Day 348 - Pool Chairs

Thought of the day: I went back to my regular routine today. I was told that Lila had missed me a lot when I was away. I could tell as she was almost giddy all day. She tired herself out so much during the day that she dropped into sleep almost instantly tonight. For me, it was good to get away and immerse in an entirely different environment once in a while. I felt that I had been gone for a long time but actually it was only a short three days. Coming back home was like stepping into a different time and space. We slip in and out of different universes all the time, within each we have a distinctive role or roles to play. This goes on for an entire life time and in some religions this goes on for many life times. Are we authentically ourselves in all the universes or are we most authentically ourselves in a specific one? I wonder about that often and I don't think I will ever find a definite answer. 

Photo of the day:

Pool chairs and swim ring.  Jasmine was taking an outdoor swim lesson while Lila played in the play pool. Now that I was back in my regular routine, it was hard to believe that I was in a very different place in the company of very different people doing very different things only yesterday.

Day 292 - Sisters

Thought of the day: We spent a couple of hours in Palo Alto's Rinconada Park this morning. The kids had a fun time playing in the shallow outdoor pool. The air was a bit chilly but the water was pretty warm.  The pool facility was sufficient but outdated.  I was surprised that it didn't have solar water heater installed as Palo Alto prides itself on being a green city.  When I walk around the neighborhood, I can see a few green initiatives with my own eyes.  Quite a few neighbors have a "Palo Alto Green" yard sign installed which indicates that they have signed up for using renewable energy for their electricity.  A few major streets, including a segment of Arastradero Road, have been modified into one lane streets to discourage motor traffic and make room for bikers and pedestrians. Unfortunately much of the extra space on Arastradero has been taken over by parked cars which is unfortunate.  Palo Alto has bike paths but they are not well connected yet.  It looks like the city is moving toward the right direction and hopefully we will be able to bike around the city with ease in the near future.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine carrying Lila to the swimming pool.  Lila loves to be carried by her big sister - it's a rare treat for her!

Day 264 - Pikes Peak

Thought of the day: We spent a lazy morning at the hotel pools.  Lila was still too young for the water slides, but she had fun hanging onto the edge of the infinity pool and looking out onto the neighboring lake.  The sight of swans, ducks, and large fish in the lake was very amusing for her.  At a blissful moment when I was sitting on the lounge chair, drinking a cold Pina Colada and watching the kids playing merrily in the water, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of joy as intense as the bright Colorado sun that's surrounding us.  On a day like this, in a setting like this, there's no room for any dark or murky feelings.  No matter where we are and who we are with, spending time at the pools never fails to bring about a sense of happiness and well-being for me.  Yes, pools and summer are inseparable - one wouldn't have made sense without the other.

Photo of the day:

We took a cog train up to the summit of Pikes Peak this afternoon. At the elevation of over 14,000 feet, the view  on top was pretty amazing.  Katharine Bates wrote the song "America the Beautiful" after taking in the views here. It was a cloudy afternoon so the view was not as spectacular as it could have been on a sunny day, but the rain clouds made some pretty interesting images nevertheless. On the way down, we ran into some rain and soon afterward everybody on the train was elated to see double rainbows rising above the railway. The weather in the morning and in the afternoon couldn't have been any more different, as a typical Coloradan summer day should be.

Day 257 - Watermelon Game

Thought of the day: Our neighborhood has a tradition of July 4th bike parade and pool party.  Jasmine and her friend decorated their bikes with red/white/blue ribbons and flowers, dressed in matching outfits and were excited to take part in the parade.  Lila rode Jasmine's old bike with the training wheels on.  It was her first day on a "big girl's bike" and daddy served as her reliable manual brake along the way.  The best part for the kids was, of course, the pool party that followed.  They played games in the pool - coin dive, watermelon game, among others. It was a big reunion for all the neighborhood kids who had grown to know each other over the years. Water, friends, games, what else do they need?  For adults, it was a good opportunity to see each other again and catch up over some food and drink in a festive air. I wish there were something like this every month! It could just be some informal gatherings over simple potlucks. We would feel more grounded in this borderless and ever-shifting global village if we are more connected to each other at a personal level and feel a sense of belonging in the small village that we call home.

Photo of the day: 

Watermelon game: try as you may, but I am determined to hold on to this thing!

Day 249 - Ice Cream

Thought of the day: It was the warmest day we had so far with the temperature measured at 34c/93f around noon. So, naturally, we headed for the pools in the afternoon. On the way, we were passed by several groups of kids of Jasmine's age who were biking to the pools on their own without any adult supervision. The pools don't have lifeguards, not even for the deep water pool with diving boards. The Swiss are really encouraging their kids to be independent by showing them respect and trust at an early age. On the way back, my mother-in-law bought a bag of cherries from a fruit stand next to a farmhouse. It was an unattended stand operating on the honor system - when you take a bag of fruits, you're expected to check the pricing sheet and deposit the right amount of cash in a metal container. People seem to be putting a lot of trust in passerbys and strangers, otherwise they would not have left a fruit stand unattended or allowed their youngsters to go to the swimming pool or school on their own. I believe that our quality of life can be greatly affected by the degree of trust in the community that we live in. If that's true, the Swiss people, at least those belonging to small towns and villages, are living in the right place.

Photo of the day:

Lila having ice cream at the pool. As it was a hot day, the swimming structure was swamped with hundreds of people from Niederweningen and nearby villages.  Luckily, the area was large enough to accommodate everybody comfortably, even though the line for ice cream was really long when the girls took their ice cream break.

Day 239 - Jasmine

Thought of the day: We were away for merely a week but it felt as if we had been to a different world for a while.  It's going to take some adjustments to get back to our normal life again.  As for the kids, seven days must have felt like an eternity. We are lucky that the grandparents were so good at keeping them busy and happy all this time. It's going take a little time for them to get used to having us around again.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine getting water from a roadside fountain. Such fountains can be found all over the village and some of them were originally built over a hundred years ago.  On the way to the swimming pool, Jasmine likes to collect water from the fountains to water bushes and flowers that look thirsty along the way. That's one of the things that keep the girls constantly busy and happy.