Ganesh Chaturthi 2016

Ganesha's birthday is usually celebrated in this house, except under extreme duress when we have cut a cake and sang a happy birthday song to celebrate it western style. 

Usually though, San and or MIL do the good eats, I do the pooja and we all eat and take a nice nap after being stuffed to the gills with Kozhukattai (dumplings)!

Today the long weekend helped with the relaxed atmosphere. I went to yoga class while San finished making the dumplings and Vadai.. which I will now present to you in HDR.. it was yummy. I say it in past tense because we were all digging in as fast as we could.

San has understood the concept of suppy and demand and recently she makes very small quantities of delicious stuff. The thing disappears off the kitchen table as soon as it is offered to the gods and she claims success! 

Some of my friends call this "sundar going into full Poojari mode"..will take that as a compliment. The apple did not fall far from the tree. . .  

There is a good chance this prayer thing might die with my generation. Will do it while I can to celebrate a certain event in a certain way. After that.. the world evolves with or without you!

For some reason, going off the philosophical deep end again. My dad used to do the prayer with such gusto and happiness. Last week I was told by my mum that dad's hands are shaking so much that he doesn't sit for prayers anymore. 

Was physically here doing the prayer, but my mind was in Chennai hoping that the new medication they are giving him will stop the shakes or at least slow it down so we can have long coherent conversations on the phone again. 

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to everyone! 

Hope you had a dumpling filled day!

Falling water

On our second day of the Pittisburg trip over summer, we raced from Laurel caverns to Falling water. The reason for the race was that we had tickets for a fixed tour appointment. 

First, about Falling water. This is the house that made Frank Lloyd Wright, famous. The Kaufmann family commissioned him to build this house over a waterfall, with money that in today's equivelent if ~50M $. 

It is an architectural marvel that was nominated to be on the 8 modern wonders of the world. You have to see it to believe it. The whole thing is a layer of cantilevers hanging over a vertical concrete structure, above a waterfall. 

HDR processing has some advantages!

There was one problem. No cameras allowed on the trip. You could take pictures outside the house. We were asked to switch all cell phone camera's off as well. Given we had not heard about this place before, they could use the publicity is what I thought.... 

All the pictures were taken with the iPhone 6 and processed in Photoshop! 

The tour guide hyped the cost of repair and how badly the place was crumbling. The little one did not like the guide. She said "we have eyes, we can see how beautiful this is without him having to tell us".

The place speaks for itself. It is a true marvel. The attention to detail in every door, every window, every corner and how the furniture is built into the house, the views, the privacy and open ness where it matters, I could go on and on about this place.. 

Frank Lloyd Wright was way ahead of his time! Wish he was alive now... we would be seeing a totally different class of buildings! It was a good thing my sister-in-law picked this place for a vist. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you happen to go to Pittsburgh area, this is a must see! 

If you are an architecture buff or into engineering, you will love this place. 

Niagara Falls

This travelog is long overdue! During the summer, we made a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my Sister-in-law, the local family matriarch! 

As soon as we settled in, there was a trip to Niagra falls. It was a good 4 hour drive to the falls. We spent a good 5 hours there and drove back by 10PM after a dinner stop at a Travel stop Pizza hut. Did not realize how long it has been since I had Pizza hut pizza! 

It was a nice drive along lake Erie with my niece and her hubby who also joined us. I remember her as a small kid of 5 or 6! Now she is married and is running a family. How time flies! 

We had a greally great time as we went on the Maid of the Mist to see the falls. Some of the pictures are from the 5D. Then at some point the lens got completely wet. It is a weather proof lens but it was practically getting drenched. Given waterproof and weatherproof are two different things, decided to switch to the iPhone. 

 

My niece was limping by that time because her knee was acting up. So the five of us went on to see Hurricane ridge at the Cave of the Winds. The kids loved it so much that they wanted to go back and stand in the falls again and again. 

Finally when we could no longer breathe, we turned back towards the parking lot. The air is so heavy with the mist that you walk but feel like you are drowning. 

The last time we visited Niagara falls was at least 10 years ago. I am trying to dig out the old photos and videos. Not sure if the little one was born or not during that trip. 

In a few years we plan to go back, to the Canadian side and stay till late in the night to see the falls with lighting! We are at a stage where the kids are comfortable taking care of themselves, there are no diapers to change, no feeding breaks.. we should capitalize on this phase while the parents still have energy to go on hikes, lug suitcases etc.

The trip was all the more fun as daddy Narayanan explained the family tree on the fathers side starting from kid 1 to kid 12 over a one hour period.

It was a big hit with Jr. !

On a final note, what is a post on Niagara falls, without a video?!

Niagara falls continues to be a big hit with the family! Cannot wait to go back!

Using Alaska Airlines as a private plane

When you have the zoom lens available on a flight, you can take pictures from the air.. of snow covered mountains above the clouds..

Got to do this on July 4th as we flew out of Seattle..

The white balance is tricky as we have to go through the glass window and some of the light reflecting off the window as well as the sun's angle on the clouds makes it difficult to guess. 

Then of course there is HDR processing that helps remove the glare and automatically puts the highlights and details. 

 

Have never taken my camera bag with me on any business trip. If there is no smiling wife or kid, feel no motivation to grab the camera bag. Also, I will have to check in bags and not looking forward to that. Will figure out something on next rip to Asia.. Maybe just the camera and the 24-105mm?!

It is always great to have a nice zoom on hand.. sometimes and iPhone doesnt cut it.. this was one of those times.

Snoqualmie Falls

The last time we went to Snoqualmie, the kids were little..it was 2009. We made two attempt to go and given the slippery trails and low visibility, we left the kids and went by ourselves and saw the falls. This time, the kids made it and were old enough to remember and enjoy the trails, the falls and the river!

 This is a lovely way to spend an afternoon on a Seattle visit.

Initially the kids were protesing for going on the trail and kept asking "how much longer" but once at the river access they were extremely happy.  

The hike down is a lot easier than the hike up. 

Took a lot of pictures on the trails and at the falls. HDR images below..

Next time I plan to lug my filter kit with me on this trail. Something tells me that we will be visiting this place again..