Navarathri 2025

This year there was no celebration or festivities in our house for Navarathri as we don’t have any pooja in the house till my dads passing anniversary.

That does not stop us from attending other peoples Navarathri celebrations. We did get to go see a lot of Golus (Kolus), eat some good food (most of my friends had at least one non allergic item for me which was a big plus), sing songs (thanks to my guru who taught me a few songs just to sing for Navarathri in the last two months) and just see happy smiling faces all around.

The ladies were all beautiful as were the kids who dressed up. My friends definitely saw an improvement in my singing year over year. That is all thanks to my teacher. We did do a 15 minute class for Vijayadasami, with me singing in low volume from a hotel room right after I checked in. It was a long day but did not want to miss that class to get an auspicious start to this years learning.

Given the plans to blog a lot of trips, but being very busy at work, the blogs are getting condensed. So have added all the doll displays and unique dolls that caught my eye in just two galleries.. One in portrait format and one in landscape.

and one in landscape format..

As is now customary, did try to match San’s Sari’s with my shirts. She went out of her way to challenge me on some of the unique colors. My Ramarajan collection is diverse, but it has gaps. They will be addressed on the next India trip, whenever that may be!

Saraswati or sacchi paati, my grandmother who passed away two years ago has definitely blessed me this year with plenty of music. This year Jr. finally dusted off her alto saxophone and played a few songs at a friend’s place because he kept bugging her. That was heart warming to listen to.

There were not that many golus this year as a lot of my friends lost family and did not have a celebration to honor the departed. Still we all met each other in the same circles.

Next year hopefully brings us better circumstances and a celebration at home!

Fall creek state park

The plan for the long weekend was rest rest and more rest, with some yoga thrown in. However, the hiking group decided that the best recovery is to just get back on the trail when I have been declared to be able to breathe again normally.

If the wife says I am hike worthy.. then guess I am..

We left at 7AM to drive to Scotts valley / Felton area to Henry Cowell state park area. There is a Fall creek state park as part of this elaborate complex of parks.

We hiked the big ben tree trail, the lost empire trail and a few other trails. It was interesting. Four plus miles of downhill and an almost non stop climb back up. Not exactly a starter hike for a guy who has been wondering where all oxygen was going after it passed through his nose.

There were Zero benches on this trail. So no bench photos.. I did stop a lot to take pictures..

There was plenty of water in the creek and the waterfalls were amazing!

The trees, the berries, the banana slugs, it was an interesting hike.. and the mosquitos..

standing inside the hollow of a burnt out tree that still stands is an amazing experience. These trees are hundreds of years old!

After the hike we stopped on the way in Felton at Ambrosia to get some Indian buffet.. have not had a buffet lunch in a long time. There was a lot of stuff for non-veg folks. I did not get my money’s worth, but the food was great! The daal and naan were fantastic.

Here is a video highlights reel..

A few things about this hike. It is not 8 miles. It is closer to 10. So don’t believe the comments on websites. The hike is moderately hard at places. It was pleasant and a better me would have had a lot more fun. Finally, there is plenty to see on this trail and it is mostly shaded. No benches but plenty of amazing views and the creeks full of water added vibrant views.

We might visit other trails in this state park area soon!

A weekend getaway with friends to Bodega Bay

For over 20 years we have wanted to visit Bodega bay. An old friend and colleague Kevin kept raving about this place after spending a weekend there with his wife. The opportunity never came. In early April, our friends called us to join them for a weekend at Windor (same area). They had access to a timeshare. We drove the two plus hours on a rainy Friday evening to Windsor. It was a cute apartment. Even if we did not go anywhere outside and were just chatting it would have still been a great weekend.

The trips to Bodega bay, the local estuary walk, telling them about the bench photo tradition, lunch at a Nepalese place in Sebastapol, visiting Healdsburg, spending time at a bookstore there followed by some delicious ice cream, walking in the rain and drizzle through the streets and art galleries there… all of that was just extra. Every family has a crazy person and a sane person.. you would have come to that conclusion if all our conversations were overheard.

We had fun!

More pics.. The late lunch at Namaste Kitchen was delicious! The ice cream and hot cocoa on a rainy afternoon at Noble folks in Healdsburg was out of the world!

Walking in Sebastopol on Florence avenue to admire the junk art was a great exprience. We met Patrick Amiot and thanked him for his creations!

while walking around the place we saw a very real reminder of current events.

A video highlights reel..

We are all getting to a different phase of our lives with the kids becoming young adults. It is great to feel young again.. only friends can do that with effortless ease!

Here is to many more getaways! The kids are probably rolling their eyes as they read this.. but will take that!