Silence Spoke

we traveled miles

hand in hand

so much to say

before long

it was

time to part

nothing was said

silence spoke

what we wanted

to say

 

A Santa Cruz Vacation

house under fumigation

to vacate was the instruction

arranged a quick vacation

looking forward to relaxation

to Santa Cruz with anticipation

hoping to get rid of my affliction

from the disease tion(I am afflicted….)

We went  for a quick vacation to Santa Cruz for two nights. Santa Cruz being less than an hour’s drive from our house, we go there quite frequently but normally always on a day trip. This time we decided to take a midweek break and booked a two nights stay at Ocean Echo Inn and Cottage.  The small Sunny Cove beach was just next to the inn.

 

We arrived at the inn at about three in the afternoon, so we spent the afternoon in the beach. We were rewarded with one of the most stunning sunsets I had ever seen.

We had dinner at an Italian Argentinean restaurant and hoped to call it a day early. Unfortunately once we put the TV on, before we realized it was past mid-night.

Next day after breakfast we drove to  Natural Bridges State Park. It was a beautiful day and we were rewarded with an amazing vista.

After spending some time at the Natural Bridges State Park, we walked towards the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk along along West Cliff Drive by the side of the ocean.

The long walk of about five miles certainly made us hungry and we had an excellent lunch at Crow’s Nest restaurant in Santa Cruz harbor. The walk and the good lunch had a relaxing effect and we decided to have an afternoon nap followed by a walk on the beach.

As we were leaving for home in the morning and my better half was driving directly to her work, we had an early dinner and went to bed early. By morning the weather had turned cool We had our breakfast at the inn patio and after a last look at the beach and ocean headed home, sure to be back again.

 

 

Duct tape saved the day

Many of us may have a story about duct tape coming to the rescue in a sticky situation.  To that I am adding my recent one.

On Monday, May 20, we boarded the plane ready to return home after a week long vacation.  The day started early. As the shuttle from the hotel to the airport that we were supposed to take were full, we were forced to take an earlier shuttle.  That meant that we had to get up real early and had a long wait at the airport.  We boarded on time and settled down for a four hour flight.  I dozed off and on but soon realized that the plane was still stuck on the runway and departure time had already come and gone.  Curious to know what was the cause of the delay, I started to look around for an answer.  Soon I saw the pilot walking near where I was sitting and open an over head bin diagonally across where my seat was.  It was a small bin with a small black suitcase.  my mind raced through several theories.  I overheard the pilot saying to one of the crew member that he can’t take a risk.  Soon a ground crew with a yellow vest arrived on the scene and opened the bin.  He took out a screw driver and tried to fix something.  He gave up after some try, went to the back of the plane ( my seat was on the last row before the toilets) and started talking on the phone.  Obviously there was some argument and I heard him saying that he can’t fix it as someone had replaced a screw with a non-standard screw.  Sabotage?  Soon another crew member took the black carry on out of the bin and moved to the front of the plane and out the door.  Another ground crew  member arrived soon and things started falling in place.  The door of the overhead bin had come loose and the pilot did not want to fly as he was apprehensive that the bin door may open during flight and be a safety hazard.  The first ground crew could not fix the door as someone before had replaced the original screw with a larger screw and now the standard screw won’t fit. The second ground crew had a roll of duct tape ( red color for good measure) that both of them applied liberally to ensure that the overhead bin door stay shut during the flight.

You can see the end result on the featured image.  No harm done.  A small screw delayed our departure by forty five minutes but the flight itself after that was uneventful.    I shudder to think of the delay that could have been if we were forced to change plane.  Duct tape did save the day.

Windy City

I am visiting Chicago for a week with my wife and then drive to Iowa City to attend a wedding. Landed in O’Hare Airport late Saturday night and stayed overnight at the airport hotel instead of driving to the city late at night. Rented a car on Sunday morning from the airport and drove to Chicago Botanical Garden. It was a cold, gray day with forecast of rain. It was also Mother’s Day and place was full of visitors. The Botanical Garden is simply fabulous. Colors galore. Will share (or try to share) photos with my next post. My cell phone simply started acting up from the evening and going into a perpetual restart mode. Somehow or other I am keeping it working and hope it survives the trip.

From the Botanical Garden drove noth to North Dune State Preserve by the shore of Lake Michigan. बाद decision. Wind was howling and our bay area attire for cols simply could not stand up to the wind. It was chilly to say the least. Forgot our idea of exploring the shores of Lake Michigan and drove back to our hotel for the night. Evening was damp, windy and it started drizzling. We abandoned the idea od driving to Devon Avenue in search of a good Indian dinner and settled for a local Italian steak house. Best decision of the day.

What is Love

Do you love me?
And I say yes,
What do I mean?
What is love?

Is love the longing I feel
When you are away from me
Or is it the anxiety I feel
When I do not hear from you

Is it the ache in my heart
To see you unhappy
And not speaking to me
Is it the racing heartbeat
Waiting for you to emerge
From  the arrival gate, or
The anxious anticipation of
Meeting you on my return home

Is it what I felt years back
When we first met
Unsure but willing to commit
Is it the fire that used to
Run through me at your sight
But then what about now
When all I want is
A few quiet moment
Just you and me
Alone
Side by side, at peace

I am not sure what it is
All of the above
And a lot more perhaps
I still have butterflies
Just thinking about you

And though I would like
Nothing better than
To hold you in my arms
And just relax
I love more to see you soar free
And reach for the sky, and
Achieve what you want

I will be waiting
With open arms
Always for you
Cause I know
One place
You will always be
In my heart
If that is love
So be it

Never shall I ask
Do you love me
Have my answer already

---

This completes my poem a day for the month of April 2019 written with the theme of “Love”.

 

Bridge of Love

The air was heavy with palpable anticipation

As we stepped gingerly into a journey unknown

Smooth sailing it was not, tumultuous and choppy

As we launched life’s catamaran on a rough sea

Two unique souls bound by a bridge of love

We set our own course of travel, far and wide

Today when the air is heavy with worries of a future unknown

My darling, with love as our light, will vanquish apprehension  

 

Final Travel

Ticket was booked long back
On the day of arrival 
Departure was scheduled
Seat not assigned

 

Morning Walk Rewards: Turkey Trots

Photos (cell phone) from my morning walk today.

Thursday Tidbits: When Icicles Hang by the Wall

Let me make it clear in the beginning, that title is not mine.  It is the title of one of William Shakespeare’s sonnets from Love’s Labor’s Lost. I will explain below why I chose this title.

During last week of December, 2018 we visited Zion National Park.  There, on our hike on Temple of Sinawava Trail and the trail to the Emerald Pools, we saw icicles hanging by the walls of the majestic cliffs.  This brought back memories from my highschool days , and believe me that was a long long time ago,where our poetry textbook had the poem with the title above  as a required reading.

Vacation Time

Out in vacation till the end of the year. I had high hopes of writing a travel diary and sharing with my blogily. But the travel gods had other plans. They wanted to spare a few readers I had the misery of going through the dreadful prose I write. So here enters technology. Slow internet speed makes it a struggle to download and attach photos with my post and upload it to WordPress in the little time that I have for myself during the vacation duties. It becomes quite frustrating at times. So my dear readers, I will try to post when I can.

Happy Holidays to you all. Have a wonderful Xmas with your family and a great 2019.

Before I let you go will like to share a little tidbit about our travel yesterday. For our travel we had booked a Dodge Durango. Unfortunately when we went to pick up the car what we got was a Infinity QX 60 with only 39 miles on the odometer which was great. What was not great that the cargo space in the Infinity was much smaller compared to the Durango. We had to repack all our luggage resulting in a late night the day before the trip. That escalated to a late morning start and encountering heavy holiday traffic and a trip that was supposed to be about nine hours drive ended up being a fourteen hour drive. In the very beginning of the trip, a portion of the highway that would normally be a forty minute drive ended up being a two and quarter hours drive forcing us to stop at the first available rest camp to answer nature’s call speeded up by cups of early morning coffe. It was restful to say the least and scenery was terrific.

San Luis Reservoir, Dec 22, 2018

Around 5 PM we stopped near the intersection of Highway 99 and Highway 58, still about four hours drive from Las Vegas as per map. After feeing up gas and some coffee and drinks for ourselves we started with high hopes of arriving Vegas by about 9 PM, still decent time. But horrendous traffic both at highway 58 and Interstate 15 kept on pushing back the arrival time. After about three hours of driving and Vegas still about three hours ahead it became apparent that we will need to stop somewhere. By that time the river of red lights from 5mph cars in front of us was becoming quite monotonous. Only saving grace was the beautiful full moon over the Mojave desert. But that also became an issue as it became quite apparent that relieving oneself by the road size will result in good exposure. Few brave souls however had done just that braving the bright full moon. By the time we got to the first rest camp on I 15, parking lots were nearly full. The line from the rest rooms (not sure why it is called rest room though ) were snaking out to the parking lot. One young guy in front of me in the line was shivering like crazy, dancing an odd dance move stanging on one leg and then the other. The poor soul was trying to control coming out on the open. A few good hearted people advised him to go find the nearest dark corner but he ignored. Actually he had number two coming. Thank God that he did not go out in the line but it was a terrible sight to behold.

Without much further ado and no more near calamities, we arrived Vegas by about 11:30 PM and got to our rooms past midnight. To hell with sight seeing plans for Sunday, it was off to bed we go (of course after a little late night sojourn, what would be a trip to Vegas without that).

Vegas at last, Dec 23, 2018