Day 342 - Lila

Thought of the day: The best time of my day was when I picked up Lila from preschool in the afternoon. Other kids had already left so we were the only ones there. The ground of the preschool was small but it was nice and peaceful so we hung out a bit outside. Lila showed me a collection of painted rocks in the garden, climbed the trees and relished in the opportunity to run about freely. We watched the moving shadows casted by the late afternoon sun while devouring delicious apples Lila collected from the trees. It was fun for Lila and relaxing for me. With two active kids, I have come to enjoy and appreciate these slow and simple moments more ever day.

Photo of the day:

Lila basking in the afternoon sun.

Day 313 - Happy Face

Thought of the day: Tonight we went to a small event in Boulder where Nancy Pelosi gave a speech.  It was the first time we heard her speak in person.  The first part of her speech really surprised me as I was not expecting her to say what she said, at least not in tonight’s event.  She said that science is going to drive the future of this country and that “Science is the answer to our prayers!” How true, and how refreshing to hear it from a sitting politician. Beyond the muddy water of partisan politics, beyond the cycles of boom and bust, beyond everything, it’s science that will drive our future and it’s science that will save our world from the brink of a collapse. This morning, I read that only 35% of Iowa Republicans believe in evolution and only 21% in the same demographics believe that there is a man-made global warming. Over the general population, recent Gallup polls show that fewer than 40% of all Americans believe in evolution and fewer than 50% of Americans believe that global warming has a human cause. According to the same Gallup polls, the belief in global warming is becoming increasingly partisan. In the meantime, 99% of US earth and life scientists believe in evolution and 97% of climate scientists believe in man-made climate change. These dismaying disconnect between the public and the science is not only ludicrous, it’s outright dangerous as when we lose sight of science, we lose sight of our means of improving or even maintaining our collective standard of living and we lose sight of our future. As a nation, we are walking on a treacherous path. Pelosi’s speech tonight gave me hope that there are still people in our law-making chamber with a clear head. Only the future will tell whether they will prevail and whether we will prevail as a nation.

Photo of the day:

Izzy and Lila took the Tebo Mini Train on Pearl St this morning.  The train had been there all summer offering free rides to kiddos and their parents.  This is the last week for the train to be running.  Yes, summer is ending as the campaign season is  heating up.

Day 272 - Thunderstorm Cloud

Thought of the day: I got a point and shoot camera for Jasmine this morning - a Nikon Coolpix S8100.  It's very compact, easy to use and takes good quality photos and videos.  It doesn't take raw photos, give you a lot of exposure control or come with bells and whistles like in-camera HDR, panorama mode etc, but that's just perfect as the first camera for Jasmine. She has an outdoor photography camp next week and I can't wait to see what kind of images she is going to make with this camera.

Photo of the day:

Thunderstorm cloud reflecting on water.  The photo was taken in Erie where Jasmine had her horseback riding camp this week.  Luckily, her photo camp next week is going to be much closer to home.

Day 252 - Airport

Thought of the day: It's hard to believe that our trip is almost over and we're now already on the flight back to Boulder. Sitting in a humming aircraft 30,000 feet above the ocean provides an unique opportunity for reflection.  During this trip, I have spent an unforgettable week in Greece, made a few excursions in Switzerland, got together with some people, watched sunsets, read books and kept up with the blog as the best I can.  Visiting Switzerland always does a strange thing to me - on the way back, I often feel like I want to become a better person and live my life more fully and more wisely. I don't know exactly why.  Perhaps the beauty and serenity of the landscape have a deeper impact on me than I know, perhaps living in a different culture compells me to become more thoughtful, or perhaps spending time with other people and seeing their different ways of living shed a new light on my own. Unfortunately, this feeling generally doesn't stay with me for very long so I shall appreciate it while it lasts. 

Photo of the day:

In Frankfurt airport, David pulling Lila on her Trunki.  In the background is the airplane that's taking us back to Denver.

Day 219 - Musician

Thought of the day: Today Lila's preschool celebrated the end of the school year with a picnic in a park.  Yesterday Jasmine's class celebrated the last day of school with a pool party.  Yes, both girls are out of school, the summer is here, let the fun begin!

Photo of the day:

South Side Murphy's - we had dinner here tonight with friends - a good way to kick off the summer.

Day 218 - Smile

Thought of the day: Today I bought a new lens from Mike's Camera, our local camera store.  I was looking for a telephoto lens and it came down to basically two choices: 70-200mm f/2.8 or 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6.  I tried out the first lens at Mike's Camera's Denver Zoo event a little while back and really liked it.  It's a fast lens, great for portraits or landscapes, indoors or outdoors.  Unfortunately it's large and super-heavy - not something that I can take with me everywhere.  The 70-300mm lens is slower but it has some extra reach (200-300mm).  And most importantly, it's relatively small and light weight.  That's a deciding factor for me because, if the past tells me anything, I won't use a lens unless I can carry it with me all the time.  So why waste money on a great lens that would just sit at home when I can get a good lens that will be used often?  I think I have made the right choice and I look forward to using my new lens often in the next few weeks.

Photo of the day:

This Mike's Camera employee kindly let me try out a lens on him (it's a prime lens - not the zoom lens I bought). The poor guy must be shot at many times a day!  The picture is a little soft.  I like this other prime lens much better - see this picture.  I think there's a good reason that 85mm f/1.4 is selling for so much more than 85mm f/1.8!

Day 212 - Self

Thought of the day: The wet weather had definitely outlived its charm, if there was any to begin with.  Not a single person I talked to liked the rainy days of the past few weeks.  It's about time for the warm and sunny weather to come visit Boulder.

Photo of the day:

What else to take a picture of today?  I am tired of those rainy day pictures.

Day 209 - Piano Recital

Thought of the day: My husband just moved his startup from our basement into an office building.  The company was taking a big step forward which was certainly a good thing for him and his partners.  However, this morning I was left with a house that's eerily quiet.  I liked the calmness of it but I missed his presence.  In the afternoon, I was also reminded of how helpful it was to have him around when I needed to go to Jasmine's piano performance while Lila napped at home.  Every transition takes some adjustments, even for a minor transition like this one.  Counting the blessings, embracing the changes, looking forward to the new and unknown will set me on the right course.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine and her friends in this afternoon's piano recital.

Day 188 - Girls

Thought of the day: I just watched the documentary "The Business of Being Born".  The movie explored the birthing process and how a natural process had been turned into a business and treated routinely as an ailment and emergency by medical professionals.  When I was still pregnant with Lila, I read the excellent book "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" which delivered similar messages.  The information provided by doctors and by nurses who taught childbirth classes in a hospital setting was often one-sided and incomplete and only helped perpetuate the myth and disinformation of the birthing process.  The other side of the story is told by Ina May's book, this documentary, midwives, doulas and women who have had the natural, or alternative as regarded by some, birth experiences.  Sadly and inexplicably, not every pregnant woman has access to all the information that she is entitled to when she needs to make the important decision of how and where to give birth.  As a result, it's more likely for her to end up in a hospital and for the doctors and nurses to impose their wills on her and take control of the birthing process to make it more lucrative, convenient, and lawsuit-free for them.  That would help explain the rise of cesarean rate, which is currently at an astounding rate of 1 out of every 3 births in this country.  This has reached the level of an epidemic.  Right around Lila's birth, I distributed Ina May's book through a bookstore and other entities to pregnant women because I felt compelled to share the information.  Apparently that activity had not created enough impact as the cesarean rate kept on rising!  And it's rising in many other countries too, especially in China, where the cesarean rate is at a whopping 46%.  As a civilization, we are getting too technologically advanced to respect our body and too incentive driven to remember our soul.  We see the consequence of that in every area of our lives and the unnatural birthing process is just one of them.  Will we reach a turning point and reverse course?  I hope we will, and will soon.

Photo of the day:

My girls lying on the floor exhausted after some fun play in the house.  I love them more than what can be expressed in words.  I hope they will grow up in a world that's healthier in many ways than the one we reside in right now.

Day 156 - Jasmine

Thought of the day: My in-laws left today.  The house felt big and empty with them gone.  I am already missing their warm and calm presence.  Jasmine took it even harder.  As adults, we have a lot of practice saying good-byes and embracing life's many changes.  We accept things as they come as we know that they are inevitable.  Not so for the kids.  I am sure she will get over it, but it had been a tough day for her.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine in the central park.  We had a nice lunch in Dushanbe Teahouse with the grandparents before they left today.