Experiences

I am writing this blog post sitting cross legged on a dainty white bench, under the shade of tall trees, surrounded by the chirps of birds on their dinner route and the racket of cicadas, who seemed to have hatched a little late this year. Chipmunks are bounding around, standing on their hind legs and gnawing at the food they find from time to time. In front of me is about 50 yards of gently sloping lawn, a longitudinal patch of greenery tucked between wooden picket fence on one side and a line of trees which look like the seven trees that Ram sent his arrow through to kill Vaali treacherously on the other. It is a balmy evening, cool under the trees, with a soothing breeze. Wireless connectivity is excellent. I’ve found meself a little piece of summer idyll, right at the back of my hotel property. This is the sort of perfectness that has driven lesser mortals to write poetry. But I, gentle reader, shall desist. I shall give you an account of my week-long birthday celebrations i

We all know that summers in the western hemisphere are made of long bright days and balmy nights; endless blue skies and glittering waters; disappearing clothes and abundance of skin; playful little boys and girls; big bad bikers and innocuous bicyclists; open air concerts and handicrafts fairs; and cold sweet ice creams and tangy lemonades. And July 4 is gloriously in the middle of it all. This weekend was sun, sun, sun. People and fireworks too. Not to mention food and books. Sprinkled with music and movies. Sweet things are indeed made of this. Saturday, 9:00 p.m., Deerfield : This year, 4th of July fireworks came to me. This is my fourth in this country and I’ve had the privilege of joining the festivities in four different locations: Torrance, LA in a trailer park, Peoria, IL on the riverfront, Chicago at the Navy Pier, and the football field across the road here in Deerfield. The crowd as usual was awesome. People started trickling in with their folding chairs and picnic