Why did this blog go dormant?

It has been almost two months since any blog entires. It was not intentional. We had a great summer beginning when every weekend saw a new hike, nature photos and happy smiling faces. 

Then things changed, in a fraction of a second. My wife went to Windy hill hike with a friend and did the simple common mistake of not looking where she is walking. In a spilt second her shoe gets stuck in a root on the path and her ankle was twisted. She decided it was "just a sprain" and decided to go on a larger hike during memorial day weekend which made matters a lot worse.

After many X-rays, MRI, bottles of Ibuprofen,Voltaren,Icy-hot,dencorub,CBD oil, etc. etc.. (it is actually a long list), ankle braces, doctor appointments, chiropractor visits, even Bikram yoga with me and my MIL later... she is almost walking normally again within the house and on solid concrete floors. 

Every week was "it will get better in three weeks" and almost three months passed. We are still happy with the progress. If the queen is not happy, the kingdom cannot be happy. Given the blog is usually positive, I just stayed away from it. 

My new job also got interesting. A lot more work came up in the last 6 weeks. After being in startups for 15 years, a big company has a very different feel. Some things work more efficiently. There are systems in place for everything and that is great. Some things are incredibly slow which is to be expected and I had to significantly reduce my internal clock speed to set realistic expectations. Think I am reasonably adjusted now, we will know in a few quarters (you expected me to say "shortly" didn't you! have learned my lesson). 

Then things got interesting everywhere else. We had a flying visit from the BIL's family for three days during the July 4th weekend and more sickness around the house. We are all on the mend now and that is why I decided to catch up on blogging.

First for some small things. My co-sister decided to bring us a gift when they visited. We have a lot of hummingbirds in our backyard. So asked her to get us a hummingbird feeder. I had plans to get a regular bird feeder. We recently had a bird hit our window and die right there. Wanted to give back something to our backyard birds for the hours of entertainment they provide when we drink tea on the swing and watch them.

Got a couple of shepards hooks, posted them inside flower pots and set it all up. As an added bonus set up a water fountain as a project, working with my two nieces. It was an instant success. 

Here are some photos and videos..

I have never seen a baby hummingbird.. we all call it "baby hammu" and it is incredibly cute! 

The rest of the sparrows, finches, crows, doves and squirrels are all gathering around this small area and I just watch the backyard as I work. Making powerpoint slides becomes easier when these critters are around!

Never even got to edit all the photos from the July 4th trip. Will spend an hour a day and get back to blogging and the photo editing! My connection to music also got stronger over the last few months. Will write about it later!

For now, I am happy that the blog saw a post!

Lovers point Park - Monterey

Given San is still on the restricted ankle regimen and wanted to go somewhere, anywhere.. we went to the easiest accessible beach, at Lovers point park in Monterey.

It is a 90 minute drive from here, but totally worth the drive. The weather was perfect there, a good 15 degrees cooler. We parked right next to the park, walked around the park and went down to the beach and got our feet wet.. 

My photographer is getting better every day!

There is a carpet of pink flowers everywhere, which makes for great pictures! 

we had to dry our feet before wearing shoes again.. so we just sat on a bench and watched the waves and seagulls and the incredibly human friendly gophers that were everywhere! they even beg for food on two legs and that was scary to watch!

I also got to climb on the rocks here and there and try yoga poses. Not recommending this to others as it was a risky move.. was in the moment and shocked my wife by trying to do this on top of the rock.. by the time she started to protest in terror, was out of the pose.. 

Long exposure trick on the waves.. 

slowly getting the hang of this.. have to go wider as the long exposure adjustment crops the picture!

Some pictures from the park and beach!

and what is a blog post without a short video?

Had a lot of fun in two hours and drove back! Definitely recommend it for a short walk in a scenic setting!

Dry Creek Regional park - a hike to remember

Last weekend I was given a surprisingly low estimate for an afternoon hike to a place called Dry creek.. the name was not a best seller. Was also told it was past Fremont and an hours ride away. No shade and mostly dry hills but with a nice view of the bay. 

Was even given an option to bail out of this at first.. San then did what she usually does.. bat her eyelids and make a face about me being sore company and I thought, what the hell! We are going on a Sunday evening so it is not going to be hot by the time we start and we will come down watching the sunset! 

It ended up being one of the best hikes in recent memory, thanks to a surprising bloom of yellow and orange flowers everywhere on the first hillside. Then we ended up crossing the place where all the local Afghanis fly kites and run a flea market of sorts from their suitcases... (we had read about it in Khalid Hosseni's book Kite Runner, but got to see it first hand!) 

It didn't end there. We managed to go up all the way to the rim, catch a view of the rolling green hills, see all the way to SFO and Oakland and crossed a creek to get to a little lake that was beautiful.

The photo below is my attempt at some artistry, trying to catch a shadow of the four of us walking on the rim of a hill that was cast all the way on the other hill..

Then we walk down watching the sunset, while taking pictures!

Only downside was that the sun was on our face the entire time and my face became a bright orange the next day.. and as luck would have it, made it into the hot room the next day and flushed myself inside out with sweat. The Aloe Vera lotion was no longer required! 

a shot of our friends as they came up the hill..

Green never looked this good..the sunset made everything so vibrant!

This was taken at a place called Gossip rock..

kept clicking every 5 minutes as we raced down.. we wanted to get at least close to the parking lot before it got dark. Sunset was 7:30! We had to make it down by 8. Used iPhone flashlights to practically run down the last mile and a half.

and my favorite shot for the evening..

Even for March this was not easy in the heat. We hiked form 5-8 in the evening and were way more tired than any of the previous hikes. So definitely wouldn't go again during the day unless it is in winter and on a cloudy day. The area is pretty barren. So no chance for shade anywhere! We didn't see any kids on the trail either. It was a pretty steep climb that reminded us of the climb to Mission peak. 

Breathtaking views of the bay at sunset. On a cloudy day, it would be even more spectacular.

We keep finding these interesting places within an hour from our place, after living here for more than 2 decades! It took a pandemic for us to explore home!