Transient Lives

New pots for my cacti?

2009-09-25T13:40:00.001-07:00

I have joined a pottery class! I took a class on wheel-thrown pottery some years ago, and learned just enough to know that I have a LOT to learn about this, and to know that I really enjoy it.

That first time around I made a series of lopsided pots that are serving time now as holders for my cactus plants.

This blue-green trio usually sits on my kitchen window sill and adds some crooked cheer to that space.

We learned to make all kinds of pots, using one color of clay and two.

My pots are really thick-walled and quite small. I really like playing with clay though, and have been wanting to get better at it.

So since then I've been looking for a chance to take another class, and finally the stars aligned this semester to allow this chance. I have been making pinch pots and pieces using coils and slabs. None of the pieces is finished yet though.

I will get on the wheel next week and see if I remember anything. Only time will tell if I will end up with more crooked pots for my cacti or if the pieces will find other purposes in life. In the meantime I am having lots of fun with this, and keeping really busy.

Hope all is well with you!

The Texas Mandrone, Some Desert Critters and a Strange Storm

2009-09-08T12:15:00.001-07:00

All over the Guadalupe Mountains National Park area in Texas, we found this gorgeous little tree, the Texas Madrone. This tree is a native of Texas, and has the most gorgeous red bark I've ever seen. This particular tree was near the wash area of our campsite, and I spent a lot of time one evening photographing it lit up with light from the setting sun.

It's deep red and orange-brown bark peels off in thin sheets, exposing the light green surface underneath. The contrast of red and green was so beautiful!

I was standing under the tree with my camera, trying my best to hold still to take slow speed shots, when I saw a tiny movement on the branch near my face. It turned out to be this showy little catterpillar. It looked so pretty, its bright green colors blending well with the reds and greens around it.

Later on, on one of the trails we spotted this pair. They were pretty tiny, and so cute and colorful! I have no idea what kind of insects they are. Just haven't had the time to read up on it. Any clues?

On our drive back from this trip to the Guadalupe Mountains, we experienced the wide open Texas skies. It was very hot, but it was also beautiful in a stark and rugged way.

We also had the oddest experience with this tiny little storm. I have never seen anything like it before, though it probably is common in this part of the world. Though it was generally bright and sunny, there was this one cloud to the left of the highway that was darker than the rest. And there were sheets of rain coming down from it on to the ground directly below. It was moving towards the highway, and kicking up a lot of dust too. We could feel the force of the wind, and drove faster to get out of its way.

This wasn't the only one - we saw more small rain clouds like this a couple more times on this 9 hour drive back to East Texas.

As it got dark, I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw this - the sun setting in the West, on the Guadalupe Mountains, as we sped away from it back home to the East.

Have a great week.

Desert Sunrise & the Roof of Texas

2009-08-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

It turns out Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas is in the Mountain Time Zone. Just two hours east of there, we get back to Central Time. We didn't know this on our first night there, and set our little watch alarm for 6:30am, hoping to hit the trail early.

When the alarm went off (5:30am locally), it was still pitch dark. So we lay partially awake in the tent and waited. It was very pleasant after the rains of the previous night, and so I wasn't in any hurry to get up.

Soon however, it started getting light and I opened the tent flap and peeped out to see this -

I quickly pulled out my camera and scrambled out of the tent. No one else was up in the campsite, and I watched the fiery red sunrise as light slowly spread through the sky.

After taking these pictures, I quickly went in to wash up. In the short time I was in there, the strong desert sun had come out and all the red was gone from the sky. We could feel the heat rapidly taking over. So after a hurried breakfast, we started on an 8.5 mile RT hike to the roof of Texas - Guadalupe Peak.

There was literally no shade on the trail. It was dry and hot, but at 8:30am there still was a soft breeze that made the walk pleasant.

The trail led steadily uphill via switchbacks, and we quickly got higher up in elevation.

The view got better and better with each turn.

Little lizards darted under rocks as we approached, and desert insects kept up a steady chirping as the sun climbed higher into the sky. Bright red flowers peeped out cheerfully at intervals from the rocky landscape, relieving the monotony.

It took us about two hours to get to the top. Guadalupe Peak, at 8751 feet, is the highest point in Texas. The view from the top was lovely, and it was quiet and serene. We were the first people up there on this day, though we saw a dozen more people heading up as we made our way down.
We didn't stay long though, because it was too hot to sit out there under the sun.

The weekend is here again. Aren't the days just flying by?! Have a good one.

Guadalupe Mountains & the Bookmark Draw

2009-08-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your comments and positive words on my previous (and 100th) post. I drew three random numbers today and matched them to the comments. The bookmarks will soon be in the mail to:

1. Blu
2. Celeste Maia
3. Raph G. Neckmann

Thanks for participating!

***
Every summer we try to do a little hiking trip to one of the great National Parks in the US. This year we tried and tried to make plans, but they kept falling through. Finally we decided to just take a few days and drive down to West Texas, to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Compared to many other national parks in the US, this one is pretty remote. The only accommodation within the park is in the form of a few campsites, which you cannot reserve in advance. The campgrounds have toilets and potable water, but there are no camp stores where you can buy food or batteries or anything you might have forgotten to bring. No showers, and nothing except the wide skies and open desert with sparsely marked hiking trails.

Rough, stark natural beauty everywhere, and as much solitude as you want.

What I found most fascinating was that this park is an ancient, marine fossilized reef! Apparently, this dry desert was under a vast tropical ocean about 250 million years ago. The tall mountains that jut out into the sky today were part of a reef that stretched over 400 miles of the shoreline! The ocean eventually receded, and slowly the reef emerged, and with erosion over many, many years, the peaks were formed.

Guadalupe Peak within the park is the highest point in Texas, and we hiked to its top one day.

We arrived in the park in the middle of a harsh thunder and lightning storm. We found an open campsite, but sat in our car wondering if the showers would stop at all. The clouds were dark and low, and the lightning was incessant.

After an hour or so, the rain stopped and we could see the clouds slowly moving on. We quickly got out and pitched our tent, so that if it did rain through the night, we'd have a place to stretch out!

So this was home for the next couple days, where we sat every night under the trees, watching the incredibly clear night sky, with billions of stars shimmering like shards of crystal. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is so very far away from any city that it has some of the clearest night skies possible.

Later that evening as we were getting settled in, the rain had almost completely stopped, though bulbous dark clouds still hung from the sky. What made us feel completely welcome though, was this pair of cheerful rainbows that were painted across the sky!

Have a great weekend.

One hundred posts and some bookmarks

2009-08-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

It has been a year and two months since I started this blog one hot, hot summer day last year. This summer has been just as hot, and as I sit cooped up in my air-conditioned bubble, avoiding the sun at all costs like a mole in a hole, I am amazed that it has been this long.

I wasn't sure then how long this will last, but this here is my 100th post. A milestone!

To mark this occasion, here is a modest little give-away. Having been bitten by the bookmark bug (see my previous post), I have been making some more bookmarks, painting the designs on paper. Since they are a little flimsy, I thought I would get them printed on better paper, and laminated as well.

I know most of you are avid readers. So if you would like to have this set of three bookmarks, leave me a comment. I will pick three names at random about 10 days from now, and mail these out to those three of you.

Before I show you my bookmarks, here are some from my collection, along with some of my favourite books.

Can you read that? This and the next bookmark are Ilan Shamir's words. Check out more about him here. This one says:

Advice from a Bat

Trust in your Senses
Spend Time just Hanging around with Friends
Get a Grip
Enjoy the Nightlife
Sometimes you've just gotta Wing it
Guano Happens!

This one says:

Advice from a Bear

Live Large
Climb beyond your Limitations
When life gets hairy, Grin and Bear it
Eat Well
Live with the Seasons
Take a Good, Long Nap
Look after your Honey!

This third one was a present from a friend who visited South Africa and wanted to get me something small. I thought it was a very thoughtful gift. Such a simple idea, no?

Now, here are my three bookmarks. Remember - if you leave a comment, you are at risk of being picked to get these in the mail. :)

This past year of blogging has been fun. Through this medium I have found some of your incredibly creative blogs that I find so inspiring. Keep creating, and keep posting!

Chaurasia on the Flute: Sublime!

2009-08-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a genius on the flute. His name is synonymous with the hindustani classical flute in India, and his music is divine, really!

If you haven't yet heard him, you really must. His music literally lifts you up and transports you to a serene, happy place. I tried to download a video of his from youtube and upload it here, but I got errors from blogger. So here's a link, to a beautiful piece by him, recorded in his youth.

(click on his picture for the link to the video).

He also is one of the many artistes in India who are happy to do fund raising concerts for charitable organizations, and as a result has been on tour in the US several times expressly for fund-raising concerts with specific groups.

While I was still a graduate student about 14 years ago, I got to listen to him live for the first time. It was so utterly magical! After that concert, I was one of the students who escorted him to his host's home. During the drive, he asked me simple questions like what I was studying and what I planned to do after graduation. I don't know what I replied - I was so tongue-tied!

He is older now than in the above video. He is 71, but the music still is as sweet as ever. We listened to him live over the weekend. A part of the proceeds were going to AID (Association for India's Development), my volunteer group.

When he came to the US on tour in 2000, I was a volunteer with Child Relief & You, and I had made these little flute-shaped bookmarks to give away at his concert. But since I did it at the last minute and we didn't have the time to print them, they never got used.

This time, I again remembered these bookmarks on Saturday, and quickly re-made them for AID, in powerpoint. A quick dash to Kinkos for copies, and we were able to hand these out to those who showed interest in our AID table.

I haven't ever taught myself to use better software ... so these aren't perfect, but they worked for the tight deadline, and served the purpose.

Hope you like Chaurasia's music as much as I do!

A package from Shady Grove

2009-07-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last week I was the lucky winner of a giveaway on Chris' blog. If you haven't been there before, you must visit. She posts beautiful pictures of the Wisconsin countryside, and shares her art and creations as well.

Chris is a quilter and stained glass artist, who makes the most unique and pretty quilt-block earrings. I've never seen anything like them before. So when I got lucky and won her giveaway, I took the chance to request one of her cute earrings.

On Friday last week I received the package in the mail, and it was pretty exciting.

Inside were the earrings I had requested, a card, and an extra snowflake ornament gift too! That was such a neat surprise. Here is her card, and the pretty snowflake. It's transparent glass, but in this picture the glass seems to have captured the sunlight in purple and green hues, making it all the more beautiful.

And here are the earrings that I am really excited to receive. Aren't they pretty?

Please take a moment to go check out Chris' blog and her two etsy stores where she sells beautiful quilt-block jewelery, embroidered handbags, gorgeous hand dyed fabric and more. Here is her card.

This is the first time I have won any give away. Thank you, Chris!

Howdy Du, Some Rain

2009-07-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

(1)
Thanks to all of you who have sent rain thoughts my way. It worked!! It finally rained here after weeks and weeks of temperatures in the 100s. The rain started last evening and for a few minutes I just stood still and started at the wonder of it ...

* sheets and sheets of cooling rain drumming a steady rhythm on the roof
* steam rising from the thirsty tar road and pavement
* sun-scorched leaves of the tomato plants in our vegetable garden nodding in the rain
* fat cat staying close to my feet under the desk - he's the only one that's not happy

Here's the avocado plant with fresh raindrops. See how well it's doing!! :)

(2)
Last weekend I did my first duathlon: Howdy Du 2009. It was a 3 mile run, 17 mile bike ride and another 3 mile run. It was a hot and extremely humid day, but still a lot of fun. I finished in 2 hours and 9 minutes. The runs went well, but I really need to work on my cycling speed. In Austin everyone is into cycling - thanks to Lance Armstrong. We recently joined this group, and it's been a lot of fun so far.

The weekend's almost here ... enjoy it!

Unexpected Visitor

2009-07-14T19:23:00.001-07:00

We had an interesting visitor a few days ago. I happened to take a break late in the afternoon on this day and thought I'd see how hot it was outside. Stepping out onto the deck, I saw our fat cat sitting on the stones in the backyard, swatting at something. I chased him away, thinking he'd trapped yet another lizard. But on closer scrutiny, it turned out to be this:

Do you see it? It's right in the middle of the image, at the edge of the shade. Here's a closer look:

It was a gorgeous little Red-Striped Ribbon Snake. It's non-venomous, and likes to live in ponds and swamps. There's a creek a short distance from our backyard, so maybe this little one wandered away from there.

After I shooed our fat cat away, I ran inside to get my camera. But this little guy didn't budge at all. I don't know for how long our cat was terrorizing him there, for he sat completely still; a beautiful little model for my pictures.

Husband came home from work just about then and picked it up and relocated it to our vegetable patch. It did emit a foul-smelling odor in self-defense, but I'm sure it was safer within the fenced patch, away from the cats.

Hope it's cooler where you are than here. We've had 100+ degrees for the past 4 weeks straight. If you have lots of rain, do send us some.

Fireworks

2009-07-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

I learned something new this July 4th. And that was how to photograph fireworks displays. I have joined a photo club here, where we have friendly "competitions" every other month. This month's theme is Fireworks.

I need to decide which of these photos to take to the competition - I can take a max of two. So here's where I need your opinion. Which two of these eight photos do you like most? Do tell me your first and second choice. I'll number and title them through this post.

(1) Harvest

(2) Dandelion

We watched the display at Ladybird Lake in downtown Austin this time. Maybe watched is not the right word, because I hardly saw the display. I was frantically working with my tripod and camera, changing lenses and trying to get at least a few good pictures.

(3) Feathers

By the time we got to Ladybird Lake, it was pretty packed with people. The neatest thing we saw was a whole bunch of people out on the lake in their canoes, lit up by the ambient light, paddling toward the area where the downtown skyline and fireworks display would be clearly visible. What a great idea! If I hadn't been in such a hurry to find a good spot and set my tripod up, I would've got a picture of them.

(4) Cotton Candy

(5) Sun Rays

Since we got there so late, I couldn't get a spot where I could photograph the lake and the skyline along with the fireworks. Even as we got close to the lake, the first few fireworks went off, and we hurriedly found a spot under a bridge where there were no other people. Because of this bad location, I could only hope to take close ups of the display, which is what I have here.

(6) Flower

(7) Purple Rays

While I still have a long way to go in getting this right, it was fun to learn how to do it. Next time I will go early and try to get some landscape along with the fireworks.

(8) Hibiscus

Hope you got to watch some great fireworks too. Have a great week, and do let me know your choices.

How can you Buy or Sell the Earth?

2009-06-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Some years ago when we were in Rocky Mountain National Park, we bought a poster called "How can you Buy or Sell the Earth". Here's the story:

In 1854, the United States Government offered to buy two million acres of Native American land in the Pacific Northwest. The following statement on behalf of the environment was supposed to have been made by Chief Sealth (Seattle) in reply to President Franklin Pierce in December, 1854. It has been described as the most beautiful and prophetic statement on the environment ever made.

Note: There is some controversy about whether or not these words were exactly what the Chief said, but the words still hold a lot of wisdom, so I'd like to think they are true.

The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer.

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us...

This we know: All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. But we will consider your offer to go to the reservation you have for my people. We will live apart, and in peace.

One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover - our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land: but you cannot.

He is the God of man; and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to Him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where in the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival. So we will consider your offer to buy the land.

If we agree, it will be to secure the reservation you have promised. There, perhaps, we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last red man has vanished from the earth, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people. For they love this earth as a newborne loves its mother's heartbeat. So, if we sell our land, love it as we've loved it. Care for it as we've cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you take it. And preserve it for your children, and love it ... as God loves us all. One thing we know. Our God is the same God. This earth is precious to Him. Even the white man cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all.

We shall see...

The words are deep with wisdom, and I wanted to frame the poster in a simple way that matches the sentiments expressed in it. So I bought some hemp twine, dark handmade paper and wooden sticks.

I painted the sticks and tied the poster to the sticks with twine, the way I've seen some Native American art framed. Here is how it looks now:

What do you think?

The Avocado Story

2009-06-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

I took a little time off from blogging to focus on some other things without distraction. I've missed reading many of my favourite blogs during this time too. It's time to catch up.

I'd posted earlier in February (see here) that I'd put a couple of avocado seeds in water to get them to grow into plants. Here is an update on them, four months later.

When I first put the seeds in water, I didn't have much hope that they would sprout. I'd done this many times before, with no results.

This time again, the seeds sat suspended in water by the windows, while I patiently watched their apparent inactive state, all the while hoping something was happening inside. They had the full benefit of morning sunlight, though they were sheltered from its intensity indoors.

Some time later, their bottoms cracked open and slowly split apart, allowing a root to peep through. These roots rapidly grew longer and I checked their progress daily.

Soon the entire seed cracked open from one side, allowing me a glimpse of the seed within, and the shoot that was beginning to emerge as well.

How was it that both my seeds sprouted this time, while I had failed on all previous attempts?? Probably because I had a secret helper, assisting me all this time in his own quiet way.

Shadow likes slimy rainwater - this we know. But it seems like he has a taste for avocado flavored water as well! He came in every day to take a few licks from this water, which might just have been my magic ingredient! Here he is - caught in the act.

After some time, I decided to move the seedlings to pots, and took them outside to plant them. Shadow watched me doing this, and came over for one final drink of avocado water.

And so it is that we now have two happy avocado plants (in the white pots) that are growing rapidly. They grow to be large trees, and I don't know what I will do with them when they grow larger. For now, this experiment has been very successful, thanks to my little helper.

Beagle Channel: Harberton Farm

2009-05-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

At the end of the Beagle Channel cruise off the coast of Ushuaia, we visited Harberton Farm, one of the oldest Estancias in this region. Besides being stunningly pretty, with sweeping vistas of daisy fields and grazing horses, this farm has a lot of historical significance as well.

It was constructed in 1886 by Reverend Thomas Bridges, who had a close relationship with the native Yamana people (see this post for more about the Yamana.) He authored the first Yamana-English dictionary, which has helped preserve this language whose native speakers have almost completely died out.

The 150-year old main house was constructed in England, brought in pieces by ship to Ushiaia and re-assembled here. Along with the house, lupins were also brought to Argentina and were first grown here. The Estancia garden was filled with their color when we visited.

This farm was a safe haven for the native Yamana and Selk'nam people, who were otherwise treated quite badly by the settlers. They found work here, and could live on this farm with dignity. Upon their death, they were buried alongside the family, all in one common grave. The crosses marked "Native" belong to the graves of the Yamana who lived on the farm.

Today the farm is owned by Tommy Goodall (Thomas Bridges' great-grandson), and his American-born wife Natalie Prosser, a famous biologist. The traditional activities in the farm have long come to a stop, but relics from those days are visible everywhere.

Now the main activity on the Estancia is tourism. I couldn't get enough of the beautiful scenery there. The deep blue of the peaceful waters and sky, lush green fields filled with white and yellow daisies and wildflowers, horses grazing lazily in the warm sunshine, and the timelessness of the place itself.

Though there were no daffodils there, Wordsworth's poem played itself in my mind, and I tried to retain the sights in my memory, for when I am in a "vacant or pensive mood" later.

Have a peaceful day.

Cactus Flowers

2009-05-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

In Austin, soft spring days are lengthening into the warmer days of summer. The purple sheen of bluebonnets along the roads in the hill country are slowly fading. Golden yellow wildflowers still nod cheerfully along the roads, sprinkled with reds and pinks here and there.

It's a beautiful time here. Red-headed cardinals sing sweet songs from their perch in our backyard trees. The cats laze in the sun and the squirrels in the trees scold them incessantly. Woodpeckers and hummingbirds too visit, on occasion.

Above all, these early days of summer are when the cacti are in bloom. How bright and showy their flowers are! Here are some pictures from around where we live and from near my university.

Have a colorful week!

What a Wonderful World

2009-04-26T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of the sweetest videos I've ever seen.

It will soon be baby deer season. We have had baby deer in our back yard, and our cats have sat patiently close to them, watching them. But I've never seen something like this. It's amazing.

Truly - what a wonderful world this is! How can people hunt deer for recreation?

Let's do our part to protect this planet, and advocate the cause of innocent animals. They don't have a voice. We should speak for them.

Have a wonderful day.

A day cruise on the Beagle Channel

2009-04-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Beagle Channel separates the largest island in Tierra del Fuego from some of its smaller islands. This strait is 240 kilometres long, with a minimum width of about 5 kilometres.

Many companies offer day cruises on the channel from Ushuaia, to visit some historic locations and to see the channel's famous inhabitants - the sea lions and Magellanic penguins.

When we arrived at Ushuaia's beautiful pier early in the morning, the sky was overcast and metallic grey. I wondered if it would just rain the whole day and we would have to see the sights through the boat's rain-spattered windows.

As we pulled away from the pier, it started drizzling, and all of us crowded into the room below. It rains most of the time in Ushuaia, so no one was perturbed. Though a little disappointed, I decided I would still make the most of it, even if it rained the whole day.

Thankfully though, the rain stopped within the next hour, and we could see the clouds lifting at the distant horizon. Though there was a cold, wet wind still blowing, we bundled up and went up to the deck to watch the dark grey waters and the cloud covered mountains in the distance.

Soon we passed the Eclaireurs Light House standing on a small island. Bright orange lichen covered the rocks, contrasting beautifully with the blue and white surroundings. This old light house dates back to 1919 and is one of the landmarks of Ushuaia.

The Beagle Channel was named after the famous ship HMS Beagle on which Darwin first sailed as an amateur naturalist from 1826 to 1830. The ship's mission was to survey the coasts of the southern part of South America. When the ship reached the channel on 29 January 1833, Darwin first saw the region's glaciers and wrote in his field notebook "many glaciers beryl blue most beautiful contrasted with snow."

We tried looking at the scenery through his eyes, as the first colony of penguins, sea lions and gulls came into view, framed by snowcapped peaks at the horizon.

It was snooze-time for the sea lions and they lay basking on the rocks, enjoying the cold, brisk wind that froze my fingers!

Tiny penguins briskly walked around on the cluster of rocks, going about their day as we gawked at them from our boat.

We next arrived at what appeared to be beach day at the penguin colony. They were out on the sand, soaking in the watery sunlight, with adults just lying around rolling in the sand while the young ones chased each other, diving into the water.

Most of them were busy preening themselves and looking cute for the camera.

But some waddled up close to the boat and stared at us with their cute, smiling faces. I so wished I could communicate with them!

There were a few that stood there with their eyes tightly shut, probably praying that we'd be gone when they opened them again.

We were all very quiet, and the only sounds were from the water lapping at the sides of the boat or from the racket created by the penguins themselves. The sun had come out by now and was slowly spreading its warmth around us.

It is such a beautiful world out there! Even as we hurry back to our lives in the concrete jungles of the world, these penguins and sea lions will still be here in these tranquil surroundings. Our wasteful actions will deplete the quality of their air and water, and will change their climate. But they will never realize it.

We soon left the penguin beach behind and headed over to Henderson Farm, a historic landmark of Ushuaia. More about that in the next post.

P.S. I am busy trying to make some progress on my thesis, because of which my posts and blog visits have become less frequent. Once I get a chunk of work done, I hope to have more time ...

Hope you are all doing well.

Ushuaia by Night

2009-04-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

I have been limiting my time spent on reading/writing blog articles to about once or twice a week, because it was getting out of control! So though I may not read/comment on your posts at once, I will get to it once a week.

In my previous post I had written a little bit about Ushuaia - the city at the End of the World. It was nice to see your interest in my travel stories.

We visited Argentina in the summer (Dec-Jan), and since Ushuaia's latitude is 54 degrees south, we had sunlight until almost 11pm every day! It was wonderful to have the loooong days, because we could fit so much into each day, and then have time for even more before we had to get to bed.

For local kids of course, this is incredible because they can play outside for that much longer. As we were walking to our room at around 10:30 pm one night, we saw boys playing soccer in a field, and stopped for a bit to watch them. The setting was so idyllic, with the mountains surrounding us.

Jude had asked about Ushuaia's economy. The city does get a large part of its revenue through tourism. But there is also livestock farming, fishing, lumbering (yes - from the lovely old growth forests of Tierra del Fuego), and eletronic goods firms. So while food is expensive here, electronic goods are pretty cheap - we didn't try to buy any, but read about this somewhere.

One evening we set out with my tripod, to take some night pictures of the pier in the city. It is a spectacular location for night shots, since the pier is surrounded by snow capped mountains. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, but you can imagine how amazing it would be to have a full moon in the sky casting its reflection in the water as well ...

This bright red boat kept moving and I had to wait to get it in the position I wanted for this picture.

The pier in Ushuaia comes alive at night, with twinkling lights from the city and the matching lights from the boats that softly bob on the waters.

It was almost midnight before we had darkness, and by then the streets near the pier were pretty empty. The sky was very overcast, as you can see in the previous picture. Since we were there for just about five days, and it was raining on and off most of the time, we had to made do with the weather we had for these pictures.

From Ushuaia, we went on a few interesting day trips. The best day was spent hiking in Tierra del Fuego national park - the southernmost in the world. We also went on a day cruise on the Beagle Channel to see the penguins and sealions there, and a visit to the Haberton Farm which was truly idyllic. More on these trips in later posts ...

Hope you enjoyed the Spring weather over the weekend.

Ushuaia - The End of the World

2009-03-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I had written about Tierra del Fuego, the archipelago at the southern tip of South America. Even just a hundred years ago, this region was untouched and exactly as it has been over centuries. But now it is completely transformed and the ancient people have almost completely died out or mixed in with the European people who settled here in the 20th century.

Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego is a modern city now and holds the title "Fin del Mundo" or "End of the World". There is one Chilean city even south of Ushuaia, called Punta Arenas. But Ushuaia in Argentina claimed the title first.

Arriving in Ushuaia is an experience in itself, because of the dramatic approach to the city. Flights from the mainland skim low over the southern tip of the Andes before dipping down into the cluster of islands, landing on a tiny airstrip that runs from tip to tip across a small island!

This landing is often rough due to the constant strong winds in this area, and I was quite nervous. So I left my camera in the overhead bin fully expecting to be jostled about. But the landing turned out to be perfect, and absolutely smooth. Others we met who landed the very next day said they didn't have such a smooth landing, and so we were pretty lucky.

The plane almost skimmed the water's surface on its gentle approach, and just as I thought we would be landing in water, we touched down on the tip of the island on a bright and sunny day. Since I couldn't get up to get my camera, I have no pictures, but here's one from our take-off, when we left Ushuaia.

The city is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and has variable weather always. It can go from sunny and warm to breezy, cold and rainy in hours, and one has to be prepared.

Lupins were in bloom everywhere when we visited in January, and the city was absolutely beautiful. Lupins are not native to this region though, and were introduced by European settlers.

We stayed at a little bed & breakfast which was a 15 minute walk from the main downtown area of the city. These red lupins were on either side of our door.

Here are some more pictures of the bursts of color we saw all over the town as we walked around. I couldn't resist taking pictures of them!

We walked several miles every day getting to and from the downtown area, because we got almost all our meals from the only ALL vegetarian take-out place in Ushiaia - called El Bambu.

We found it really hard to find vegetarian food that I could trust in Argentina. The only pasta dish we would find in the restaurants in Patagonia would usually smell odd, but I would eat it quickly without delving into details about the ingredients, because I didn't have many other options. Then we took to cooking our meals at our hostel, but after a long day's hiking, cooking isn't the easiest chore!

So we really appreciated the delicious, affordably priced food at El Bambu!

Most Antarctic cruises start from Ushuaia, and the port is stunning at night. I took my tripod out there one night and took some pictures of the night lights at the port. More of that in the next post.

Here's one more lupin picture before I end this post!

Please STOP the seal hunt !!!

2009-03-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

The annual Canadian seal hunt is underway. I break down and cry every year when I see this cruel, cruel practice. How is it that we humans are capable of so much cruelty?

Seal hunting takes place in Canada, Greenland, Namibia, Norway, US, and Russia. Apparently Russia has banned it this year.

Do we really need to club baby seals to death for their pelt, blubber and meat? If we do have to have these things, can it not be done more humanely? What kind of world is this, where such actions are legal and commonplace?

Please click here if you'd like to sign the petition to protest this year's seal hunt.

Austin's downtown

2009-03-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Pink Dogwood of Wandering Mind for giving me an award. Thanks, Pink Dogwood - your comments have always been encouraging and I'm glad to have found you in blog land!

Today's post has a few pictures and some history from Austin's downtown area. The best thing about Austin (I think), is Ladybird Lake, which lies in the middle of downtown and offers greenery and pleasant walks in the midst of chaos.

As a result, high-rise condos and apartment buildings are sprouting up all over, offering views of the lake, and proximity to the trails around it. I don't know the name of this building, but it's a new one, and gave me a good sunset picture one evening.

There is constant construction in Austin, as in most metro areas, and taller and taller buildings are coming up everywhere, with gleaming glass panels and geometrically precise shapes.

The Frost Bank Tower is one of the most recognizable buildings in Austin today. It was completed in 2003, and stands 515 feet tall.

This one is the Bank of America Center, a 26-story office building that was built in 1975.

What was more interesting to me about the Bank of America Center, was this lovely little building from across the street that was reflected on its polished glass exterior!

This is the 8-story tall Scarbrough Building, which was built in 1910. This building was Austin's first steel and concrete structure. It was originally the Emerson Monroe Scarbrough's dry goods store. Locally known then as Scarbrough's, it was the finest department store in central Texas. It is now dwarfed by tall sky scrapers all around, but still holds its place in Austin's downtown.

Many such beautiful, ornate buildings stand literally buried among the tall matchbox-like newer structures all around. One has to look carefully to see these fine buildings, but they are still there.

The picture below is of a statue of Mrs. Angelina Eberly (1798 - 1860) on Congress Avenue. She was an inn keeper and is remembered as a hero of Austin.

The story goes that Sam Houston, the President of the Republic of Texas in the mid-1800s, thought that Austin was an inappropriate location for the capital, and campaigned to have it moved to Houston instead. When the congress disagreed, Houston sent a delegation of Texas Rangers to steal the government archives.

In December 1842, when the rangers were loading their wagons in the middle of the night with the documents, Mrs. Eberly, an innkeeper, heard the sounds and ran down the road to fire off the town cannon to alert everyone. She missed the Rangers but blasted a hole in the General Land Office building a few blocks away!

The cannon fire woke everyone up, and they stopped the Rangers from stealing the documents. Houston would now be the capital of Texas, if Angelina Eberly hadn't fired the cannon! This statue by Pat Oliphant stands on the sidewalk near where Eberly helped preserve Austin as Texas' capital city.

I took these pictures on a downtown field trip that our photography class took a few months ago. I am usually not too interested in taking photos of buildings, but was pleasantly surprised at how interesting this trip was.

I had to wake up early in the morning for this (which I don't usually do :)), and as a result, got to capture the early morning light and shadows that all disappear by the time I usually am up and about!

Have a good week.

The ancient people of Tierra del Fuego

2009-03-17T10:06:00.001-07:00

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southern tip of the South American continent, and is made up of several small islands that are exposed to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the cold currents from Antarcica to the south.

This is a windswept land where winters are freezing cold and summers are cool, where a day can change from sunny and pleasant to bitterly cold with gale-force winds within hours.

Yet, this fascinating land has been occupied by humans for more than 12,000 years now. Nomadic hunter gatherers crossed a land bridge from the main continent to get here all those years ago, before the sea level rose and separated the islands from the mainland.

Their descendants, the Mannekenk and Selknam (or Ona) people still lived here in 1869 when the first white settler founded an Anglican Mission in Tierra del Fuego. Since then, the indigenous people who had lived here for so long, have quickly died out, due to exposure to different ways, diseases and so on.

All that remains is a small, modest museum in the city of Ushuaia, which tells their history in simple, but carefully prepared displays that at best look like school projects of gifted children.

In contrast, the more recent history of this area is displayed in larger museums (with steeper entrance fees).

The Yamana Museum

We skipped visiting the more recent museums, but spend a large part of an afternoon inside the Yamana museum. No one else visited while we were there. We were told to take as many pictures of the displays as we wanted, so I took a lot of them. It's a good way to encourage sharing of the fascinating history of these cultures.

The Yamana: Canoe people of the Beagle Channel

The Yamana or Yaghan people were still living their traditional lives in Tierra del Fuego 150 years ago, so this isn't ancient history.

They were sea-going people who spent long periods aboard their canoes, living off the sea. While out on the ocean, the men hunted seals from the prow, while the women collected shellfish from the oceans.

The fact that utterly fascinates me is that only the women could swim. And since the Yamana didn't wear any clothes, these amazing women took to the icy waters with only seal grease protecting them from the cold! It was so cold even in the summer while we visited, that it is mind boggling to me that these women were so tough.

The Yamana always carried fire with them, even on to the canoes. They set the fire in a space in the middle of their canoes. This was so that they could instantly start a larger fire once they arrived on land, since it was always so cold.

The arrival of European settlers in 1884 mostly wiped out the Yamana due to a measles epidemic. Also, the Yamana way of life was very finely tuned to the environment they lived in, and had been honed over hundreds of years. When well-meaning missionaries tried to clothe them, the Yamana contracted pneumonia from the damp clothes that they wore, since their sea-faring ways didn't match the clothes they were given.

The last of the Yamana, Abuela Rosa, died in 1982. Some descendants of the Yamana still live in Tierra del Fuego, but there is only one surviving speaker of the Yamana language alive today.

The Selknam

The Selknam or Ona were powerful, fearless people who also lived in Tierra del Fuego at the same time as the Yamana. The community hunted guanacos, eating the meat and fashioning clothes out of the guanaco skin. They were expert hunters who used bows and arrows with great skill.

When European settlers arrived here in the 1880s and set up sheep farms, they fenced off large areas of Selknam land, and prohibited entry to the native people. This led to conflict, especially when the Selknam started hunting the sheep, since any animal was fair game to them.

This unfortunately led to a systematic genocide of the Selknam people. Headhunters were paid money for bringing in heads of the Selknam they had killed, with bonuses paid for pregnant women. The heads were even shipped off to collectors and museums in Europe. Poisoned meat was also given to the Selknam in the attempt to get rid of them.

In 1881 around when Tierra del Fuego was first colonized, about 3500 Selknam people lived on the big island of Tierra del Fuego. By the late 1920s, the hundred or so of the Selknam that remained, had to succumb to acculturization.

The last two pure-blooded Selknam: Lola Kiepje and Esteban Yshton passed away in the late 1960s.

For the whole time that we were in Tierra del Fuego in the city of Ushuaia, I felt a little disconnected from the modern city around me. It was cold and rainy on most days, and as we walked up to high glaciers and hiked in the forests, I felt the presence of these ancient people around me. I kept trying to see this land through their eyes. What a great loss it is to us that their culture is no more!

PS: The photos above are the ones I took from displays at the museum. I don't know who the original photographers were.

The Bluebonnets are here!

2009-03-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

It is Holi today in India, the Festival of Colours! This festival is celebrated by throwing coloured powder and coloured water over others, lots of dancing, and good food as always.

In the south of India where I grew up, Holi wasn't celebrated with as much fervor as it is in the northern parts of India. Several stories exist for the origin of this festival, and each one is very interesting. They all have one ending in common though, that it is the celebration of the victory of good over evil.

Traditionally, natural colours and powders were used for the festivities; the bright yellow of turmeric, the brilliant red of kumkum, the healing green of neem, and so on.

Since the change of seasons in the spring usually brings with it colds and other viral infections, this was possibly a way by which people invoked the protective powers of these Ayurvedic herbs to arm them against the germs.

The synthetic powders that have replaced the natural ones to some extent these days are toxic, so it might be wise to go back to the old ways of celebrating Holi!

To celebrate this Festival of Colours, I give you some bright natural colours from Austin. :)

Spring is here! Though spring in Austin is definitely not as much of an explosion of colour as spring in other cities, it does have its own fleeting charm, which I am slowly beginning to appreciate. We lived in Atlanta before moving here, and I loved spring there. I think that part of the country has the most vibrant spring ever, and will do a separate post on that. But in Austin, though one has to look more closely, the beauty is definitely there.

The redbuds were the first to bloom. Their bright pink petals contrasting beautifully with the silver grey bark. This tree in my neighbor's yard was at its peak last week when I took the picture, but is already fading.

Cactus flowers have started to appear.

And so have other small flowers in my front yard - not sure what kind these are.

The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and grows in small bunches close to the ground. Their little heads are already nodding along the highways on the grass, and the open spaces are starting to shimmer with a blue haze. Soon we will see them everwhere. It's such a pity that they don't last very long.

More colour is yet to come, before the heat of summer really sets in. I'll leave you with a sample of pictures I took last year, during late spring. This is what we can look forward to.

Happy Holi, everyone!

Where is Home?

2009-03-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Shayla to post the 4th photo from my 4th folder. But since I'd done something similar recently, I decided to modify her tag a little. The photo she posted led her to wonder about being home. And I've picked that theme up for this tag.

Home ... where is home?

I've lived almost exactly half my life in Chennai, India and half in four different states in the US. But when I sit down and think about it, the picture of home that comes to mind is a place where I've never lived, and have visited only about 3-4 times.

Kerala - a Southern state in India where my parents were born, and their parents were born ... though I've never really lived there, and only partially understand the language, I feel it is home.

With a large part of its land covered in evergreen forests and hills, and a long and beautiful coastline, there are aesthetic reasons why Kerala can make anyone want to live here. There is lush greenery everywhere, and this is a state that is famous for its backwaters.

Coconut palms grow everywhere ...

... and fruit trees & flowers grow in profusion in the fertile land. Jackfruit is so common that no one will pay money to buy the fruit in the market. I once found this deliciously sweet fruit at a farmers market in Atlanta. I had to leave it behind when I found that a slice the size of a slice of pizza cost $25 !!

Wild pineapples fall over with their weight ...

... ripe cashew fruit hangs from trees all over (sorry about the blurry photo)

and cool coconut water can be had by the roadside.

It is a land of beauty and nature's bounty. But beyond all this ...

It is the place where my parents, grandparents, and their grandparents before them lived their lives. On a recent visit to India, I went with my parents to Kerala, and visited the places where they lived as children. These places are still almost exactly the way they were all those years ago when my grandmother was a young girl, and I could see their stories come alive before me.

The temple tank that my grandmother used to visit daily as a young woman ...

Did she admire these pink lilies too?

The beautiful temple that generations of my family worshipped at ...

Where the sweet perfume of the Nagalinga (cannonball flower) scents the air.

Did my grandmother linger beside the tree too, mesmerized by the perfume ...

There is so much history here, and so many stories of my ancestors that I have heard, that I can almost feel their presence in these places. It is strangely satisfying to walk along roads they walked on and visit the places they visited every day.

So though I have never lived there, Kerala is home to me.

How about you? If you would like to ponder this question too, please feel free to take up the tag, and leave me a comment letting me know. I'd love to come over and read about it.

Have a great week.

Wood Apples and Avocados

2009-02-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit lazy about posting here lately. There are still some accounts of hikes in Tierra del Fuego and some interesting historical tidbits I'd like to share. But for now, here's some more mundane stuff ...

I was in the World Market the other day, and saw this bag of lovely carved wooden balls. The whole bag was only $5, and the balls looked so pretty that I bought them and brought them home.

On closer inspection, upon reading the label inside the bag I realized that these balls were actually wood apples! I hadn't seen a wood apple (or bael fruit) in at least fifteen years, and hadn't ever seen any art using them. So this was an interesting surprise.

I did my entire schooling in a campus in South India where wood apple trees grow wild. As kids we have eaten these fruits in all stages of their growth. The shell of the wood apple is thick and hard, and we used to break the fruit open with a stone or by hurling it to the ground.

Here's a picture of a wood apple tree I found online:

While still raw, the inside is a green mass that is extremely sour, and it smears itself to the palate. I don't know why we would still persist at eating them at this stage! I guess when you are about 8 years old and have nothing else to do, this is good entertainment.

The ripe wood apple fruit is brown on the inside, and sticky with a sweet-sour taste. This is cooked into chutneys in India and rarely eaten as is, except by kids. :) These were hard to find because most kids had their eye on the same ripening fruit and I was rarely the one that got it. When I did though, it used to be a treat. Maybe the struggle to get it made it sweeter than it really was!

Here's a picture from Wiki of a ripe wood apple:

This fruit has a lot of good uses too: (info obtained from Wikipedia)

As food: Indonesians beat the pulp of the ripe fruit with palm sugar and eat the mixture at breakfast. The sweetened pulp is a source of sherbet in the subcontinent. Jam, pickle, marmalade, syrup, jelly, squash and toffee are some of the products of this versatile fruit. Young bael leaves are a salad green in Thailand.

Other uses: Bael fruit pulp has a soap-like action that made it a household cleaner for hundreds of years. The sticky layer around the unripe seeds is household glue that also finds use in jewelery-making. The glue, mixed with lime, waterproofs wells and cements walls. The glue also protects oil paintings when added as a coat on the canvas. The fruit rind yields oil that is popular as a fragrance for hair; it also produces a dye used to color silks and calico.

Nutrition: A hundred gm of bael fruit pulp contains 31 gm of carbohydrate and two gm of protein, which adds up to nearly 140 calories. The ripe fruit is rich in beta-carotene; it also contains significant quantities of the B vitamins thiamine and riboflavin, and small amounts of Vitamin C.

Medicinal uses: The bael fruit is more popular as medicine than as food. The tannin in bael has an astringent effect that once led to its use as a general tonic and as a traditional cure for dysentery, diarrhoea, liver ailments, chronic cough and indigestion. In fact, Vasco da Gama's men, suffering from diarrhoea and dysentery in India, turned to the bael fruit for relief. The root juice was once popular as a remedy for snakebites.

The seed oil is a purgative, and the leaf juice mixed with honey is a folk remedy for fever. The tannin-rich and alkaloid-rich bark decoction is a folk cure for malaria.

I wonder if any of you has seen other art using wood apples?

Moving on to avocados ...

I've read in several places that it's easy to grow avocado plants from the pit of the fruit. The process and the plant look so interesting and beautiful in the pictures online that I've tried multiple times to get this to work. I've never been successful.

But that doesn't stop me from trying! I made some guacamole over the weekend, and once again, I have suspended the two pits in water in the hope that they will grow into gorgeous indoor plants one day. Wish me luck!

Have you ever got this to work? If you have, do tell me what I'm doing wrong!

Enjoy your week!

Run for India 2009

2009-02-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

Last week was a busy one, and the weekend was even more packed with activity. So I haven't been checking the blogs I usually read, or been able to compose new posts ... will hopefully catch up on that soon.

Sunday, Feb 15th was the day of the Austin Marathon & Half Marathon. Our team from the Association for India's Development (AID) runs this race every year as a fundraiser. This year, seventeen of us participated - eleven volunteers ran the half marathon, and six ran the full.

Over the past few months, Saturday mornings have been exactly the same: wake up at 6am, get to Lady Bird Lake (see my post about the lake) by 7:00 or 7:30am, and run the prescribed distance for the week. Some days were beautiful, and running was a pleasure. Other days were cold, windy and miserable, and running was really painful. But it all paid off on Sunday, coz all of us had a good run.

R and I ran the half this year, since we had lots of injuries after running the full marathon last year. It was a perfect day on Sunday, partly cloudy and cool. The 13.1 miles seemed pretty easy after having done the 26.2 miles last year on Austin's hilly course.

Our bright yellow team t-shirts stand out in the crowd (I designed these last year).

This run is the biggest fundraiser for our volunteer group each year, and the training program is called Run for India. Runners raise money through their run, for supporting projects in rural India that are sustainable and holistic in their approach:

"AID is a volunteer movement committed to promoting sustainable, equitable and just development. In solidarity with non-violent people's struggles, AID supports grassroots organizations in India and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources, health, women's empowerment and social justice."

The idea is to learn from our project partners on the ground, and have study groups where we try and understand the issues behind the realities that exist on the ground. As a result, we learn a tremendous amount from our NGO partners in India.

I coordinate two projects (with NGOs Kalpavriksh in Delhi, and Exnora Green Cross in Vellore), both of them related to environmental issues, since that is what interests me. I serve as the link between these two NGO partners and our group so that we can learn as much as possible about the issues - social, political and scientific, that relate to the projects that we support.

It is work that has taught me so much more than I have been able to contribute. Our group of runners are all volunteers - students as well as professionals. The energy and excitement in this group is awesome, and now that we have raised some money, it is time to invest it in some deserving projects on the ground in India!

Hope your week is going well.