Day 277 - Performance Night

Thought of the day: It's summer tea time!  The Dushanbe Teahouse is hosting the annual Rocky Mountain Tea Festival for kids in an outdoor seating area. We spent this morning there with some friends.  Lila and other little kids had tea and cookies, did art projects, played dress-up games and, most importantly, got their pictures taken with teddy bears! In the meantime, the adults sat at a table not too far away from the kids and had their own tea.  Of course, there were a lot of comings and goings at the table to help the kids with their activities, but I enjoyed the brief moments when I could sit at the table, have a little conversation, and watch the light dancing in the cascading grapevine that's shading us from the sun.  Amidst the frenzy summer activities, these are the moments in life to be savored and remembered.

Photo of the day:

Performance night for the soprano we are hosting.

Day 231 - Book and Tea

Thought of the day: We are on a Greek island! We have had kids for eight years and this is the first time in as many years that David and I travel together on our own. The kids are staying back in Switzerland with the grandparents - not a bad arrangement for them because there are many things they can do. When we left this afternoon, Lila took it in stride, but Jasmine had a hard time saying goodbye. We are already missing them but it's also nice to have this opportunity to travel on our own.  When we travel with the kids, naturally, much of our energy goes toward keeping them safe, happy and entertained.  Traveling on our own, we can focus more freely on what's going on around us and focus more on each other. It makes an entirely different kind of travel experience.  I think all the couples with kids ought to try this once in a while, if they can.

Photo of the day:

Enjoy a fine book with hot tea on the flight from Switzerland to Santorini. The food served on the Swiss Air flight was surprisingly good - my favorite part was the ice cream and Swiss chocolate!

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.