December socializing

On the 10th of December was the second luna eclipse of 2011,which we could see very well from our house.  Sorry to say, I did not get a good shot of it at all, but it was spectacular.

On 11 December we saw one of the Gaur (wild bison) babies, partially grown up

This may be momma.  They were exceptionally close by, and they make me nervous.  They are very large.   (Wikipedia:    'The Gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the African buffalo, the extinct aurochs, and wild water buffalo.')

On 12 December, Raju came from Delhi, just as I came down with a cold.  He left on 20 December, and the poor guy hardly got out of our house since I was sick the whole time he was here.  Then, Gopal got sick just before he left.  I really felt bad for Raju.

On 14 December, the fifth anniversary of my son's death, we decided to go to the little temple very close to the house.  Here's Raju in front of the little tree temple in the woods.

Gopal is our personally swami.  Here he is setting up the puja at the tree temple.

We made sacrapongal for prassad, which you see in front of the picture of Mike.  I hate to admit that around the time of his death each year, it comes so close and the grief is acute again.  I think that may be why I got sick.

We did take Raju to a local viewpoint, Dolphin's Nose.  Here he is with Gopal.

Not sure when my Facebook friend, Bhavani, told me she would be in Ooty soon, but we have never met and I am a great admirer of hers.  She's an environmental activist par excellance.  I am so flattered that she came to visit me and thrilled she brought her family.  They arrived at my house on Christmas Eve.

We're laughing that here we are looking at a bird book right off the bat.  (Carolyn, Bhavani)

Her terrific daughters, Ananya and Lavanya, both interested in everything.

Ananya, Lavanya, and Prakash (their father)

Bhavani, Ananya, Prakash, Govindharajan
Our friend Govindharajan was good enough to take time out of a busy day to give us a tour of the Tan Tea factory here at Tiger Hill.

Having a cup of tea in Govindharajan's office as we left

On the 27th, our new landlord Sambasivam came to visit us.  We had never met him.  He came from Chennai with his lovely wife, Jayalakshmi, his second son, Shiva, Shiva's wife Chitra, and their three children (7, 11, and 14).  Shiva, Chitra and their children live in Houston, Texas!

Sambasivam, Jayalakshmi

Shiva, his three gorgeous children, and his father Sambasivam

Govindharajan, Chitra, Jayalakshmi
Later, Govindharajan invited us all to dinner at the Tan Tea guest house at Tiger Hill

Sambasivam, his friend, Shiva, Govindharajan
Sambasivam is a retired Tan Tea executive and old friend of Govindharajan's.  We really enjoyed spending time with them and look forward to seeing them again.  Oh, because the guest house had only one room available for the night, Sambasivam and Jayalakshmi stayed in our apartment downstairs that night.  Nice.