From Thursday: Cheers Dublin

It has been a surprise that I got to go to Dublin in this trip.  An in-and-out journey.  Arrived at the passport check gate around 10AM and the lady asked about the duration of my stay.  “Six hours” I responded.  She was surprised and then invited me to go back for a longer stay.  Nice of her.

It has been a very busy journey indeed.   I got to go to Croydon from Oxford, then from London took a train to Hull, then rode back to Heathrow, then flew to Dublin, and tonight shall ride to Cardiff.  Staying in different hotels in different towns and cities every night.  I must say I think it has been a tiring but very fruitful visit.

I really like the British people.  They are so proper, and they can be very nice.  They seem actually pretty direct to me, albeit polite.

People in North are particularly well-know for being nice.  I was "love" and "my love" and "sweetheart" to whomever I asked a question of, like where I could grab some napkins at the hospital cafeteria.

I cannot wait to go back home and hug my A.  I got to talk to M before boarding the plane and his sleepy voice sounded so sweet to me.  But I doubt I can talk to A today, he was still asleep when M called, I am in a plane now with no reception, and by the time we land I suppose he will be at school.

At the same time I so wish I could go to Iran.  I am only 6 hours away.  It is Ramadan and I have not been with my family for this month for more than a decade now.  Also other reasons really entice me to go pay them all a visit.  Even for two days.  But I doubt possible.  The ticket price as I checked last night is horrendous.

"May Ramazan Be Generous"

I am grateful for this month. Please remember me in your prayers. I am going to quote from one of the most generous people I have ever been honored to meet; this one resonated well with me: "Ramadan is less something that we do - instead, it is a force field we enter and are transformed by".
And as he would pray "May Ramadan be Generous"!

Oxford Mark

I was sitting on a bench in front of an old building (hardly remarkable here) and opposite to the Oxford Library minding my own business and watching people.  I was thinking about how much I have been thinking.  No one to talk to really except to myself in my own head.  Then I thought, to myself, that I wouldn't be a good talker right now any way with hardly any sleep last night.  Then I thought how it was that people came to Europe and met new people.
Right then here came a young man, probably my age, and sheepishly sat on the other side of the bench and murmured something.  I assumed he asked if he could sit there and I completely ignored I heard any thing, because I hardly did.  He had a cup of coffee in one hand and a wrap and a banana in the other.  I debated in my head, do I need coffee?
Soon after he sat down he started asking a couple questions, first or second of which was whether I was living in Oxford or I was there just for pleasure.  I responded that I was there for business and after that we didn't stop talking for the next three hours!!
His name was Mark, a hardware engineer working for a start up company near Oxford.  He liked outdoor activities like rock-climbing and rafting.  He had been to Colorado in 2005.  We talked about energy and food and society and politics and economy.  All the subject which needed a present mind which I didn't have.  But it seems I managed to carry on well because he invited me to a drink:
Early in the conversation I told him how crazily tired I was and how I was just waiting for my hotel to call me and anounce that my room was ready; I wished for a couple hours of nap.  Still after the quick chats, when he was almost done with his wrap, he suggested if I wanted to have a drink with him.  He said he was fairly new to Oxford and didn't know many people and would appreciate the company.  We walked to the other side of the street and to Malmaison the building of where was a renovated prison!
He mentioned in the middle of his talks that he would accompany me to dinner if I wanted to.  I had told him earlier that I wanted to attend a community call at 7PM, which is about the Fasting Month that begins tomorrow, yet he said may be I wanted to still dine out afterwards to which I didn't really comment.  I really didnt know if I wanted to have his compny while dinning, or even if I would have dinner at all.  I regret it slightly now as I do want to dine and I would appreciate his company.
He walked me to my hotel and then said "see you" as goodbye and I wonder what that means.  Is he really going to come back for dinner?  He just knows my first name and that's all.  Nah he wont come back.  And I wish we had arranged for some form of contact. ...  He will just be remembered through this post.

More Oxford

When you really need it fly by it drags. It's just 10 minutes past noon. I have already walks the covered market and peeked inside the open stores. I even stopped at MarksAndSpencer for a bottle of water where I also bought some fruit snack. I am tired and sleepy and bored!  No one to talk to.
I'm sitting on a bench and people-watching now. It's interesting that many different languages are being spoken. Granted the British English sounds foreign enough to me that I need to really focus to understand but I'm talking about really different languages.
May be I should head back to the hotel and sit in the tiny lobby. It's really a lodge, an old building indeed. But I spot a room on the ground level that could be considered a study room. I am reading a book called Last Night in Chateau Marmont, catchy enough for passing time. Wish I had it on me!

Oxford

I arrived at Heathrow at 7AM this morning. It was arranged for me to be picked up and then dropped off at my hotel in Oxford. Got there around 8:30AM but they won't check me in until 3 PM. So I grabbed a jacket, it's a bit chilly, and left my carry-ons with them & headed to the Center which was less than 15 minutes away and all closed when I got there. There are lots of tourists around though. Mostly language exchange high school kids I think.  The shops started opening one by one as I wandered around trying to spend the time.
This is a really old town as far as I can see. Lots of very old building here; not happily old but stubbornly old, like anchored and prodded to keep them stay tall.
I walked most of the streets already and walked a few twice even. Yet it is only 10:30 now. I found myself a local patisserie with free wifi to post my thoughts.
I feel light headed. Need some sleep. I'm filling in with carbs and no caffeine as I really need to sleep tonight. No luck last night while flying.

Bluest Blue

The nature around Rocky Mountains close to Colorado Springs is spectacular!  I had never seen such a scenery before in my life.  The blue of the sky in contrast with the white of the fluffy clouds and red of the rock standing tall on the ground is magnificent.
We hiked in The Garden of the Gods, and a well-deserved name.  The scenery was unique yet was as humble as red and white dirt and plush green.
We also climbed to the top of Seven Falls.  Such a beautiful nature!
I truly enjoyed what I saw and I was so happy to witness it all with my family.  Perhaps the fact that I had no expectation in my head about what I would see made it all ever more so pleasant.

An Irish American in the Family

The American wedding was in the backyard of a French restaurant in the heart of Manhattan.  They already had their Iranian wedding conducted a few weeks ago in presence of the parents.  It was time to celebrate their love the American way.

It was a pleasantly warm evening. To reach the venue one had to go through an underground path and come back up a few flies of steps.  There were two rows of tables and chairs facing a small patio on top of a few steps where the Reverend was standing. All the guests were seated in their designated spot when the bride merged up from the stairs.  She was smiling sweetly.  She was so beautiful and elegant!

The reverend was the father of the groom. He seemed like a very kindhearted father.  His ceremony was heart filling; he touched our soles with his quotes from the holy Bible, the holy Qur'an and poems of Hafez.

It was truly a pleasure to meet the groom's family that night and feel how affectionate they were toward the new bride. Such a kind and warm family!  This is what I call the beauty in an American wedding when the families already knew each other and particularly the bride and groom.  It was obvious how close they all were, and how welcoming and loving they all were toward my cousin. After the ceremony when I introduced myself to new relative whom I learned was his cousin, I introduced myself as the cousin of the bride; he cheerfully corrected me "we are all cousins now".

My cousin H married Mr J last night; she is an architect, he is an Irish Literature prof; and they look heavenly together.  I know she is loved.

Emigrants-Americans-Emigrants

This America is an amazing country!
We are in Midtown New York, New York.
Today we visited Ellis Island again after a decade. It has been a major entry point for emigrants between 1892 and 1924. They have made a museum out of the emigration office of a century ago.
It was very touching for me watching the pictures and reading the highlights of that process in that era. At the entrance level a big poster caught my eyes:
"Each of their [emigrants] stories is unique and bears witness to their courage and determination that enables men and women to leave their homes and seek new opportunities in an unknown land." I could relate to that remotely. Then all the pictures hunt me; the fear and hope in the eyes in those pictures, their costume, their baggages, the narrated stories ... it all touched me deeply.
I've been thinking, they came by boats, I came by a plane; they carried all their worthly and portable belongings in a few suitcase, so did I; they possibly never went back home, I did several time; they got through medical exams and emigration documents at the port, I went through medical exams and background checking while still at home... I was amazed how similar the stories are after a century. I'm not sure how they felt when they arrived; and it is undescribeable but I feel more alienated eventhough I'm more educated and more affluent compared to most of that wave of emigrants. I cannot stop but wonder, is this only a matter of race?...
I have have lots of respect for the earlier emigrants because I think their unknown was more unknown than mine so their courage is highlighted more strongly.
I like this land!

Forbidden Line

SDS: "... may be you are starting to realize that the only forbidden lines that exist are those you create yourself.  The lines impressed on us by other people, societies, or cultures are inaccurate. You are crossing YOUR boundaries and it is challenging your previous conception of who you are!  Isn't it exhilarating?"

A :)

A: "mom! you are the bestest mom in the whole world!"

The Lake

At sunset she arrived at the silent lake. It was all sound and color just a few hours before when the tourists had spread along the shore. Now there was no body around, nothing except the geese, the sand, the water, and the still snow capped mountains surrounding the water. In the sky there was the evidence of a previously present sun with the purple colors on the east and bright orange clouds on the west.
Looking at the orange sky, suddenly the reality of "presence" dawned at her. Then a strong longing surfaced in her heart. She was all alone in the presence of the reality. She started to pray.

Romance

For a real smile, sometimes all you need is a memory.

Oscar Preview in the News

I like movie recommendations.  Here is one way to get some:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2011/06/oscars-preview-15-front-runners-for-best-picture.html

Quotes Just Because

My body was feeling sick in the past couple of days.  So I took it easy and stayed in bed, a lot.  While in bed I read a book, StrengthsFinder 2.0 (what a funny name for a book!) and also watched a movie, again, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons.  It has a great fictitious story; what a curious mind should this Eric Roth have who wrote the screen play!

Any way, as bizarre as it may sound, the book I read finds your strengths.  One of the strengths found for me was Communication, it described that people with Communication strength wanted to talk and write.  Hmm?  Suspicious no?  And one of the recommendations for me to strengthen this strength even further, was to collect quotations. I already was doing that!  This book was really creepy! In fact, on the iPhone I carry I have a Note section with quotations!!

Now, this movie has a lot of quotations to note.  I started writing the quotes at the point when Benjamin is in Russia and residing in a hotel where at a sleepless night he meets this woman, Elizabeth Abbott; and finally in a conversation about how they feel younger being with each other she says she wished she was younger: "So many things I'd change.  I'd undo all my mistakes"

Benjamin: "What mistakes?"

- " I kept waiting, you know? Thinking that I'd do something to change my circumstances.

Do something.

Such an awful waste.  You never get it back.  Wasted time."

And more quotes:

"Our lives are defined by opportunities.  Even the ones we miss."  Love it!

"None of us is perfect forever"  In case you were wondering ;)

"For whatever it is worth it is never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be" ... well, I don't think it was too early for him either.  His body was getting younger but he was growing old any way.  The point however, is to be whoever you want to be.

"I hope you live a life you are proud of.  And if you find that you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

Cheers to a non-stuffed nose ... and to whomever we are ... and to our strengths ... and to our weaknesses too ... And to life, which "can only be understood backward.  It must be lived forward."

Whale Allergy

A: Daddy, I am allergic to whales
M: !!  Really?  How do you know?
A: Once I was swimming, and there was a whale, and the whale started spouting, and its water entered my mouth, and I started coughing...
M: Was it in your dream?
A: Oh yeah! It was in my dream!

Wanna Walk These Old Love-Filled Streets...

The 5th

Well, if I say I hardly believe he is 5 it not only sounds too cliche but also is not true.  I know he is 5, and I love it.  And he seems to enjoy his days too!  He had a family and friend party last weekend and then a school party.

We picked him up early from school today and I told him he could ask for any thing he liked and we would make that happen.  He wished for Cold Stone ice cream first, so we headed to Down Town Los Gatos; then he requested Main Street Burger, then he wanted to feed the pigeons in the park, and right then he wished to go home!  I was thinking if it was my day, I wanted to walk the down town, possibly go to Sur le Table and buy some fun kitchen stuff, then sit in a coffee shop and watch people come and go and possibly chat with a couple chatty ones, and finally, I would like to have a delicious steak in a great restaurant at a table filled with laughing friends and family.  But my sunny son wanted to go home.  So home it was.

On the way back he asked to go through a car wash.  I thought that was a fun birthday wish, so car wash it was.

At home he wanted to play Monopoly; then to read a book, and finally made a shuttle with his Lego's with daddy.  Watching a couple kids programs were the last wish.

I have a lot to wish for him, I summarize it in wishing him a Happy Healthy Birthday and Many Many More!

Dying Happy

"It's a new world

It's a new start

It's alive with the beating of young hearts

It's a new day

It's a new plan

I've been waiting for you

Here I am"

"Take Me Away"

I open the door to leave.  A bird flies away frantically, small wood sticks drop in front of my foot.  A bird nest is broken.
I walk to the car and turn back, look at the white and blue house, the old-fashioned carpenteries atop the window.  I like this old-fashion house.
I get in the car and close the door.  Sitting in, I look into the rear view mirror; the whole street behind me is stationary; in front of me the sun is rising from behind the buildings.  All is still quite.  And I am leaving the house.
I picture my A, my sunny son, breathing sweetly in his dream, calm, his face is all wide, his long black eyelashes protecting his eyes so nurturingly.
And I am leaving the house.
I think about calling my brother. I propose to me calling Sh.K.  She had been thinking about calling me yesterday but thought I was at work, she emailed me instead.  Pass.  Radio on.  Radio off.  Take the iPad out, leave it there.
I find that I have been driving for a long time, more than half of my usual morning rides, and I don't remember it all.  Auto pilot.
Radio on:

"Take me away, a secret place

A sweet escape, take me away

Take me away to better days

Take me away, a hiding place

There's a place that I go that nobody knows

Where the rivers flow and I call it home

And there's no more lies in the darkness there's light

And nobody cries, there's only butterflies"

Montana de Oro

After more than three hours of driving with an almost 5-year-old A and a thousand questions of "are we there yet?" we got to the camp ground 3E in Montana de Oro, a few miles south of Los Osos.  In the camp side instruction which was given to us upon check in it read that the car stop was down a hill at top of which was the camping location which made M sigh. It read that it was a few hundred yards of steep walk to the site. So we parked as instructed, each grabbed a piece of camping equipments, and headed up hills.

A few feet on the steep walkway we got greeted by a huge and grumpy lizard. "Hey Mr Lizard" we said, but he didn't say any thing back. So we continued walking when we bumped into a half a dozen college kids walking down with a dog. They said it had a nice view up there; that was encouraging.

Walking up hills usually makes me look down, don't exactly know why but it's more difficult to keep my head high. Suddenly, I sensed a familiar sent. Eucalyptus. I looked up and yes, it was a short but dense eucalyptus grove we were walking through. I love that smell; reminds me of my mother, so I smiled cheerfully. A kept complaining about the long and steep walk but he tried to be a good player. Closer to the top we got when we spotted a small hut, our very private pit toilet equipped with an all wind-powered ventilation system.

Short walk after that the hill got flat exposing our penthouse campsite, complete with three eucalyptus trees, a picnic bench, and a small cabinet attached to the bench. For sure there was no bear in Los Osos otherwise food cabinets were not practical.

We set up the tent and made another round to the car and back. On the way back we got greeted by a black beetle. "Hello Mr Beetle" we said, "hello humans" he responded.

M and A prepared the bedroom while I organized the kitchen.

Then we head off for a hilly oceanic hike.  A had a blast at the beach, playing with the waves running away from the cheerfully.

An hour before sunset we made it back to our ocean view site, set up the camping stove, made dinner, and had it all while watching the ocean.  Then at sun set we sat down watching the Sun going down the horizon.  M had already built up too fires on which we BBQ-ed hot dogs and marshmallows.

It was a breezy night, complete with the sound of ocean and spooky sound of eucalyptus trees shedding skins.  I was practically awake for the majority of the night time checking on M and A makign sure they were not cold.  In the morning, I had a mild cold.

It was too early to say goodbye to such a beautiful campsite but alas we had to head back.  We stopped at the Spooner beach again and relaxed for a couple hours.  It was just awesome being in the SLO vicinity, brought back so many good memories of our first visit to Northern California.

And the campsite, totally recommended.  Especially the 3E spot!