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Sleep
Last weekend we turned our clocks forward or what is called spring ahead. Then Monday I read that senate has passed a bill to stop the clock change. Yes, it is happening from November 2023. No more daylight savings time and no changing of clocks. When I cane to this country 25 years ago I…
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Jaggery
Yesterday was Karadaiyan nombu. The women fast on that day and pray for a long life for their husbands. This is not a public holiday or a festival celebrated by all Hindus. A fasting and prayer done by a very small community. An offering to Goddess is made with rice, jaggery (a natural product of…
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Daffodils 🌼
A low maintenance bulb that seems to bloom on it’s own. It is also the first flower to bloom in my garden. Last week, I saw them sprouting but the weekend storm covered them with half foot of snow. As the sun came out Sunday afternoon, I saw the green stems trying to survive the…
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Pandemic 2nd Anniversary
It was March 13th 2020, my younger son, a freshman, came home saying, school is closed. My husband was told to work from home from the 16th. What was purported to be a short term has now has him working at home for two years. Someone posted on Facebook yesterday, working from home seems to…
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Legos
When my son was two he was at an early intervention program. He could sort out all the lego blocks according to color so fast. We were in the stages of denial , so were thrilled that he could do it. We slowly started accepting his diagnosis and that is when we found out his…
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International Women’s Day
Everyone celebrated International Women’s Day yesterday. I am writing a blog a day after. Maybe some causes needs to be addressed through out the year and not on a particular day. When I was young my grandparents used to tell stories about how young their sisters were 8 or 9 when they got married. My…
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Clematis
As I browse through and learn about clematis , it looks like a hard creeper to grow. I thought I can use seeds to grow, but I need to purchase a plant that is at least two years old. Know more about the plant here. I do have one weak vine that occasionally blooms in…
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Korean Rose
I planted two Korean rose bush shrubs just to use these flowers for my prayer offering. As the bushes started blooming I didn’t have the heart to pluck all the flowers. There is a story about Pandava brothers and their flower offerings. Once the Pandava brothers Bheema and Arjuna went to heaven. They saw two…
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Happiness
It took a long time to accept my son’s autism diagnosis. His diagnosis maybe written in runes but his life is not. “Hush” , I tell myself whenever we both have a bad day. There are plenty of things in the world that can make us happy. He had so much fun at the pool…
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Pebbles
The beginning of pandemic saw me getting attracted to Zen Garden. I really enjoyed looking at them on YouTube and decided to make one. My son painted some pebbles which we had collected from the shores of Lake Erie and made a small one for our sun room. Then last summer we made a bigger…
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Primrose
For Cee’s Flower of the day It’s March first, and it is the first day of meteorological spring. Got my first plant for the season. I didn’t know primroses are perennials. They love cold weather and like to be in the shade. Hopefully this plant should survive in my garden.
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Shivaratri
Hindus celebrate festivals according to lunar calendar. Living on the east coast, I am 10 and half hours behind Indian Standard Time. But Indian Festivals are celebrated a day ahead in the United States. So when all of India is celebrating Shivaratri on March 1st, Temples in America celebrate the same here a day before,…
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Mannequin
Growing up in India, my idea of America was what I read in books. I still remember reading ” The Mysterious Mannequin” book in the Nancy Drew detective series, all time favorite detective . My Dad introduced me to Perry Mason series and I loved it. Maybe that is the reason I binge watch so…
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Learning a lesson
New water pipes are being laid on our street. It is a great thing since the old pipes thrown out seem to be broken. The price to be paid has been water shut off notices. We had one shut off last week and one was issued this week for Tuesday but the shutoff happened yesterday…
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Black History Month
Yesterday I learnt along with my son about Alma Thomas, an African American artist during his online arts class. We created an abstract painting just like hers. https://youtu.be/fm4y088mXh8 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/alma-thomas-retrospective-1973476 My son needs hand over hand while painting but yesterday, he independently made a sun and we developed on it. We used red, green, yellow and…
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Legos
When my son was two he was at an early intervention program. He could sort out all the lego blocks according to color so fast. We were in the stages of denial , so were thrilled that he could do it. We slowly started accepting his diagnosis and that is when we found out his…
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Sunflowers
It has been a challenge to grow sunflowers since birds feed on the seeds as soon as I plant them. Sometimes I think why I should put in that effort 😂! I have see some yards with these huge sunflowers and I really want to knock on their door for advice. The above sunflower definitely…
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Trails
Off late we have been crazy about walking on trails. What began as a 10,000 steps a day has transformed into 5k walks. So, where can we enjoy these 5k walks. Of course on a trail! The Montour connects to other rails-to-trails in western Pennsylvania and beyond: the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the C&O…
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Recipe?
My Mom’s recipe book is in Malayalam, her mother tongue which I cannot read since my mother tongue is Tamil. My younger one is confused. Ha ,ha, I have to accept my father tongue is Tamil.
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Brahmopadesham
It has been exactly seven years since I went to India. The last time I went was to perform Brahmopadesham (supreme teaching), and Sacred thread ceremony for my younger son. The sacred thread signifies the following: the one who wears it should be pure in thought, word, and action. remember the debt that is owed…