He was not very happy when I told him we are not going to downtown today. We will sit in the patio and I will read a book and he can watch people. That did not appeal to him. He did not even bother opening his eyes to look at the people and dogs going up and down the street! It was like he was going “I am going to be like this. You just tell me when you are done so we can go inside!”
This is the aspect of Atlanta I love the most. The greenery. Also the aspect of the old house I miss the most.
Jay Jay and I went out this morning to walk in the Alpha Loop. It had rained slightly thru the night and the trees were still dripping raindrops as some light breeze wafted thru. That rain drenched green color everywhere was breathtakingly mesmerizing. There were numerous birds chirping and trilling all around us. We stopped many times in the walk so that I could listen to the cacophony of all the bird tweets.
I was expecting many more people this morning in the Loop. I was wondering if there was more rain in the forecast that I might have missed. It eventually dawned upon me that it is a Monday today.
Ah! The bliss of not having to go to office in the morning!!!
After about three years, John and I went to Helen, GA to grab a lunch again. We went to the same place as we had gone to in 2020. Here is the funny part…
That day, we had gone there riding identical bikes – Honda CTX 700s. Today too, we went in identical bikes – Honda Rebel 1100s.
What is crazy is that the one parking spot that was open for us today – was the exact spot we had that day!! (I realized that while checking the pictures from that trip).
And to cap it off, we again talked about politics and corona virus!!
I had faithfully showed up at the Starbucks to meet the Chalupa (Bengali runners) group this morning. What I did not know is that there is a baby shower in the community (I am woefully unaware of these things) – and therefore nobody was going to show up for the run.
As I was waiting, I saw somebody enter the Starbucks who reminded me a lot about my old running buddy from 15 years back – Russell Shaw. He has moved to Durham ever since and we keep in touch once a year on his birthday in April.
My first reaction was to see if I could take a picture of the gentleman and send it to Russell telling him that I had met his doppelgänger. My second reaction (fairly stupid, now that I think about it) was to approach the gentleman and ask “Are you not supposed to be in North Carolina?”
Well, turns out it was indeed Russell!!! He was in the area to sell off his house!!
Eventually, Mrinal-da – who realized that I must have been sitting at Starbucks by myself – decided to show up and give me company too!!
So there you go – two of my runners friends from two different groups … and me – in one frame!
I had been motorbiking continuously for over 70 miles. These were backroads – which means I had been on the road for an hour and a half. Needed to take a break. Further, I was very hungry due to my unplanned running routine in the morning.
Finally, pulled over at a Tavern. Looked in my motorcycle bag – I always carry enough work in case I get stuck somewhere. Usually it is the iPad to catch up on reading. Today, I had my letter writing pad also.
After making friends with the manager at the Tavern, I found myself a spot in a corner table in the bar. Over a glass of wine and some unhealthy food, penned off two letters to a couple of my penfriends.
I am fairly sure, it is not very common for tavern customers to wield their fountain pens and writing pads and start scribing letters!!
The idea was to put in a quick 5K (3 miles) run. The problem was instead of listening to songs while running, I made the mistake of listening to some Youtube videos on Time. (basically, is time a fundamental thing or have human beings simply conjured it up? Is entropy a real thing – the only time we need time to explain a physical equation – or is it how our brains process it? ).
In the confusion, I completely lost track of time. By the time the talk ended, I was nearly 2.5 miles away from my starting point. ergo, was forced to complete a 5 mile run.
Absolutely made sure that I listened to music on my run back. Else, I was afraid I might have breezed past my starting point!!
The temperatures are a-rising. On top of all the fresh local vegetables, eggs, bread, honey… now we have the local kiddos having fun in the water fountain! I can watch them for hours. Such blissful fun they have. All they need is some water and they can entertain themselves endlessly.
Fortunately, no parent has yet come up with the Bengalis’ much dreaded “thhanda legey jaaabey” (thou shalt catch a cold)
