Notes from an almost-empty-nester
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| My cousin and nephew celebrate after ‘conquering’ China Peak in Nainital at a height of 2615 metres. In the backdrop you have The Himalayas. The rest of us chose to stroll along the Mall Road. |
Linking to Thursday Challenge.
“FEELINGS” (Love, Hate, Sadness, Anger, Joy, Contentment,…)
1. Look and be awed.. the scenery’s absolutely breathtaking.
2. Watch as the clouds come down right on to the road… and this isn’t even Nainital.
3. Look out for the transient waterfalls rushing down the hills.
4. Count all the different kinds of clouds in the evening sky… (remembered only cirrus and cumulus.. you can try more), then count off the colours.. scarlet, salmon, orange, amber, amethyst, black, silver.
5. Fight about who has the window with the better display. Then fight to sit at the others’ window. Finally try to unseat the poor mother sitting in the middle because “you always get to see the best through the dashboard”.
6. While at the window.. race the raindrops with your fingertips as they trickle down the panes on other side.
7. Argue noisily about whether we’ll crash into or safely cross the car in the front till the rattled driver shushes you as he tries to drive through the pouring rain.
8. Go wheeee……… as the car does those turns on the ghats.
9. Watch out for that single patch of sunshine on the hills, like a spotlight, as the sun struggles to show up from between the clouds (seriously amazing!).
10. Count how many times you drive in and out of rainy patches… here it’s raining, here it’s not.
Can’t end without this one even though it upsets my predilection for round numbers..
Stop for a hot ‘cutting’ chai and a fiery vada pao.
Oops…
forgot to add the link to ABC Wednesday . Apologies.
Yesterday we were watching the Delhi Marathon and Hrit asked me what a marathon was. All I could remember was that a Greek, with a name difficult to spell, with a P and D in it, ran somewhere and ran back and died. Good bless Google for coming to my rescue.
That’s a story I liked. How could I forget it? If I forgot something obnoxious like calculus or chemistry I’d not complain. If those were wiped clean off from my mind I’d only be grateful for the extra space. I do have to cram a lot in that brain of mine. What’s worrying me is not finding the other interesting stuff, things I read and enjoyed and had been really really good at during school.. tectonic theory, the Moghul Empire, the working of a pinhole camera.. I loved all that and remember knowing it so well. But now… nothing.
On the other hand there are things I remember so clearly.. speeches from The Merchant of Venice, poems by Wordsworth, Kabir and Rahim, pictures from my textbooks way back from when I was in Prep.
Weird it is.
It doesn’t help that I had a grandma with Alzheimer’s.
Today was the last straw — I couldn’t remember the name of Harry Potter’s school — Hogwarts.. for godsake! I need to install google in my head. Maybe they’ll come up with something. I hope it’s soon.
PS: He was Pheidippides. While on Marathons.. the gym is having a mini Marathon.. all of two kms, this Sunday. I’m still trying to decide whether I should go. What if I’m the last person walking at the finish line?
