from where we stood. So we had great music to keep us entertained till the show began, and when it was close to 9PM, all of us began a chorus countdown prompted by the RJ and the moment we had counted down till one, "BOOM" went the fireworks, and the best part was from where we stood , we managed to see three of the four sets of fireworks.What followed was a sky dazzling in red, blue, gold, purple, silver  and green with hardly any breathing space between each round. Each time, identical fireworks lit up the sky from all of the four barges in perfect sync. The pictures below were taken from the phone and do not quite do justice to the brilliant display we witnessed. The last of the dazzlers went of at 9.30PM and we walked back to our car before driving back home mesmerized by one of the best choreographed fireworks we had ever seen.

 

 

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." says Juliet in Shakespeare's cult play Romeo and Juliet. But a name has a lot more to it than just a bunch of letters strung together. It conveys a lot about the person or place it is used to identify, many a time conjuring up vivid mental creations that may be over-imaginative. In case you are wondering what stirred this strange thought in my mind, it is the names of the streets here in US of A.

 

Back in India we have a tradition of naming roads after prominent personalities like Nehru Road or Kalidasa Road, or after the area through which the road passes a la "Station Road" or XYZ layout main road. Why even a village that might not even have a properly asphalted road boasts of a Mahatma Gandhi Road i.e., MG Road. There are a few roads that have been named differently too, for example in Bangalore, you have a Margosa Road which ideally should have had rows of Neem(Margosa) trees but has Mahagony trees instead, a Sampige Road that is now shorn of trees at most places but the ones remaining are not all of the Champak variety unlike the name of the road,  there is even a Coconut Avenue in the same neighborhood that has a fair share of coconut trees but then so do many other roads. To this day I wonder why those streets were named so. Most of the localities generally  have numbered streets or crosses.

Here in the US I have come across interesting names of streets and lanes apart from the traditional pattern of  prominent personalities and numbers. So in addition to the normal Jefferson Street, Lincoln Avenue you have streets with the Greek alphabets like Alpha Street, Beta street. Then there is a stretch in the downtown where from A to W you have streets that have names of trees from Ash, Beech, Cedar, Date, Elm, Fir, Grape, Hawthorn, Ivy, Juniper, Kalmia, Laurel, Maple, Nutmeg, Olive, Palm, Quince, Redwood, Spruce, Thorn all the way till Walnut. Now that is one true concrete jungle!!

If you want to move from forest to garden, head to the Mission Bay beach, where you'll find a bunch of drives. The bouquet boasts of flowers from Astor, Begonia, Camelia, Daffodil, Elysium, Fuchsia, Gardenia, Hibiscus, Iris, Jasmine, Kerria, Lilac, Marigold, Narcissus and Rose followed Tulip. For a touch of dazzle, head to the pacific beach area and you'll find streets named Agate, Beryl, Diamond, Emerald, Garnet, Opal, Pearl, Sapphire, Turquoise and a Crystal Drive to top it off.

How about a tryst with the stars and planets? You can take your pick from Aries Road, Taurus Place, Gemini Avenue, Leo Street, Virgo Place, Libra Drive, Scorpius Way, Capricorn Way,  Sagittarius Road,  Aquarius Drive, Pisces Way for the astrologically inclined and for the astronomical ones you have Satellite Boulevard, Polaris Drive, Orion Way, Centaurus Way, Andromeda Road, Morning Star Drive, streets named after Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the like.

Bookworms would be thrilled to know they could saunter down  streets named after renowned authors like Browning, Homer, Voltaire, Tennyson, Poe, Shaw, Keats, Hugo, Byron, Dickens, Emerson and ilk. The area around the University has Expedition Way, Discovery Way and even a Scholars Road. And guess what there is an India Street and even a Bangalore Lane here in San-Diego that make me feel at home :)

Dreamers and lovebirds might fancy a stroll along Echo Lane, Reflection Drive, Sunny Meadow Street, Sunrise Street, Sunset Avenue, Moonlight Lane, Candlelight Drive, Hidden Valley Road , Rainbow Street or Starlight Drive. The dreamer in me revels in the walks along Crystal Dawn Lane and Golden Haven Drive in my neighborhood. This walk certainly feels different from a walk on 15th Cross or 7th Main Road and so there's a lot in the name I say :)

Pictures are from Google images

Blossoms galore!!

Petunias and yellow lilies

Nature has different looks for different seasons, but her spring look is by far the most colorful and anticipated of all don't you think? It is that time of the year when most trees come out of their wintry slumber and fresh tender leaves dot the barren barks and twigs. Though there are many flowers that bloom all year round, the blossoms in spring seem to have a special touch. Their fragrance and color palette adds to the joyous start of a new year. Okay not in the sense of the January-to-December calendar that we have adopted now but the traditional one which begins in March/April. The very first season as per that calendar is "Vasanth" or Spring. Isn't that a wonderful way to begin a new year , with fresh hopes and renewed vigor ?

Birds of paradise!!

San-Diego too is in the spring mode now and the trees are sporting their fresh look with different shades of tender green. At this time of the year, back in Bangalore the local markets will be flooded with a wide variety of flowers with the jasmine/mallige dominating the air with its fragrance. Of course there are other scented beauties too like Champaka flower, plethora of roses too that are part of the heady collection. The spring here in US saw colorful petunias and dainty lilies join the party that was until now limited to marigolds and the strange-looking but appropriately named "Bird of paradise" flowers. These flowers look like green cranes sticking out their heads with yellow crowns and a reddish beak. As for the marigolds, they are bigger than the lemon sized ones we see back in India, many of them are as large as a tennis ball. Couple of lanes across the main road from where we stay, there are hedges of hibiscus that bring back memories of how common a garden plant it is back in India.

Twinkle twinkle Blue-stars!!

Mammoth marigolds

Homely Hibiscus

 The one good thing about the housing complexes here is that they all have well maintained greenery in and around them with a variety of floral and decorative plants adding a touch of natural green and brown and rainbow hues amidst rows of concrete blocks. Imagine my surprise when the seemingly leafy patches at many points around our apartment complex broke out into blossoms of  a variety of jasmine. Their fragrance grabs your attention long before the tiny white stars catch your eye. If the warm sun wasn't a reason enough for me to enjoy quiet walks on a summer day, these floral delights ensure that I go out and stretch my legs. The walks are even more refreshing by the light of nature's white bulb up there in the sky long after the sun bids adieu for the day.

The priceless treasures of nature never fail to gladden the heart!!

Jasmine!!

Haiku inspired by the spring :

From bare to blossom,

tender leaves, colorful blooms

usher new season!!

On the run...

One of the many typical sights in the US of A for me has been seeing people out on a run at nearly all times of the day and even night. Some of them are plugged in to some music while others have a water bottle attached to their belt. Some run with their sunglasses on while some run wrapped in layers and layers of clothing irrespective of the weather. Another strange thing I have noticed is that people run in almost all weather conditions. Be it a sweltering hot day or a really chilly evening, run they will. And no its not just the fitness crazy new generation but even elder folk, men and women alike who are out on the run. So its age no bar, time no bar and weather no bar activity.

Of course hubby and me too are part of this "run of the mill" crowd now. For someone who hasn't really run much since high school,  if you discount the sprints to catch the bus that I saw fleeting past my stop it was very difficult to start with. In fact I could hardly run for a few hundred meters before my breath caught up with me. However with time and an unrelenting hubby behind me, my stamina seems to have increased and I can now jog for up to a mile before I feel I need to take a breather. Though running on the treadmill gives you the workout, nothing can beat the feeling of fresh air flooding your lungs as you stretch your legs. 

On weekends, we generally head to the nearby community park and jog around the play field there. The community parks here are a world of their own, more on them some other time for I don't want to digress now. While wintry months made us cherish the few minutes of warm sun as we ran, the onset of spring made us yearn for some shade. And so this weekend, we literally hit the roads or rather the footpaths along a road that boasts of scenic beauty. The last time we went that way, I could hardly run much and ended up walking for most part lagging behind my runner hubby. There is a railway track that runs in the valley where our running route is located. Hubby had seen a jackal near the bushes by the track on that occasion. This time I in my new improved avatar managed to run/jog up to the halfway mark of our running route albeit lagging behind slightly. With the spring having arrived now, our scenic route was simply splendid. It was a delight to run along a path where the air was rich with the scent of fresh pine interspersed with delicate fragrances of colorful springtime blossoms. There were even rows and rows of jasmine shrubs, slightly different from the kinds we find back in India but the fragrance was unmistakeable.

While I was busily indulging my senses with the lovely sights and smells, I saw that my hubby who was quite ahead of me had halted his run. Thinking that he was waiting for me to catch up, I quickened my run and joined him only to find him halting me and shushing me. Puzzled as I was, I could only stare in disbelief when he pointed to a slithery creature that lay ahead across our path. It was a snake with sandy-brown and greenish body, nearly 3 feet long, that had decided to stop by and say hello to us. It paused a while before coming out of the bushes completely onto the footpath. And then it raised its head oh so slightly trying to sense the air around it, raised its tail which I now noticed was like a carved toy and as if answering my doubt, the tail began shaking and gave out a rattling sound. We had bumped into a rattle-snake that had decided to take a midday stroll. Once it crossed over and slithered away into the bushes we cautiously resumed our run. The return from the halfway mark saw me running/walking my way back. I guess I still have a long way to go before I can say that I run. I am working on it. Unfortunately not carrying my phone meant I couldn't take any pictures of our surprise encounter. Nevertheless the run on the canyon road on that special sunday will remain etched forever in my memory.

Whale ahoy!!

Having read Moby Dick in my schooldays and seen whales only on TV, I was like an excited schoolkid on the day we headed whale-watching. With my in-laws here on their maiden US visit, hubby and me had chalked out a long list of to-do's and the first item on our checklist was whale-watching. The giants of the aquatic world travel each year from the icy cold Alaska to the warm Californian waters during the winter on a familial journey. The females in the herd give birth to their calves and return with new-borns after they grow strong to their homeland in spring. San Diego is located in the migratory path thus offering us a chance to catch a glimpse of  these gentle giants. We were told that the best time for this would be mid January to late February but the whale-watching season is from December to April.

So there we were with the Sun shining bright on on a fine Saturday morning ready to board the aptly named cruise boat "Adventure Hornblower". Ours was a morning cruise and at 9am we were waiting in a long queue ready for a taste of  the ocean. The cruise departed at 9.30am and soon we could feel the cool breeze from the Pacific while we sat on the deck soaking ourselves in the sun and the spectacular view of the city skyline behind us and the cool blue ocean all around us. It was time for some marine-lingo. Starboard meant the right side and port referred to the left side as we sailed forward. The captain was pointing out key landmarks as we left the dock and entered the ocean waters. Most of them were military establishments, so we saw the hangar that housed tens of hornet jets.

First up we saw lots of floating pillars that were bobbing up and down in the ocean. The captain as if answering  our doubts announced that these were put up there for the convenience of sea-lions. Sure enough we spotted many groups of sea-lions getting their daily dose of vitamin-D atop these structures.




 Then we saw groups or should I say schools of tiny dolphins swimming alongside our boat. Now most of the passengers were excited about this sighting while the captain calmly announced that these were common dolphins and there were hordes of them out there and they could easily out-swim our cruise-boat at her top speed.

As we went farther from the land and into the ocean, the captain and his crew asked us to join them in trying to spot a whale. Now there were hundreds of eyes eager to be the ones to sight the giant mammal first. And we all rushed to the right side I mean the starboard when the captain shouted "to your 3'o-clock". Sure enough there it was in a distance, a huge shiny black body. We had spotted a fin-whale, the pic we managed to click does not do full justice to the mammoth marine mammal, but the whole experience was breathtaking. The captain first spotted the whale by observing its spout,  and then assuming that it will linger in the neighborhood for a while, our boat decided to do the same. And so after waiting for nearly 20 minutes we all got to see this whale surface and spout before disappearing into the ocean.

 

Thereafter it was time for us to head back to the dock with the hope of sighting some more magnificent marine life. On our way back we saw plenty of dolphins that kept diving around playfully and a couple of birds helping themselves to fresh lunch. As we neared the dock, we saw some more sea-lions grunting out their goodbyes. What we saw next was an active submarine of the US Navy. The captain of our boat radioed the submarine and conveyed his appreciation for their dedication and the work in safeguarding the interests of the nation.

  The 3 hour cruise was over and it was time for us to return from the cool blue ocean to the land that lay ahead of us. The skyline of the San Diego city was waiting to welcome us back from the whale watching tour. The tour typically offers sightings of  humpback whales, gray whales, fin whales sometimes even the largest mammal on the earth, the blue whale apart from bottle-nosed dolphins. It was definitely a very memorable cruise and a great start to the vacation :)

Farm-talk

One of the first differences I felt when I moved to US was how our typical morning never began with getting milk or the call of the milkman unlike in India. Here we get a gallon of milk in plastic cans that have the best-before date printed on them and this lasts 4-5 days for us. A gallon is 3.78 liters for those uninitiated into the US measure of gallons, pounds and miles that are the counterparts for the Indian measure of liters, kilograms and kilometers. Thankfully time is measured in minutes and seconds just like how it is back in India. But that's beside the point. On noticing that our milk-can reached near-empty state, I decided to replenish it from the near-by farm. Before you jump up in excitement, this farm is a plush departmental store named "Bristol farms". It feels nice to think that we get our milk fresh from the farm and so I like to call it just 'farm'. So there I was, on my way to get milk from 'farm'.

A retirement community is located in the same neighborhood and generally a lot of the elder population also comes to shop at the 'farm'. They usually come in groups, generally around 11am in the morning and wander around leisurely in the store, chatting about loudly when they make their purchase. For some strange reason, although it was a bit crowded, only one counter was open. When I queued up at the billing counter, there was an old lady ahead of me with her list of purchases who I think was alone for she was standing quietly by herself. She gave a hesitant smile which I promptly returned. The rainy weekend earlier seemed to the most favored topic for a conversation starter and she commented about the same. "Its been a lot of rain lately and unexpected too ", she began to which I replied "Yes, the forecast said it was only for the weekend". She continued oblivious to my reply, "Oh I love the rain, it reminds me of when I had to bundle up my children for school". Mind you she looked quite old, may be well into her seventies. So I just smiled politely and asked her for how long she had been here in San Diego and she took a long walk down her memory lane. She said she had been here for more than 40 years and how less crowded this city used to be. She went on to say she missed the hustle-of her home-town New york when she first moved here and now she feels more at home here. She would have reminisced more about her life but the clerk at the counter greeted her and she bid a hurried goodbye saying "All that is long gone, but I'm happy now". The way her eyes shone when she spoke about all those times of the past were in sharp contrast to the somewhat drab look they had when she smiled hesitantly.

After I paid for the milk and walked back home, I could not help but think about her parting words feeling that she had now accepted that times had changed and she too must move on... Sometimes just an ordinary chat with a stranger makes you evaluate life and introspect. Life is not easy when your loved ones are far off and the heart does what it knows best, it feels. At such times, it is hope and the priceless memories that carry us through.

My chance talk with the old lady in the store prompted me to pen down this haiku-

Drab eyes pulsate joy

clutching dry tendrils, wistful

bygone times relived.

This post is shared with 3WW and the words for this week are Drab, pulsate & tendril

Picture is  from Google images

Snail story

The rain-gods had taken a fancy to San Diego the last couple of days. So it was a magical weekend beginning with waking up to the sound of raindrops and enjoying feeling the mist hanging so low down that it almost caressed the face. Feeling refreshed by Nature's "Good Morning "wish, S and me decided to make the day better with a walk followed by our usual workout. So we strolled out all buttoned up and dropped by the mailbox on the way where a surprise awaited me. In these days of e-mail and instant messages, I was surprised to find a large envelope addressed to me from a friend. The content of the mail was totally unexpected, it was a calendar that had lovely pictures from the wild continent of Africa and a wish for a bright and healthy 2013. 

Having checked the snail-mail, S and me decided to hit the gym. And guess who greeted us at the gym's entrance? A snail was trudging along with all the speed it could muster. Now, for someone like me who has lived only in the urban world where rains only meant water-logged streets and more traffic jams, this was a new sight. I  couldn't control my excitement. I looked at it from all possible angles and hesitantly touched its shell. Hubby realized my curiosity and picked it up and placed it on my hand. The gentle creature seemed to have sensed the change in its surrounding and before I knew it, withdrew itself into the shell. After dilly-dallying as to whether I needed to take it home or not, I decided to let it be and placed it back where we had found it. If only I had my phone with me, I could have at least clicked a picture of the snail. When we returned back after our workout,  my new-found friend was not to be seen. I guess it had moved on towards its destination and we moved to the warmth of our home to munch on sizzling hot dosas and sip on coffee to round up a lovely morning...

A knock on my door...

Ever since I moved to our home in San Diego after marriage, I have had a bunch of special visitors. They religiously drop by for a hello almost every day. We exchange pleasantries silently at times and chirpily on most occasions. It helps that there are quite a few trees that dot the landscape in our apartment apart from shrubs and bushes. By now you must have guessed, my  special visitors are of the winged variety :-) So I have robins, house sparrows and pigeons who like to relax for a while in our patio. Mind you they are camera-shy and my repeated attempts to get them to pose for a quick snap have failed miserably.

However, I did manage to strike a deal with one of them. So when this pigeon sought to hide from its pursuer on a hot afternoon in our patio, I managed to get a couple of candid shots in exchange for refuge ;-)

 As for my other winged friends, they continue to drop by to quench their thirst from the water in the saucers that are placed underneath my potted plants. Someday I hope to shoot their portfolios, till then its just candid conversations. Their early morning choir is another regular feature of my typical day. I sometimes enjoy watching them silently as they fly around chasing one another engrossed in their versions of hide and seek. In fact, yesterday they had some special performance in the intervals of their game. The tiny little humming birds flitted around here and there, even hovering mid air displaying their colorful plumage. It was a well choreographed performance, worthy of a packed audience. If only I could capture it on camera, sigh!!  Thank you my winged friends for the wonderful company you keep me :-)

Into the sunset

Its been over a month since we got our DSLR, a Canon T3i. The first place we visited armed with it was Point Loma, a hilly peninsula that is not quite a beach but one that offers a great sunset view. It is about 15 miles from our home and we reached there in time to soak ourselves in the setting sun on a perfect summer day in sunny San Diego. It being summer, the sunset was scheduled to occur a few minutes before 8PM. For someone from India this might sound a bit strange, sunset at 8 in the night?? But then that's how it is here in the US of A during summer(which is why there is the concept of daylight saving time).

Driving into the sunset

 A little bit of trivia about Point Loma - It is apparently the place where Europeans first landed in California.

Sunset cliffs at Point Loma

The cliffs stood majestically while the waves of the Pacific Ocean gently lapped up against them and the now dull yellow sun was nearly ready to sink into the cool waters or so it seemed.

Countdown begins

 The evening sky soon turned into a bright orange and since there were no clouds in sight, there were no other hues but just the color of sunset - orange tint all across the horizon. In the next ten minutes, all we did was soak in the beauty of nature, savoring the visual treat and soon it was time to head back home.

 Sun kissing the Pacific

Sun sinking in silently

Nearly sunk

End of a lovely day!!

After the sunset, we just drove along the sunset cliffs enjoying the cool breeze and that was indeed the end of a very lovely day.If we headed further down south beyond Point Loma, we were told we could get to Cabrillo National monument, but our sunset rendezvous meant we had to do that some other day. Living in sunny San Diego meant many beaches and many sunsets, but the one at sunset cliffs will remain special...