Retirement Journey to India: May 2009

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

13-17 May 09 California

Quilley and I went for a walk together on the Albany, California, coastline, which is a recovering industrial area where artists have created sculptures and installations from materials left behind by industrial and marine entities. It was a great walk, good conversation, good friend, interesting artwork.

Lunch with Quilley after our walk

THE HIMALAYAN FAIR, 17-18 May 2009, Berkeley

Joint Assistance Centre is a non-profit Gopal started to help with disaster relief in India. Over the years it developed into an international volunteer agency sending volunteers to community projects in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. With our new U.S. non-profit status, the organization is endeavoring to add fundraising to our mission. Every year we have a table at The Himalayan Fair in Berkeley.

Alan Astrop looking at our displays

Genny, Patricia, John visiting while Stephanie puts up the Department of Peace tables at the back and side of our booth

Effie, Himalayan Treks

Joan (my sister), Dexter (grandson), Suzie (daughter), Sharon (sister-in-law), Todd (brother)

Joan, Dexter, Suzie, Sharon and Todd all came to have breakfast before the Fair on Sunday. Nice to have everyone together like that. Joan came on Saturday morning and stayed until mid-day Sunday. How wonderful that was to have more time with her and have her company at the Fair.

This man was playing this haunting Tibetan horn, as well as the singing bowls in front of him

Todd, Dinesh and Sharon

Shyam and Yasoda Pathak

Dinesh and Joan

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Mothers Day at Big Sur

Before Suzie and I left for our Mothers Day getaway in Big Sur, Ramon took us out for breakfast at the Egg Place in Montclair.

On May 9th, Suzie and I drove down the coast to Big Sur. Here's the coast just north of Big Sur.

Here's Suzie and her car at the lookout spot

View of Big Sur River from the deck of our cabin

View from Nepenthe in Big Sur

Our wonderful fireplace in our cabin (we roasted marshmallows and had Somemores)

We were so lazy down there, we finally went to the beach on our way home

Some of my beach pictures didn't manifest. There are openings in the rocks where the surf crashes through. It's very spectacular, and it was windy that day.

We stopped and had a picnic lunch at Point Lobos State Reserve on our way home. This is where I used to volunteer as a docent.

3-8 May 09 California

On Sunday, 3 March, my brother Todd and I went to the old YWCA building in Japantown San Francisco to watch his wife Sharon Sato dance in a special performance depicting the internment of Japanesse-American citizens during WWII and its impact on the community. Again, I forgot to take photos until after the moving and artful performance. The dancing was very good, the diaglogue was directly from chronicles of interned people and their friends, the accompanying music was original, well played and haunting (Peruvian bamboo flute and Swiss Hang), and the sets were also original and imaginative, although most of us couldn't see them until the performance ended.

After the performance, the creators and performers, as well as former internees all talked about the performance, its creation and their experiences.

When everything was cleaned up, we joined the creators and performances for a good Japanese meal. Again no pictures. But it was a very stimulating and engaging group. I miss that.

On Wednesday, May 6th, my friend Shyam Pathak had a day of work so his wife and youngest daughter accompanied me to a car tour of Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley/Oakland.

Shyam, Sunita and Yasoda

Lake Anza

Afterwards we had lunch at Cafe Raj in Berkeley

On the 8th, I had a chance to visit my friends Tilak and his mother Lakshmi, here with a woman who rents from them

Tilak, Lakshmi and friend

Later that day, Suzie brought me and Dexter to a mailing party at Bananas where she works. There was lots of pizza and goodies. Lots of nice people and incredibly cute children.