Tomorrow is a big day..a day which brings about a major change in our lives..a day I have thought about..planned for..chalked out every single detail about..for more than a year and a half now..
And as I make final preparations, my heart is heavy..my eyes fighting tears..my head refusing to have a single coherent thought..
11 or so hours to go..
to D.
Just because..I want to..as if I need a reason to..
Ah, once there was a plan..
Help promised by the entire clan.
On all sweets a ban..
Not even a coke can.
Alas things fall apart..
Finding time is an art.
From the plan I depart..
Weight loss is now in the cart.
With things not going great..
Old clothes fit not, at this rate.
To have the sadness abate..
Pick the keys, walk out the gate.
To buy a pair of jeans standing in the store..
Ugh, the collection ugly to the core.
Skinny, tattered, distressed, all styles I abhor..
Who, tell me who, these styles wore.
Sigh, to have such ugly a goal..
Jeans I would not touch with a pole.
Even with a threat to be burnt over coal..
Would not put such a burden on my soul.
Tell me is it such difficult a task..
A good pair of Jeans too much to ask.
When they put on the designer mask..
And in the title so bask.
One Sunday morning, early March, after rain and snow for months at end the sun was out, the day cold but beautiful. D suggested we go on a hike. The usual hikes that we go to would be very slippery owing to frozen trails and the incline would not help. So we decided to hike a relatively flat terrain. After a few minutes of bouncing ideas on where to go we decided to head to a lake about an hour drive from home. A lake which is our frequent picnic spot during summers. And why would one not if this were your view.
Excited to see what the lake looks like in the winters, we got all our snow gear out and started the drive. Now as I stated before, we go to this lake at least a couple of times during the summer and there is a road that leads right to it. But we knew that the road gets snow-covered in the winters and is not cleaned beyond a certain point. What we were not sure about was beyond what point and how long of a hike we would have. We took the turn off the freeway to the 11 mile long stretch of country road to get to the lake and as we drove further and further along, on a clear road our spirits deflating. What with the roads clear and all. Our adventure did not look too promising. And then suddenly we saw this wall of snow and cars parked before it. This was the end. The road was not clear beyond and we were not at the lake.
Yipee..like two over excited children we got out of the car, got our gaiters on, put our warm and waterproof layering and off we were walking in ankle deep and at times thigh deep snow. There was something real exciting about being able to walk in the snow. No one around just a single set of footsteps (why not two you ask? Because D was walking in front making the way and I was stepping in his footsteps 🙂 ..easy life for me :)). The calm, the cold, the white untouched snow, the trees..everything just made the experience breathtaking.
We would stop ever so often to take the pictures. Something about the frozen snow-covered lake peeking from within the trees held me spellbound. Any which way I pointed the camera the pictures came out beautiful.
Finally we made it to the lake. Sat on the snow-covered ground. Grinning like crazy.
Once in a while we would hear the engine revving of a snowmobile. The tracks on the edge of the lake a testament to their presence. But in all the time we were there we saw no one. Just our little paradise.
Finally as the day started to get dark, we turned around. Were greeted by the moon, surrounded by the clouds (click on the picture to see better). Another stop. A few more pictures taken
A great day spent, with nature, away from the daily hustle of life. Peace, bliss, joy whatever name you want to give it.
A couple of years after I moved here, I made a trip back to India. Had so many plans..so much to do..people to meet up with..clothes to buy..food to eat..movies to watch..music to buy..
In order to mark a metal check mark on my To Do list, I dragged Maa to watch a movie in the theater..don’t remember which one it was.. But I remember so enjoying standing in the meandering line outside Galaxy in order to buy the ticket, the controlled chaos of stepping in to a theater and finding a seat to sit, the trailers of new coming movies.
But what I remember foremost is the national anthem playing. They had just started doing this in movie halls and I was caught unaware. The first strains and I was up on my feet. As the rest of the people slowly shuffled to their feet, all I could do was stare at the national flag on the screen. There is no explaining the emotions I went through those 1 minute and 10 or so seconds. This was my country, my national anthem. Something I had not heard in over two years. Somewhere around the middle my eyes filled up and the tears spilled.
Till date I can’t listen to the national anthem without tears brimming in my eyes. I may not stay in India, but that does not make me any less an Indian..that does not make me any less attached to that land..that does not make me any less proud of my country.. In fact staying away in a way has made me appreciate the smallest of things a lot more..made me respect the culture a whole lot..made me much more emotional when hearing the bars of..Jan Gan Man..
Attention: Rant alert
Level: Elevated
Importance: High
Colour : Pink
Everything started because I went all maternal last week. Well I was taking some clothes out for Buzz to wear as we were heading out and I went..hmm..’Buzz is outgrowing her current clothes. And we have a lot of party invitations all of Feb. And I haven’t bought any new clothes for her in a while. Bad mommy Comfy’.
This had me heading to the Mall to buy clothes for Buzz, in between all the work stuff deadline I was dealing with, on the weekend. And now I am see-sawing between anger and helplessness.
Why you ask? Well because one step into the children’s section..splash..cold bucket of water thrown over all my ideas on what I was going to buy. I guess it is my fault that I went to the mall with preconceived notion of what I wanted to buy.
What is that you ask? All I wanted was to buy a couple of dresses, in cotton, in some fun colours, which made me go all aww when I saw them on Buzz.
What I got you ask? A sea of dresses in shiny, scratchy material, with ruffles and laces and bows up to the throat, and all in PINK.
I mean come on. I know Buzz is a girl. I know, you don’t have to tell me, really I know. But Pink only. The only colour you sell baby girl clothes in? Really? OK I have made a valiant effort to keep her from that colour for most parts till now and this is retribution for the same. I get it. But can’t you give me something at least a little bit less fussy? I mean the poor little thing will drown in all the shebang you have attached to those dresses. Princess dresses D calls them and I agree. There is something in this country about treating a child as a prince or princess. And I rebel big time.
Let me clarify: Buzz is special to me. No other child is currently as special to me as Buzz is. As if that is not true for all moms out there. Sheesh I am not special that way. In the same way Buzz is not that special to anyone else but to me. And I am trying, real hard, that she goes up with her head firmly on her shoulders. That she does not grow up with ‘I am special, bow down to me world’ syndrome. And so I rebel against anything foo..foo..princessy..not only on an esthetic level but on a moral level as well.
But the world obsessed with Disney and out to make profit by selling the image is stepping up its game big time. If I can’t find anything else, I will have to buy the dresses they throw my way will I not? Well no. I am not.
What did I do you ask? I walked in the boys section. Bought a couple of trousers and a few T-shirts in green, white and blue. So what if half the people who will see Buzz will think she is a Boy. So what if we have been brain washed that if a baby is not wearing pink or a frock or has a hair-band or some fluffy hair-pin, then the baby is a boy. I am sticking to my guns, till Buzz is grown up enough to tell me she wants to wear the pink dress on that shelf. I will give in give up then (may be not gracefully but will give in) but not a minute before that.
Anyways, moral of the story: Feeling maternal is a sure way to get ones blood pressure up.
PS: Why pink..why only pink when there are so many colour out there? Give me some orange, red, brown, yellow, green and some shaded in between please..Someone..anyone..??
Almost halfway in-route Banff and Jasper on the Icefield Parkway is the Columbia Icefield. The icefield feeds 8 major glaciers..Athabasca Glacier being the one that you see as you drive down the road. No detour required to get to the Icefield. You drive up and can park at the ‘Columbia Icefield Visitors’ Centre which is build facing the Athabasca Glacier.
Once at the visitor center, you have a few options.. – Sit in various places inside the Visitor Center which has floor to ceiling glass windows and enjoy the view.. – Hike up the glacier.. – Take the bus which takes you from the visitor center and drives on to the glacier, lets you walk on the glacier, take pictures, enjoy the view for a scheduled 10 minute halt before heading back (if you click on the image below and squint your eyes you can make out 2 buses making their way on the glacier)
The first time we went to the Icefield we were newlyweds. D had no idea if I could hike and if so for how long. Plus being new to this part of the world, I did not have the proper gear to hike up the glacier, so the bus it was. The bus is worth a mention because the wheels alone are almost as tall as a human in diameter. It was some experience being on the bus, getting down on the glacier and looking down at pristine blue ice as you look down various crevasses.
Cut to this time. We decided to hike up the glacier. So on came the hiking shoes, a warm jacket (since it was peak summer we did not need any special equipment) and off we were. The view when on foot is so different from when you are inside the bus or may be, one has more time to look around and actually enjoy the mountains around.
Since we were on no set schedule, we took our time walking up, stopped when we felt like and captured pictures of things that caught our fancy.
On one such stop we captured the buses lined up to make their way on the glacier, with people on the bus waving at us (the two lone idiots on foot)
Again since we had no set destination, when we thought the hike was enough and as we moved closer to the crowd where the buses make their halt, we turned back to head down.
Having done both, the by bus and by foot options, I would definitely recommend the foot option. You get a better feel of the glacier, a better feel of the surrounding area and you see the various markers which tell you where the glacier was in a certain year. Such a somber reminder of the receding glaciers and that they might not be here in time to come. That is a reminder to enjoy these sites, appreciate their beauty and do our part to preserve them the best we can.
Meandering through.. 
