Observation: Decors from carved gourds......

In OC fair 2017, I saw these intricately-carved gourd decors............they were treat for the eyes.......

Are not they just lovely? I am enchanted.....amazing creativity.......

Place: Roses in theneighborhood of La Jolla beach.....

Pretty roses..........blooming in summer.....by the neighborhood of La Jolla beach........
A treat for the eyes........

Fauna: Beaver-damaged tree.....

Beavers are rodents with sharp teeth........they can bring down big trees..
Here is a tree we saw in Mount Rainier National park, damaged by a beaver......

Place: Watching sheep en route Carrizo National Monument........

We were on our way to Carrizo National Monument to watch the wildflowers...It was May.......

Entire route was beautiful.........landscapes were varied.....

We came across the wheat-colored meadows.........flocks of sheep were grazing..........

What a nice biblical seen it was! They were bleating, watching us with curiosity......

Summer was approaching, so their fur were sheared....

Place: Grocery cat at a Ashford shop.....

We were visiting Washington state.........staying in a cabin in a village Ashford in the periphery of Mount Rainier National Park......
For grocery, we dropped in a nearby shop.......
And there was this beautiful black and white cat lying on the floor, licking itself.......
That's my spouse interacting with it.....

It was friendly....and customers were entertained.......

Season: Balcony in autumn.............

I don't miss many things about our San Diego apartment.....but, this blazing, gorgeous old Callery pear tree is an exception.........

I used to love it.........

I would haul small knick-knacks from the house to the balcony and hone my photography skill against the autumnal backdrop.........

Some of those shots..

Place: What a difference seasons and years make?

It is Laguna wilderness.......
In Spring 2013..when drought had barely started...

Its summer 2016.......the peak of summer.....

It looked as if a careless spark would char the whole region......it was depressing view of the chaparral......not a single wildlife I saw..

Thankfully, the drought is over now......

Observation: Evanescent light.....

Evanescent light.....the last rays of sunlight before dusk falls.......
I like the subtle tangerine, coppery hue............
The eucalyptus trunks are glistening...

My spouse illuminated by the fading sunlight...........

Thought: Sewage disposal....

In developed countries, sewage disposal is more effective and planned than their developing countries counterparts...

Yet, they are eye sores and source of noxious smell... and potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes..

Birds are vulnerable to toxic algal blooms..

This is a sewage near our house in Irvine...green and thick like a pea soup...sad to see hundreds of plastic bottles floating on it...also, mallards and other fowls foraging among them..

Discovery: Marquetry in OC fair 2017...........

After four year gap, I visited OC fair again, this summer...........
I was looking forward to the marquetry collection in the museum..........
They were fabulous as expected.......

Hats off to the carvers..........

Though: My inspirations for a meaningful life........

Every morning, before anything else, I do check my gmail..

Hoping for some good news..

Good news for me means, the acceptance or even revision request for some of the dozens of communicated manuscripts..

Yeah, for us researchers, 'publications' are our best legacy.......

I don't generally get any such mails..if I get any that's about rejections and how the Editor regrets to inform that..I delete the messages... its time to move on to another journal..

To add to the agony, lots of mails inviting to submit in open access journals or conferences would have crammed the inbox...both of them are interested in extorting some money, and they annoy me..

I frantically keep removing these mails...

Then I stumble upon some emails from the past months-weeks-days, which I had not read yet..

From Chinese PhD holders who want to pursue postdoctoral studies in my lab (they assume I have a lab)..

Highly-educated Indians who live in the US, bound by the law and can't work, willing to volunteer for projects with me..

A bunch of papers from my Pakistani colleagues needs immediate attention..

Collaborative works with friends in Canada and Korea..

Researchers from Nigeria to Indonesia seeking my published papers as reference for their work..

Some Pharma labs inviting to be part of their drugs safety survey in exchange of some remuneration..

The esteemed publisher Elsevier asking to review a book proposal..

Not to mention the mails from common people...their relatives are suffering from cancer, diabetes or terminal illnesses...and they want to know if the mushroom, propolis or plant extracts I had reported as promising therapies will work??

I understand the articles have far-flung effects....they generate expectations and I have multiple responsibilities....my conscience says rise above your personal conflicts...no time to sulk, carry on with the works...and yet another loaded day unfolds..

Flora: Plant identity, anybody?...

I have seen this plant since the past six years.......
Somehow, yet to identify..does anybody know, what name it goes by?

Will be thankful, if helped with the identity.....