Day 362 - Knitter

Thought of the day: Jasmine had been practicing piano duets for an upcoming multi-piano festival. Her teacher made a CD with all her songs so she could practice with the music at home. One song was particularly challenging for her and she had been struggling with it for days. Today she finally got it through without making a single mistake. She was ecstatic! It was certainly a good thing that she could finally play this song as her audition was coming up soon. But a more important lesson she learned was that with persistent effort she could improve and achieve what might seem impossible just a moment ago. It was a lesson worth learning at any age.

Photo of the day:

I ran into a group of women outside of a cafe knitting and chatting under the sun. Apparently they do this every week. What a wonderful tradition to have! They all seemed to be pretty good at knitting - I guess it is one of those things you get better at with a lot of practice too.

Day 328 - Reflection

Thought of the day: Lila appears to be a natural climber. She just had her first climbing lesson yesterday and it was as if she had woken up and discovered a whole new world in front of her. I have been taking her to a climbing gym twice a week for Jasmine's climbing lessons and Lila loved one of the easier routes there. Today she somehow figured it all out and free climbed all the way to the top. She was so excited about her new accomplishment that she kept doing that over and over and over again. I had to literally peel her off the wall so she won't overexert herself.  The way things are heading right now, I am spending more and more time in the climbing gyms with the girls and it won't be long before I might be motivated enough to sign up for climbing lessons myself!

Photo of the day:

A wall display inside a cafe with the reflection overlaying the original image. I keep returning to cafes just like Lila keeps returning to the climbing wall. Her temptation is riskier but much healthier than mine.

Day 323 - Cafe

Thought of the day: Jasmine's swim team is having an outdoor lesson today.  She loves it, in spite of the air that is already getting a little chilly. We're so lucky to have perfect weather today and I'm glad that we can spend a couple of hours outdoors and enjoy the last bit of the summer warmth and have some good fun in the sun.

Photo of the day:

Inside a cafe this morning. It's good to be able to take a break there for a couple of hours during the day when both girls are in school. The cafe keeps changing the wall exhibitions and the theme of this month is T-shirts with prints. Changing of interior decorations keep the space interesting, just like changing of seasons and rhythms keep life interesting.

Day 311 - Woman at Cafe

Thought of the day: I observed a bunch of outlandishly dressed people on west end Pearl today. It's not uncommon to see colorfully dressed people in this segment of downtown, but I can't recall another time when I saw a man dressed in a bright pink ballet dress with tutus. Something is going on. Sure enough, it's the weekend of tbe Boulder Fringe Festival!  The festival not only brings eccentric artists in town, it also brings out the fringe elements in the local populace. Other than that, it also brings in comedians to do family friendly shows. It’s one of the quaint events that makes up the cultural fabric of Boulder - an event not to be missed if you're ready for something that is not so mainstream.


Photo of the day:

A very nice woman in Trident Cafe and Bookstore.  I was there with Jasmine for one of our regular Saturday afternoon outings and we had the fortune of sitting at the table next to her and her husband.  I talked with them a bit - both were long term Boulder residents concerned about the rapid speed of change in Boulder. Small cafes and local shops were being gradually bought up and refitted into more luxurious and trendy restaurants and stores.  That's a concern for long term residents and newcomers like me alike. We sure hope that the city will keep its character and charm and be welcoming to people of all backgrounds. An old cafe like Trident and a festival like the Fringe Festival will hopefully both be part of the vibrant local scenes for a long time to come.

Day 306 - Jasmine

Thought of the day: Now that college has officially started, the sidewalks and cafes are getting noticeably busier.  It's harder to get a seat in your favorite local hangouts. However, when you do get a seat, you have the opportunity to eavesdrop on some pretty interesting conversations. Here are a few examples from the past hour... A guy dressed in work clothes was talking over the cell phone on the sidewalk about a solar installation deal. A small group of people were talking about something political. A young man in his early twenties, perhaps a new college graduate, was lamenting to his friend about the difficulty of finding a job. A middle-aged woman was asking a man sitting next to her who claimed to be an engineering professor at CU why he decided to move to Boulder and he replied with a big grin on his face: "You got sunshine and mountains - what else do you need?" Concise and to the point. I am often asked that same question and sometimes struggle to give a short answer that makes sense. From now on I'm going to borrow his line.  Of course, being able to eavesdrop on a wide range of conversations is another good one but I am not ready to quote that as a reason yet.

Photo of the day:

Fall semester has started but it's still summer here in Boulder.  We had dinner out on the patio tonight.  It was hot in the day but warm and comfortable at dusk. A thunderstorm came and passed when we had dinner outside. Jasmine snapped a few photos of the after-storm rainbow and the sunset and was happily reviewing them on her camera.

Day 301 - Nap

Thought of the day: This morning I brought Lila to the second open house event of her new preschool.  I knew most of the teachers there already and I met and talked to a few parents today.  Everybody was open, warm and friendly. It felt as if we were having a big family reunion. I am confident this is a safe, loving and nurturing environment for Lila where she would learn to share and enjoy the world with the others.  We are all eagerly anticipating her first day in this preschool tomorrow.

Photo of the day:

Lila napping in a cafe after her preschool open house event and lunch.  She was excited and exhausted and fell into sleep during the bike ride home.

Day 295 - Paper Flower

Thought of the day: I had the opportunity to meet a few old friends during this trip. It was fun to catch up with them again. It was interesting to share stories and listen to their hopes and dreams.  The more people I meet and talk to over the years, the more I am convinced that we all face similar challenges.  No matter how different we may look on the surface and how different our paths of lives may seem, we have a lot in common in our core values and aspirations. There's something to be said about that.

Photo of the day:

A wall decoration inside a cafe with my mom's bike parked outside - I borrowed it today to meet a friend there.

Day 281 - "Soup"

Thought of the day: I observed a father and a girl in a local cafe this morning.  The cafe was pretty quiet and calm because the interior and ambiance catered to college students and they were still out of town for the summer.  The father was working intentively on his Mac, while the girl was reading a Harry Potter book and chewing on her necklace.  Both of them seemed to be very focused and lost in their own world.  There was a serenity and harmony in this picture.  I had the strange feeling of wanting to tiptoe around this pair lest their peacefulness be disturbed.  I also left the camera in my bag - moments like this were to be savored and not to be intruded.

Photo of the day:

Girls collected "treasures" in the backyard and made up this pretty "soup" which was subsequently stirred and "cooked".  They apparently spent much happy time doing that.  I was not there but at least I got to capture the final product on camera.

Day 271 - Connection

Thought of the day: This afternoon, I watched a young woman conversing with an elderly woman in a cafe.  Judging from their appearances, they must be at least two generations apart. The young woman was describing her summer experiences and her plans in a lively and animated manner, while the older woman was listening intentively and occasionally injecting her comments in a soft voice. They were both fully absorbed in the conversation.  It was fascinating to watch as you don't see this taking place very often.  The Americans, for the most part, tend to socialize with people of similar ages.  Kids play with same age kids, young mothers socialize with young mothers, and the retirees tend to keep to each other.  It's not surprising that people at the similar stage of life would find the companionship of each other both convenient and comforting, as they do similar things and face similar challenges.  However, regardless of the age difference, we often have more in common than not.  In fact, precisely because we are at different stages of life, we have a lot to share with and learn from each other.  It's a pity that people don't socialize more across the age boundaries. We can easily become the prisoners of our age, profession, race, social status and an assortment of other things that made up our identity. Watching the exchanges between these two women in the cafe reminded me of what we have to lose when we willingly imprison ourselves in our daily lives instead of reaching out to people who are "not like us".

Photo of the day:

Zhou Mama carrying a patron's baby girl in her arms, while the three women in "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" watched on.  There is a harmony and connection displayed in this photo that is easier to sense than to describe.

Day 268 - Grass

Thought of the day: It's mid-July and it's getting pretty hot outside in the middle of the day. We try not to use air conditioning in our house as long as we can and, luckily, I can often find a cool place to hang out during the hottest part of the day.  Today I found a refuge in the German Bakery which was just across the street from the Little Gym where Lila was having her gymnastics camp.  With tea, coffee, delicious desserts and friendly owners, it was a perfect place to hang out when it was hot outside. And the best part?  There was no internet connection there so I wouldn't be distracted by the bombardment of information online. I could instead focus on my own thoughts and actually get some things done. It was good to be unplugged once in a while as you can hear your internal voice only after shutting off all the outside voices.

Photo of the day:

Lila after her Little Gym camp.  Sitting or stepping on grass is another good way to cool down in the summer.

Day 260 - Cafe Sole

Thought of the day: When I was biking home with Lila today, a summer thunderstorm hit.  A sunny, happy experience was instantly transformed into a wet and somewhat scary one as I was scampering for shelter from the thunderous lightnings that sounded too close for comfort.  We did find shelter in a neighbor's garage before the downpour turned into hail.  We had some friendly conversations and headed home after the storm relented a bit. It was an unexpected but interesting experience.

Photo of the day:

Inside Cafe Sole, not long before the storm hit.

Day 184 - Alfafa's

Thought of the day: Alfafa's is back in Boulder!  Alfafa's started in 1983 as the trendsetter for natural food supermarkets at that time.  In 1996, it was acquired by Boulder's Wild Oats which was subsequently acquired by Wholefoods in 2007.  Luckily, FTC required Wholefoods to sell some of its stores for monopoly concerns and Alfafa's former location was on the chopping board.  One of the founders of Alfafa's bought it to bring back the original store.  Today was the Earth Day and Alfafa's official opening day and what an opening day it was!  The store was crowded throughout the day.  We spent an entire morning there with a couple of friends and had lunch in its cafe.  Thankfully, the new, and also the original, owner of Alfafa's seems to really care about healthy food and environment instead of just paying lip service to both and looking at the natural food market as a cash cow.  The store really lives up to his vision.  A lot of the food comes from Colorado, there are no individually wrapped fruits (how silly that is but many stores do it), the salad bar offers all organic vegetables, and 75% of the bulk food section is organic according to the store.  On top of that, the price is pretty reasonable.  I have had gripes about Wholefoods for a long time but still had to cave in once in a while because Wholefoods offered a lot more products than others.  Well, not any more!  I am glad that Boulder finally has a natural food supermarket that's both well-stocked and well-priced, and more importantly, one that seems to genuinely care about healthy food and the environment.  I hope Boulder shoppers are sophisticated enough to recognize that and will allow Alfafa to succeed and become the trendsetter again and put conscience back into the natural grocery market.

Photo of the day:

Life music entertainment in Alfafa's cafe in its opening day.  Izzy danced to the music with her mom.

Day 173 - Tea and Sandbox

Thought of the day: It was a sunny and beautiful day.  I was out and about with Lila on the bike for much of the day and felt incredibly lucky to be able to do just that.  On the way I had been thinking why biking made people happy as I saw a lot of smiling bikers but not too many smiling drivers.  The hormonal impact of sunlight and physical exercise on our mood can definitely be a factor.  Also, being out in the open air gives you a feeling of connectedness to the universe and to other creatures that you will not otherwise experience boxed inside a car.  In addition, biking gives you more freedom and flexibility - you can "park" pretty much anywhere and don't need to worry about feeding the meters - and as a result I often end up stopping by more places than I have originally planned.  All of these contribute to a good mood that can be positively reinforced through interactions with other people as you will inevitably carry your good mood into the interactions and thus affect a more positive and happier outcome.  Yes, I do believe that happiness begets happiness and it's easy to get it all started by simply getting on a bike.

Photo of the day:

We stopped by Trident Cafe where Lila played with a few other kids in the sandbox, while I got to relax and did a bit of reading in the company of a pot of green tea.

Day 146 - Biscotti

Thought of the day: It's so good to have grandparents around.  You may not end up doing a lot less work, but there's suddenly an additional level of flexibility in your schedule that you could only dream of before.  I envy people with their parents near by, as much as Jasmine envies her friend with grandparents living next door.

Photo of the day:

Biscottis in Brewing Market - I got a taste of these today during Jasmine's music lesson when Lila was being watched by her grandparents at home.