14 April
2018
14 April
2018
He got tired soon …
âEi rokom aasis baba. Katha boltey perey boro bhaalo laage. Aami phone-e shunte ekdom pai na. E rokom ele duto katha bola jayâ
Two hours of laughter later, he suggested that I should keep coming back so he can talk face to face. He admitted he canât hear much over the phone – so he would like to chat like this.
Saying so, he laid down and went off to sleep faster than I could say âNo problemsâ !!!
14 April
2018
This is what those 10,000 mile treks are all about!!
Priceless moment.
He got up in his bed moment he saw me and my brother. He had even used the walker from his room this morning to walk to the bed next to our main door so that he could see us whenever we set foot in the house.
This is the first time I am seeing him get up and sit in the bed by himself in eight months now.
It was a matter of couple of minutes before we were sharing a joke. Other than sharing the same hair style, of course!!
14 April
2018
Mandatory tea stall stop (in near 100 deg temp)…
13 April
2018
Eastwards, ho!
One more time I am excited that I will be able to see my parents back in India. I cannot wait to hear what kind of complaints my mom will have or what kind of comments my dad will make. I know he has to a lot to say. Last three months he has been trying to talk to me quite a few times during my daily call to mom. But since he is hard of hearing, he cannot understand a word I say on the phone. Every time he would get frustrated and say âTui aay. Tokhon katha hobeyâ (You come. We will talk then).
My predictions are that he will claim he has become better and that we do not need any more domestic help or the physiotherapist. He will complain that we are wasting too much money on them. My mom will complain that dad is not listening to her and will try to get off his bed when nobody is around (or sleeping). He has fallen three times already in the last three months trying to do this.
I know my dad is waiting for me to get him the printouts of Natashaâs articles (in those various publications she writes in). He is a big fan of her writing and keeps her articles neatly stacked on one side of his bed. He was upset that in December I had not brought the printouts. (In my defense, on Oct 31, he could not even recognize me; I had nary a clue that in December he would be sitting up and reading newspapers).
In terms of intersection points, this may not be an eventful trip in India. Most of the time I will be with my parents. However, there is another country I am going to visit for a couple of days and while I have some work there, I hope to meet some of my long lost classmates and colleagues.
But before all that excitement ensues, I have three flights (one of them nearly 14 hours đ ), two long layovers and a trip by car to endure. And then 100+ deg F temperatures everywhere!!
That said, I cannot help reflect how lucky I have been that I have the flexibility to go see my and Sharmilaâs parents and my siblings every three months!! Most of my friends my age are not even lucky to have all their parents and parents-in-law alive. I just hope they will live long enough and I will have the flexibility to do this as many times as is possible!!
11 April
2018
Lessons from walking the dog this evening…
… what I am moved by is not the fact that dogs keep marking their territory by peeing every twenty yards or so, but by the fact that they have enough foresight and bladder control to keep enough in reserve to keep doing so …
If I were to follow the same methodology, unfortunately, my kingdom would be a single, modest size blob on the ground đ
10 April
2018
Fast 4 mile run
9 April
2018
More word fun…. Baby animals
A few months back, I had posted a blog on collective nouns. Today is about baby animals or birds. I was listening to a radio show and they used the word “leveret”. For the life of me, I did not know what a leveret is… And that got me researching for uncommon names for baby animals or birds.
Do you know what kind of baby animals/birds are these?
(1) Leveret
(2) Cria
(3) Eyas
(4) Farrow
(5) Ephyra
(6) Puggle
(7) Flapper
(8) Pullet
(9) Cockrell
(10) Squab
(11) Elver
(12) Polliwog
(13) Wriggler or alternately tumbler
(14) Cosset
(15) Neonate
Before you Google, here are the animal/bird names… see if you can match them..
(a) Platypus
(b) Rooster
(c) Frog
(d) Snake
(e) Hawk
(f) Platypus
(g) Hen
(h) Eel
(i) Sheep
(j) Hare
(k) Jellyfish
(l) Dove / Pigeon
(m) Mosquito
(n) Alpaca / Lama
(o) Pig
If you can get one right, you are ahead of me!!!
9 April
2018
Quick 5K run
8 April
2018
One of the better Perky Goths!!!
A great advantages of going to the same watering hole every Sunday with Sharmila after dinner is that you get to know the folks who work at the bar intimately. Over the years you get to know their background, their aspirations and their difficulties. We have seen some deal with a lot of challenges in life. Frankly, I have always thought that I and my family live an advantaged life and have only a modicum of understanding of how most Americans lead their lives. These folks at the bar with their life stories have kept me grounded on the struggles of many young men and women. Driving back from the bar, many a time I have remarked to Sharmila that we live a blessed life and we need to do something for the younger generation.
On the other hand, we have also shared with these folks some of their most joyous moments. We have seen some of them get engaged, get married and some of them move on to great careers. Over the years we have missed them – Joe, Alexis, Michael…. and so many more – but have been glad that they got some great breaks in life.
The other mundane upside of getting to know everybody at the bar, of course, is that I can ask them to make any drink I want. Real example…
“Can you make me a Perky Goth?”
“What is that?”, would have been a legitimate and somewhat expected response. Not too many people would know a Perky Goth – certainly not in the cocktail form.
And that is what precisely Caroline asked – who was rather startled with my request – right in the middle of giving us an update on her son and daughter.
“Gin, Ginger Liqueur, Absinthe, Blood Orange Bitters and Simple Syrup”
She was rather happy with the output once she was done carefully making it. It actually tastes pretty good – if you have not tried it out, I would recommend it. She also had the portions perfect.
It was good enough that I wanted to keep the moment for posterity with a picture of the drink and the creator!!
