Observation: Learning from natural world..........

I have no dearth of academic degrees.......but I learn a lot by observing the nature.....

Irony: Living versus artificial...

Thought: My residences in California mission towns...

I used to live in Mission Valley, San Diego County, now I live in Mission Viejo, Orange County.................

Apart from their common first name, both are home to the old Spanish churches...first and second, respectively...

So, even their street lamps are in the shape of mission bells...

Thought: When will people start respecting nature???

The other day, I read this article about a sperm whale washed ashore, whose body contained 30 Kg plastic...felt like condemning our kind...

USA is a developed country and its citizens are expected to understand the risk of pollution and to behave responsibly....may be most realize, but as long as there are few, who don't respect nature, catastrophes can still happen.....

I was hiking in  a most popular trail of South California, and saw these plastic bottles strewn...

Well, there was no trash receptacle at that vantage point....but, an empty plastic bottle weighs nothing...one could have saved it till finding a bin..........such things make me annoyed at humans...you can carry your kid, stroller and allied stuffs, which will weight 10 kgs, but can't carry a 50gm thing??

As I say it, I feel a tug of conflict too...working a  laboratory, I discard handful of plastic tips in every experiment session..........if the tips go to Ocean, that's a tragedy.........if they are recycled, still the toxic fumes will destroy the health of the people exposed to it.....

Joy: Nostalgia moments.....

I had set foot in this country for the first time in summer 2011........since then, I have visited my native country only once, spending all these years here only......learning about and loving this place..visiting some of its iconic as well as lesser-known places...studying here...working here..consolidating my researcher and author profile...

Now, I am getting busy in work so much that such vacations are dream .....I nostalgically remember and savor the momemts...

It was my first experience of USA National Parks..Thanksgiving 2011....I remember the walk through the pine forest, and being stunned with the deep canyon........

Its Seaworld...Mission bay..Christmas time..

Tanaka Farm..appreciating a field of Swiss chard....

Upper Newport Bay..rode bike to this marsh several times....watching blooms, tide, migratory birds, plucking prickly pear fruits, being inspired to write on Salicornia........

Making a bouquet of mustard blooms in Lake Murray edge...

I was sitting on a high meadow, watching the beautiful Lake St. Mary.....samples of some herbs that surrounded me..

Riding along the shore of Lake Crescent in Olympic national Park......

Citrus grove in San Joaquin Valley, en route home from Sequoia National Park...

One of the early visits to San Diego zoo...being awed by the opulent pyracantha berries....

Soaking the autumn vibe sin the aspen groves in the foothills of Sierra...

Health: Acidosis due to acidogenic food........

Modern processed foods are not healthy.......

(Nutella-smeared breads)

I had got some biscuits...which turned out to be sickly sweet.....I hate wasting, so dissolved them in water, to be poured to some of my flowers pot....

Now does that look like human food? When it goes to the stomach, it reduces the pH, leading to an array of illnesses.....

Health: Artificial fragrance versus natural fragrance.....

I hate it when I have to inhale the deodorant or perfume worn by people..I myself don't use any for my intolerance to them..and ever since, I knew the hormone-disrupting role of them, I don't want to be exposed to them....even passively..

But, sadly, I often have to inhale ....as almost everybody else wears some or other fragrances...

While walking on a trail, I used to greet people..now I stop  my breathing when I pass them...it is not drama, but I am just trying to keep healthy in a polluted world..

The way people hate to expose their children from the cigarette smell of other people..even policies are in place to control the exposure to cigarette smoke..........now the cosmetic fragrances are posing the same threat..

One evening, myself and spouse were walking.........and I suddenly smell something heady fragrant..

I has almost started to curse the person liberating it, but then I was pleasantly surprised to find, the fragrance is coming from the near-by citrus grove.........it was a welcome aroma!!

Thought: Mother's day...........

On the occasion of Mothers' day.........some of my shots....

Plant: Clover...

Clover...the tiny grass bloom in spring, like other plants...

They might be inconspicuous to many, but its nectar source for the bees..and pretty to those who pay attention...