Thursday, April 27, 2017

Thought: Interaction with a drug-addict, homeless.......

One afternoon I was waiting at my University subway station, San Diego for the trolley (light train) to arrive.........
Saw a homeless, drug-addict walk towards the bench I was sitting..
Going by his rough condition, I decided to leave if he asks to share the bench..
He did not..he sat on the floor...and opened his lunch of a stale, fermented-in-a-bad-way burger..
I felt pity for him...for me too.
For him, as he has spoiled his opportunities to flourish, despite being an American..
For me, as tons of qualifications has not made me eligible to work here yet, because I am a foreigner ..the laws think that few dollars in salary is costlier than significant contributions to their healthcare..
Interrupting my thoughts, he asked about my country.
As soon as I told, he folded his hands and said a 'namaste'.
Things seemed interesting, as not many I come across greet like this. Only the donkey character from Shrek movie, whom I had met in Universal Studios, LA, had done so ...
I asked him, how come he knows the cultures of India.
He said he has friends, who go there and they have shared their experience.
A homeless having friends, who travel international seemed odd.
I asked where exactly they go. 
He told Delhi, Banaras.....
I understood the 'Drugs connection'..

Food: Pulse recipes from my kitchen.........

Rajma..

Toor dal..

Lentil..

Pea curry...

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Health: Food additives are poisons....

We used eat those frozen rotis...
Fish out from the freezer and flip for 2 min..
Though the taste was not the best...it was convenient....
But, then I fell sick and my body rejected the store-bought thing...soon after eating one of those paratha, my respiratory pipe would feel like constricting...not a pleasant feeling..in fact scary..
I knew, I have to find an alternative...

We got the whole what flour bag from the grocery....now I make the roti/chapati from scratch...
It takes 10-15 minutes...but, its fresh, tasty,  and healthy...


I don't see going back to the chemical-additive-laced foods any more..

Similarly, i have grown up eating puffed rice.....but recently, I knew they add urea in the rice to make it swell and whiter........

Of course, if I continue eating it, my gut mucosa will develop lesions........

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Birds: Rudy duck...

Rudy duck (Oxyura sp.).....a stiff-tailed duck..
It must be a breeding male...with chestnut brown body, white cheeks and a sky-blue bill...

Swimming on the placid waters of a lake in Mason regional park..

Friday, April 21, 2017

Place: Visiting Washington park arboretum........

While we were in Seattle in September, we visited the Washington park arboretum., apart from the famous Japanese Garden...some shots..
Crisp morning walk..


The rose shrubs are loaded with hips..the edible fruits..

Thats a Gunnera species....very large leafs, like elephant ears..

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Thought: Best things about this country..

The USA .......its the dream destination for millions around the world..
For it embraces diversity...
One day..same beach...


Health: Sharing my knowledge on cancer........

It is deplorable the way diseases are misunderstood...
If someone has obesity...people think the person might be loading on lots of fats..
If someone has diabetes, cutting down on sweets is good enough..
If high blood pressure, lowing salt intake is enough..
Truth is that any inflammatory agent can lead to above metabolic syndromes...might be your indoor mold, cockroach allergen....your city particulate  matter...the limestone, iron, coal industry aerosols....vehicle exhausts....your  deoderants....food preservatives..your medicines..

Now-a-days, I am watching " Mad men"...where the advertisement guys brazenly say that society has a 'death wish'...which they are simply helping with...

So, how can one filter through the toxic-loaded world...well, when some quandary merges...just think, is it close to nature and forest? If not, its worthy of shunning..

Your fibroids, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, autism are not destiny's wrath...they are the results the wrong lifestyle...chosen intentionally, by ignorance or tolerated by helplessness..

Do you think a fungicide can cure cancer? Mad thought, right?
Well then, the common cancer drugs like letrozole are from the fungicide Azole group..
And more I investigate, I can't help but agree with the eminent researcher who said ' cancer does not kill as much, as the toxic drugs do".
Cancer means, body is far awy from homeostasis..and the drugs taken to cure cancer, adds further to the oxidative stress...
If body can cope, one survives...if not, the patient will succumb..

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Plant: Medlar...

Medlar (Mespilus germanica) ...a fruit ...I had heard about.had not seen..
I saw in Seattle park arboretum...in late summer, the fruits looked like big rose hips..



I still have no idea how it tastes....have read that its astringent if not ripe well..
Would like to taste..

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Observation: Pioneer houses..in National parks..

We have heard and read how pioneers flocked aboard wagons to the US West in the second half of the  19th century.. they survived hardship...with courage....dedicating themselves to raise children, amidst austere life..they passed days in cooking, sewing, planting....diseases like typhoid and cholera claimed many lives..all the joy they had was by attending church..

A pioneer house in  Sequoia National Park ..

One in  Mount Rainier National Park ..

Another pioneer house preserved in Port Angeles, near Olympic National Park Information Center...

Monday, April 17, 2017

Joy: Fun with my garden flowers..


Dozen varieties of flowers blooming in the patio garden.........



Place: At Port Angeles...the gateway to Olympic National Park....

During the 5-day stay in our Olympic National park visit,  for the the first days, we stayed in Port Angeles..
This port town sandwiched between a temperate rainforest  and the Strait of Juan de Fuca has its own charm..
Some shots..
Equipped with charms of a tourist destination...with good restaurants..we dined at Mexican and Thai places..

I noticed, apple trees in almost every backyards..
It was September, so fruits are lying on the ground..



A decent place to visit again..

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Observation: Water reflections......

An object or landscape reflection on a water body makes for a mesmerizing view...some of my shots..
These are captured at Reflection lake, Rainier National Park...



Saturday, April 15, 2017

Place: Rainier National park..

Rainier National Park........
It was my first glimpse of the colossal mountain....

It was on a trail in the Paradise area.....

This face-like rock was deep in the Box canyon gorge...we clicked the shot from above 100 feet..water of the Cowlitz river was rushing furiously...

The majestic Rainier...viewed from Sunrise...
I think, this side is more glaciated than the side viewed from Paradise..

Friday, April 14, 2017

Observation: Hay bales........

I love the view of hay bales lying on a open field...but get to see them rarely.. having been lived in South California, all these years..
In a recent trip to North West Washington State, I got to see some ranch, barn..and bales..


It was autumn morning...robins, sparrows and crows were foraging abut them..

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Health: Pica....the urge to eat unedible things..

Months back, when I read this weird news of man gulping down about 40 iron knifes within few months and their subsequent surgical removal....I got curious...
Why he felt the urge to swallow something deemed remotely edible?
Learnt its a disease..called Pica...where, the patient feels like eating non-nutritive articles..like   hair (trichophagia), paper/cardboard (papyrophagia), ice (pagophagia),  glass (hyalophagia), stones (lithophagia), paint, sponge, metal (metallophagia); earth (geophagia)...  even feces (coprophagia)....
An eating diorder other than the well known........anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa..
I remember, as a child, sometimes I used bite pieces of chalk...but that is the ignorance of childhood..
Adults indulging in such unhealthy habits is linked to nutritional deficiency manipulating one's brain or mental disorders with inability to judge right from wrong...
Have not we heard of people consuming bricks, lizards etc......
Its prevalent during pregnancy and the postpartum period..in old age...in women with multiple sclerosis..linked to iron deficiency anemia, mental retardation..
The ingestion of random non-digestible things can cause bezoars (obstrutions) in the gut..requiring bariatric surgery ..
Educating the poor  and iron-rich food might help overcome such abnormal  habits..

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Knowledge: Roman mythology...........

##Norse Gods
Odin: Chief among Aesir Norse gods
Frigg: Norse goddess of fertility (Queen of Asgard) (Friday)
Thor: Hammer-wielding god (Thursday)
Hel: Daughter of Loki (Queen of hell)
##Roman Gods
Aurora: dawnCeres: Agriculture
Faunus: animals
Flora: flowers
Fortuna: luck
Jove: jupiter
Venus: love
Vulcan: fire

Lucullus: Roman host who gave lavish banquets
Cassandra: prophecy (doom)
Draco: Athenian lawmaker who had a harsh code of laws
Eris: discord (prone to controversy; argumentative)
Somnus: sleep
Argus-eyed: a giant with 100 eyes
Fates: three goddesses that determined the course of human life
Vesta: goddess of the hearth, home, and family
------------------------
Hector: bravest of the Trojans
Hermes: Zeus’ swift messenger
Mars: god of war
#Roman God lists
Jupiter: The mighty king of the gods. Roman God of the Sky, thunderstorms, lightning, weather and air. Also god of law, order, justice, governance and strength. Most important god of the Romans and usually had the highest divine authority over other gods.
Neptune: One of the brothers of Jupiter, one of the prime gods and ruler of the seas. The patron of sailors and the protector of ships.
Juno: Queen of the Gods and wife of Jupiter. Goddess of Marriage and Women. Protector and Counsellor of Rome.
Mars: God of War, Spring and Justice. Patron of the Roman Legions and divine father of Romulus and Remus.
Venus: Goddess of Love and consort of Mars. Divine mother of Aeneas, ancestor of the Romans.
Bellona: Goddess of War, Conquest and Peace.
Minerva: Goddess of Wisdom, Divine Counsel, Useful Arts, Crafts and Later War.
Janus: God of Beginnings, Endings, Transition, Doorways and Keys.
Vesta: Goddess of the Home and the Hearth. Patron of Rome.

Varro  gives a list of twenty principal gods of Roman religion:
Janus, Jupiter, Saturn, Genius, Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Vulcan, Neptune, Sol, Orcus, Liber, Tellus, Ceres, Juno, Luna, Diana, Minerva, Venus, Vesta

Livia, wife of Augustus, dressed as the goddess Ops
Varro, who was himself of Sabine origin, gives a list of Sabine gods who were adopted by the Romans:
Feronia, Minerva, Fortuna, Flora, Saturn, Sol, Luna, Vulcan, Terminus, Quirinus, Vortumnus, Lares
Diana, Lucina

Fauna: Red Panda at San Diego zoo.....

Red panda...
I was lucky to see this red panda at San Diego zoo..
The small, arboreal animal  inhabits the Eastern Himalayan region. In fact, it is the state animal of Sikkim. During my trip to this Himalayan foothill state, while passing through the temperate forest, I had hoped to glimpse these vulnerable creatures, but was disappointed. Here I was elated to this sleeping furry one....



Do you know, its related to the smelly skunk?
Better to remember as the character Sifu in 'Kung Fu Panda' movie......

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Place: Famous rocks........

Some rocks are as popular as the landmark they occur in........
Like...
This ovoid rock in Lassen national park...

Devil's postpile monument in Mammoth Ca...

Cathedral rock in Yosemite national park...

In Horse Shoe Bend.....


Morro rock in Sequoia national park...

Monday, April 10, 2017

Plant: Asiatic lily....

Asiatic lily..........
While I bought them they were blooming...bright yellow flowers..
Even without the plants looked good...adding texture and variety to the garden...

As autumn approached the leaves dried out....I believe the bulbs will multiply soon and send out new plants..
The pods are drying...I have sown some seeds from these pods...to see if they germinate...


Sunday, April 9, 2017

Fauna: Scary bugs/arthropods at San Diego zoo..........

Some vicious arthropods viewed at San Diego zoo.........
Coconut crab.........

Tarantula......


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Visitor

Free counters!