Happy NewYear!

Wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

Clear path ahead of us?

Looking at this pic, it makes wonder often, how nice it would gave been if there was a clear path ahead of us in our life, as we take every step forward, with no obstacles, benches to take a break along the path(signifying healthy breaks we take in our life from stress and chaos, like vacation, party etc etc...) with a clear view of where your heading in your life. Most of the times, our path is full of obstacles, dark and confusing.... :(... It's refreshing to see this picture with a clear defined path, well maintained, with lush green nature that adds to freshness, adequate benches to take a break along the path and a clear beautiful day making it a smooth and peaceful journey. A perfect definition of the type of path we want in our life's... Is it not?

Ruddy duck

I have fallen in love with birding and taking bird photographs! Watch out! This blog may turn into a bird sanctuary:)... I had never known that a duck with baby blue bill ever existed! It looks like someone painted this! It's called Ruddy duck. 

Picture perfect!!

I recently went on a nature walk and was staring at the sign that were one among those posted all over the nature center to let the visitors know about the possible sightings of the birds and animals. I was soon engrossed for a moment in looking at the picture of the bird and the tiny words below, to see what's written there... By the time I read it as 'Snowy Egret', a real one shows up and lands in the water right in front of the sign that displays it's name and picture! What a picture perfect moment! Even though he stood there calm and quiet, his presence was screaming 'that's me that's me'!! 

Larger than life!

While in reality, this bird is tiny compared to the plane seen far and above, in the picture it is indeed 'Larger than life'! This is why in life, "What you see is what you get" is not always true:)... Isn't it?

What a great way to end the day!

Blessed are those who is like the Sun. The birth of whom brings the rays of hope to everyone around him during his lifetime and ends being remembered and admired by every heart, like the setting sun..

The sunset outside our home in the busy city of long beach proves that nature is nature, whether in a countryside or a busy city. It never fails to leave a great impression!

The tree that lied!!

Doesn't it look like this tree has a nose that seems to be growing? Well, I 'caught' him during one of my nature walks... Wonder what he is lying about! 

Nature preacher: Presentation

Recently I have fallen in love with nature walks...During one of my nature walks I came across this bench. To my eyes it was just a dull, old, boring and monochromatic bench, especially with lots of dry dead leaves fallen all aoround it, just reinforcing the "lack of luster" image in my mind... But still something convinced me to capture it and when I looked at the photo, it taught me something about life.

 Life can sometimes be dull, boring, monochromatic and maybe even lonely sometimes and  most loved ones might have left(as depicted by the fallen leaves), yet, it can be still interesting if you can look at it from the right perspective and present it in a way such that it looks interesting. I imagined this bench painted with vibrant orange or pure white, with beatiful flowers blooming around it...I realized that it takes effort to change the look but it is not impossible. Life too, like this bench and it's fallen leaves, looks interesting when presented well, and can be changed to a colorful one, if we put the effort and remain positive. "That's how probably I should deal with the 'Fall season' in my life hoping to see spring soon:)" I thought and moved on..  It's interesting how, in order to see a complete picture, eyes is not enough, heart and mind have to equally participate...

Sleeping child!

Recently when I went walking along the beach side here in long beach, I was pleasantly surprised to see this "Sleeping child"... I mean I don't know how old this guy is, but his face looks so cute and innocent absolutely not bothered by the chaos around him just like a sleeping child! Moreover, it's a sunset in the background as you can see the colors... Wonder if it was a "Sunset bath for him?!"  

Anyway, it's not often we get to see them so easily and so near to the urban activity, so this was an interesting walk for me:). 

Wow! Back after 4 years ! This blog loves me:)

I would like to continue this blog and hope to see more comments and friends here:). Hope all is well with all my previous readers and welcome to the new readers! 

I almost wanted to throw away my gnome waterer since he holds very little amount of water. I now have a watering bulb that works well. Recently it rained here in California briefly and I stepped out the next day to the balcony all set with a trash bag in hand to say bye to this gnome. When I bent down to pick him up, I simple couldn't do what I wanted to! He had collected those few drops of water and looked soooo cute! It felt like he is looking at me and saying "Look what I collected! Rain drops! See, I'm worth keeping"...  I left him in the pot as a decorative piece:)... It's interesting how we get attached to certain things, some with life and some lifeless yet close to our heart. Strange! Are you attached to lifeless things that's not worth much but still means a lot? 

Happy New Year!

Hope you guys have a wonderful year ahead! In most parts of

 India, New Year is celebrated in the month of april, and we 

called it ''UGADI'', which means the ''beginning of the new year''! 

Whatver be the date t begins, New Year always feels like a fresh start!

Name of the Ocean liner? See for yourself...

Now can you guess this Ship's name?

It looks more clear in this picture I guess...

Can you guess the name of this famous ocean liner?

I will let you guys guess it....maybe I'll write more about it in my next post...

Heart raced with car race!....

Long Beach Toyota grand prix, apr'09:
It was for the first time that I watched a car race and it was thrilling experience!! I could hear my heart pound everytime one of these passed by and at some spots, I was standing right next to them, with just a wall/fence partition between me and the cars and it was super loud, but for once the noise was well worth the tolerance!! Got a few good pics though! This year actor Keanu reeves(Well, for someone who could help jump a bus across a 50 ft gap in the 'Speed' movie, this was NOTHING! Ha..Ha..) won the celebrity category. Overall, it was fun for whats considered a mediocre car race.....Wonder what the big ones are like!

What's that?

Last month when I was at the Long beach toyota grand prix, I found a good spot to capture some of the race cars, and then I waited there, took a few car pics, later after a break when I returned, what do I see...a giant shadow of a bottle?! I looked up confused, and there it was! Just a giant bottle shaped balloon dancing in the air!!

Sunlight Through Light house?!

This lighthouse is so beautiful both during the day and at night(night due to the lighting around it, as seen in below image). During the afternoon-evening hours it feels as though the Sun is jealous for all the attention this light house gets and desperately shines its rays through it in an attempt to steal the show!!

Flying to the moon and back?...

What to do this Holiday Season?

Its the best TIME TO RELAX..


MEETUP WITH FRIENDS...


EAT WELL and ENJOY!

Thats right, I'm not plannning any vacation this time, I just want to be lazy for once!

Happy Holidays!...

Wishing You and your Family

A Very Sparkling Holiday Season and a New Year filled with Peace and Happiness!

''Bird spit soup'' in the making?!

If you are wondering what on earth is bird's spit soup, turns out ''Bird spit soup'' is a most valued delicacy in some parts of asia where people believe it to be a very healthy meal that boosts your immune system and for beautiful skin. But thats from the bird called ''Swiftlet'' which uses purely saliva, that later solidifies, to make it's nest, also called ''Bird's nest soup''. Anyway, that soup being very expensive and not easily affordable, our female mallard here is all set to make her own ''spit'' soup! ...Good luck with that one!

Divine Sandalwood...

I love this fragrant wood called Sandalwood since my childhood and wanted to share few interesting facts about it. It is very very expensive and rare, and has a wonderful fragrance which fills up the space around it. The Krishna statue above is of Sandalwood and most of the carvings sculpted are usually a God/Goddess or anything divine. The best Sandalwood is believed to be Indian Sandalwood especially from south Indian city of Mysore, but is getting rare day by day, unfortunately also is smuggled often for huge profits by crooks. It is also used in medicines and for perfumes obviously. Talking about perfumes, recently I walked into VICTORIA SECRETS and was surprised to see Sandalwood as one of the main fragrances in its collection called Amber Romance! Well thats taking divinity to the next level!! In any case, one has to enjoy the aroma of real wood and many outsiders visitng India bring atleast one such statues from south India from Bangalore and Mysore cities where the government owned famous Cauvery emporium and a few licensed private shopkeepers sell. Some of these statues are worth thousands of dollars based on the size and amount and depth of the carvings! You should defintiely see this when you visit India and remember me!:)

Deeply involoved...

Sorry everyone for not being able to upload any pics to my blog for a while now...Was deeply involoved with certain things that had to be taken care of, I'm still busy, just had sometime so I thought I'll let my blog visitors and friends know that I may update this blog as and when I have time...and not daily like I used to earlier. Thanks for supporting me....would love to have your wishes with me...

Love to be like those rejoicing waves!

Looking at these splashing waves at Del coronado beach was inspiring! It boosted my energy from deep within! Doesn't it look as if these waves are rejoicing after overcoming the obstacle in their path...in the form of rocks...Would be nice to be like them...to try with full force and energy to overcome any obstacle in my path to reach where I want to be and at the end I will get to rejoice like these waves here, Wish you guys the same too!

Abstract art II

Sky at the time of sunset was so wonderfully painted red and gold that I ignored sun for a while and captured just the sky...forms a great background for art or a sunset abstract art, loved it! :)=

Abstract art?!...

Talking about jelly fish, the one above which has a very artistic pattern in its body with an abstract art look is a type called Sea Nettle, this one is from Long beach aquarium, California, and even though they look attractive, stay away! Turns out their sting is deadly!

Nature pattern IV.

As you already know, jelly fish is not a fish and the ones in this picture are called moon jellies and interetsingly has no brain or bone, but purely a body made up of interesting patterns!

Nature patterns III

Leaves leaves you mesmerized!

Nature patterns II

Even though its just a leaf and a tree bark, there was something about their pattern that attracted me...Sometimes simple things look comlex!

Nature Patterns I

Amazing patterns in nature is always eye catching...Wonder how it turns out to be geometrically perfect and symmetrical!

Yoga cutie Ballet?!

Looks like Yoga is not limited to celebrities anymore!....And ballet added just like my friend sandpiper(Linda) thought, it looks like this cutie here is doing ballet also...well there are many in hollywood and LA area practising Yoga and Ballet blended into their work outs...taking it to the next level!!

Reminds me of a proverb...

Its funny everytime I see this picture, it reminds me of a weird proverb which goes ''A FROG DOES NOT DRINK UP THE POND IN WHICH IT LIVES''...wonder what that means?!... anyways, some say it is native american and some say it is buddhist quote...if you guys figure it out let me know,also, not to forget that frog brings good fortune, take one home everyone!

A walk in the park...

Half an hour of morning walk in the park does the same thing to your heart and mind like what half an hour of yoga does to your body...Very refreshing!

Nature's art brushes for you!

Look at this nature's color palette! Somehow, to my eyes, the center stem looks like a bunch of tiny art brushes on a stand, with their tip already coated with wonderful colors, nature's ''ready to go'' brushes for artisits...go grab them!

Silence...

I say ''Silence is bad when you are sad,
and is good when you are mad!
I think it is better to speak out when you are in sorrow and better to not say a word when angry...Don't you agree with me?

Bye Bye Snow...

Just a week ago we had a heavy snow storm and that is expected to be the last one this year, but I couldn't capture many pictures since my camera was left in my check in baggage while travelling from los Angeles to cincinnati, and got our baggage almost 4 days later due to flight delays!...and most of the snow had melted away by then...Anyway, its fun to look through the window from our room and watch the delicate snow flakes ''landing'' on earth gently..and a cup of hot coffe will make the joy complete....Ah! You have to see it to believe it...