York, Pennsylvania- our current location, Time 09:50 am EST, 18th February 2010! Now this date is really important to people like us, living in the East Coast of USA. This is just because of the fact that we saw sun after a gap of 7 days! I had felt like asking the Gods to show us some sunshine to take us out of these snowy days. I know that all of you must be wondering if I have gone nuts or mad. Well, I am just talking the truth!
Snow had always been my fantasy. When in school, I remember watching Home Alone and the cute boy( Macaulay Culkin), who goes through lots of adventures during his winter vacations. Winter was accompanied by only chill and some rain in Dubai. That increased my craving to see snow. Winter in Kerala was basically just more sunshine, more rains and more hassle on the roads. A short span of 5 days in Istanbul, Turkey gave me the fortune to experience the winter there, but not snow! So when I was travelling to USA, in Jan 2009, I was sure I could see snow. Now it was my time to clarify all vagueness that my mind had for years about snow. Probably same time last year, I made my first snow ball, without wearing gloves. Now wait- Lekshmi dear- this is not as simple as you thought!!! It was freezing like anything! The cold I had ever experienced was nothing!
Though I did not get to see much snowfall, days passed by. We reset our watches and clocks to EDT on March 8, which marked the beginning of Spring. Spring is a word that I had not commonly used, except in my school classes from where I had learned the word for the first time. I had not experienced spring either. All the trees that remained lifeless leaf less for the 2 months I had been here, had all started blossoming! All the trees were filled with flowers and only flowers. There were no leaves at all. Any possible colour on earth could be found on the trees. Since both of us did not know the flower names, all we could do was to admire each of them irrespective of their colour and creed! Mother nature would not have been this beautiful in any other season. Tulips, Daffodils, Roses- in any imaginable colour, Dahlias, Azareas, Amaryllis, Hyacinth, Orchids and what not!!! May be it was my hidden fascination for flowers and gardening or may be it was because it was there hidden in my blood ( as my father and mother love gardening), I wanted to have a garden too. We went to Lowes and bought 3 plants and a yellow tulip bulb. After doing a research on tulips, I understood that they lasted only for a month in total which included the growing phase, blossoming phase and dying out phase. But first time right, I did not want to lose a chance. We waited for more than 2 weeks, but the weather was colder than it was expected to be. Rest of the plants had grown and settled well, except the tulip. Finally on my birthday, I stepped out of the house to take my daily peek at the tulip and finally it had blossomed. It was so pretty. Sun light had come out as well, after a short while. We 3 yellow buddies were so happy ! It infact made my day so bright. Cherry blossom was the most spectacular attraction in DC during Spring. We did not miss the chance either. DC was filled with pink Japanese Cherry blossom trees all over. Swear- the best treat eyes can ever have!
No Spring in Dubai, little Spring in India, but full Spring in Cincinnati. I was so happy. I felt blissful to have been here to atleast see and feel what Spring is! Days flew by and fellow Summer was right here! After coming from the desert to tropical to USA, Summer was not a big deal at all. It was usual- sunny, sultry and sweaty. But there was one special feature to the summer. Any idea what it was? Well, to be honest I had not noticed it either till we played tennis like crazy. Sun used to rise at 5am but it set down only after 930pm. Shocked huh? Well, I was too. But I loved summer too. We had more time to be out, we could play more tennis. Both of us had fallen so much in love with tennis, we did not want to miss it any day.
3 months flew by just like that! And there you go, you see all the leaves on trees and plants, changing colours. You got it right- it was the beginning of Fall rather Autumn. Though it was an early autumn, which meant an early winter, I did not even care. I just wanted to know what Fall was. We were shifting to New Jersey from Cincinnati, and we had lots of work at home, including painting. There used to be a Blue Spruce plant ( a useless thorny plant) right beside the pine tree in front of our house. We had been asking the community people to take it out for us so that we can build a garden there. Now I know- you are right- they got the time to take it out only in September, which was summer! And that too, they had taken out the pine tree as well. We had to check out for plants to cover the barren area in front of the house before we could sell it. So Kichu, my in laws and myself, had gone to a nearby store and purchased 2 rose plants, and 2 other plants ( I do not know their names), and we set our garden in Fall , when all leaves fall down! Kichu and I did not miss a single chance to see the colours. Initially I could see only Red and Orange coloured leaves. But as October came in, there were plenty of colours. Orange, red, brown, yellow, and yes green at times. All I did when I went out was click click and click more pictures. I could not even take my eyes off for a moment. How can nature be so pretty? How do the trees know every year that it is time to change colour? Since we were driving from OH to NJ and most of the journey was in PA state which gave lots of importance to conservation of trees, long long drives were accompanied by beautiful coloured autumn leaves. It is usually said that Good things do not last for long! So was the case of fall. Soon the leaves had started to fall down. But that was also a pretty sight. Know why? The leaves fall on us each time wind blows. Weather is so perfect to take long strolls in the evening, especially during sunset! Wow- perfect picture! :)
With the memories of Spring and Autumn still bright in my heart and eyes, winter had come in! It started off with heavy rains, which slowly moved to hails and finally back to square one- yes snow! Hit by 7 snow storms in 3 months, 18 inches of snow accumulation, more snow coming on the way, ice and slush on roads!!! What do I say? No one would want more snow. I enjoyed all the snow falls, I clicked pictures even when it was real freezing to do it! Kichu keeps on scolding me for that though! :) , but he takes the pictures too!! We even made snow man in each snow fall. 'A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.' This is not what I said, this is a quote I had come across while doing some research on the Internet. Initially I thought that guy was mad. I love snow. I love to play even now. I love to walk on snow. But now I feel to an extent, he is right. You know why? After these heavy snow storms, we need to clean our cars everyday to dig it out of the snow. It sometimes happens that people do not even know which is their car. We experienced it the real hard way this time- not just once but several times. Snow is always welcome if it would not accumulate! Long drives ( even short drives) are now accompanied by White snow all over. It feels like I am in Dubai, but instead of the desert sands, I see snow and only snow! Now you know why I was really happy to have seen some sunshine hit my face today morning! Days begin well when you are woken up by sun!
Now it is almost time to reset our clocks back to EDT, but it does not feel like it! It still feels and looks like winter with more snow coming despite it being almost the month of March. Well, it is not anything in the normal man's hands! All I can do is to surpass these dry, dull, snowy, sun less winter days with the hopes of upcoming cherry blossom spring and colourful autumn!
Snow had always been my fantasy. When in school, I remember watching Home Alone and the cute boy( Macaulay Culkin), who goes through lots of adventures during his winter vacations. Winter was accompanied by only chill and some rain in Dubai. That increased my craving to see snow. Winter in Kerala was basically just more sunshine, more rains and more hassle on the roads. A short span of 5 days in Istanbul, Turkey gave me the fortune to experience the winter there, but not snow! So when I was travelling to USA, in Jan 2009, I was sure I could see snow. Now it was my time to clarify all vagueness that my mind had for years about snow. Probably same time last year, I made my first snow ball, without wearing gloves. Now wait- Lekshmi dear- this is not as simple as you thought!!! It was freezing like anything! The cold I had ever experienced was nothing!
Though I did not get to see much snowfall, days passed by. We reset our watches and clocks to EDT on March 8, which marked the beginning of Spring. Spring is a word that I had not commonly used, except in my school classes from where I had learned the word for the first time. I had not experienced spring either. All the trees that remained lifeless leaf less for the 2 months I had been here, had all started blossoming! All the trees were filled with flowers and only flowers. There were no leaves at all. Any possible colour on earth could be found on the trees. Since both of us did not know the flower names, all we could do was to admire each of them irrespective of their colour and creed! Mother nature would not have been this beautiful in any other season. Tulips, Daffodils, Roses- in any imaginable colour, Dahlias, Azareas, Amaryllis, Hyacinth, Orchids and what not!!! May be it was my hidden fascination for flowers and gardening or may be it was because it was there hidden in my blood ( as my father and mother love gardening), I wanted to have a garden too. We went to Lowes and bought 3 plants and a yellow tulip bulb. After doing a research on tulips, I understood that they lasted only for a month in total which included the growing phase, blossoming phase and dying out phase. But first time right, I did not want to lose a chance. We waited for more than 2 weeks, but the weather was colder than it was expected to be. Rest of the plants had grown and settled well, except the tulip. Finally on my birthday, I stepped out of the house to take my daily peek at the tulip and finally it had blossomed. It was so pretty. Sun light had come out as well, after a short while. We 3 yellow buddies were so happy ! It infact made my day so bright. Cherry blossom was the most spectacular attraction in DC during Spring. We did not miss the chance either. DC was filled with pink Japanese Cherry blossom trees all over. Swear- the best treat eyes can ever have!
No Spring in Dubai, little Spring in India, but full Spring in Cincinnati. I was so happy. I felt blissful to have been here to atleast see and feel what Spring is! Days flew by and fellow Summer was right here! After coming from the desert to tropical to USA, Summer was not a big deal at all. It was usual- sunny, sultry and sweaty. But there was one special feature to the summer. Any idea what it was? Well, to be honest I had not noticed it either till we played tennis like crazy. Sun used to rise at 5am but it set down only after 930pm. Shocked huh? Well, I was too. But I loved summer too. We had more time to be out, we could play more tennis. Both of us had fallen so much in love with tennis, we did not want to miss it any day.
3 months flew by just like that! And there you go, you see all the leaves on trees and plants, changing colours. You got it right- it was the beginning of Fall rather Autumn. Though it was an early autumn, which meant an early winter, I did not even care. I just wanted to know what Fall was. We were shifting to New Jersey from Cincinnati, and we had lots of work at home, including painting. There used to be a Blue Spruce plant ( a useless thorny plant) right beside the pine tree in front of our house. We had been asking the community people to take it out for us so that we can build a garden there. Now I know- you are right- they got the time to take it out only in September, which was summer! And that too, they had taken out the pine tree as well. We had to check out for plants to cover the barren area in front of the house before we could sell it. So Kichu, my in laws and myself, had gone to a nearby store and purchased 2 rose plants, and 2 other plants ( I do not know their names), and we set our garden in Fall , when all leaves fall down! Kichu and I did not miss a single chance to see the colours. Initially I could see only Red and Orange coloured leaves. But as October came in, there were plenty of colours. Orange, red, brown, yellow, and yes green at times. All I did when I went out was click click and click more pictures. I could not even take my eyes off for a moment. How can nature be so pretty? How do the trees know every year that it is time to change colour? Since we were driving from OH to NJ and most of the journey was in PA state which gave lots of importance to conservation of trees, long long drives were accompanied by beautiful coloured autumn leaves. It is usually said that Good things do not last for long! So was the case of fall. Soon the leaves had started to fall down. But that was also a pretty sight. Know why? The leaves fall on us each time wind blows. Weather is so perfect to take long strolls in the evening, especially during sunset! Wow- perfect picture! :)
With the memories of Spring and Autumn still bright in my heart and eyes, winter had come in! It started off with heavy rains, which slowly moved to hails and finally back to square one- yes snow! Hit by 7 snow storms in 3 months, 18 inches of snow accumulation, more snow coming on the way, ice and slush on roads!!! What do I say? No one would want more snow. I enjoyed all the snow falls, I clicked pictures even when it was real freezing to do it! Kichu keeps on scolding me for that though! :) , but he takes the pictures too!! We even made snow man in each snow fall. 'A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.' This is not what I said, this is a quote I had come across while doing some research on the Internet. Initially I thought that guy was mad. I love snow. I love to play even now. I love to walk on snow. But now I feel to an extent, he is right. You know why? After these heavy snow storms, we need to clean our cars everyday to dig it out of the snow. It sometimes happens that people do not even know which is their car. We experienced it the real hard way this time- not just once but several times. Snow is always welcome if it would not accumulate! Long drives ( even short drives) are now accompanied by White snow all over. It feels like I am in Dubai, but instead of the desert sands, I see snow and only snow! Now you know why I was really happy to have seen some sunshine hit my face today morning! Days begin well when you are woken up by sun!
Now it is almost time to reset our clocks back to EDT, but it does not feel like it! It still feels and looks like winter with more snow coming despite it being almost the month of March. Well, it is not anything in the normal man's hands! All I can do is to surpass these dry, dull, snowy, sun less winter days with the hopes of upcoming cherry blossom spring and colourful autumn!
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