Snow footprints

I absolutely enjoy putting in my footprints on fresh pristine snow. There's so many emotions attached to that simple act, I can't begin to explain it. It probably stems from my slightly obsessive attitude towards order, I haven't figured it out yet!

I can sit hours looking at the snow fall on the side-walks, on the grass, on what was once the road and not bother doing anything else. The act of looking back and seeing your footprints or rather I must say shoe-prints is exhilarating, uplifting, simple as it may be.

Try it, it sure will give you a good feeling.

Here's a slightly skewed measurement of the snow we got this past weekend.

The lone glove

There she was sitting in the bottom drawer; she keeps longing and hoping that she finds her better half. She looked all around her and found another one just not like her, she was black, and the other was red, a little longer too. The black glove couldn’t quite fathom why she wasn’t discarded? It’s not like she could be matched with the red glove!

Yet, she still has hope, maybe when her owner rummages through her couch, she’ll find the one missing glove or maybe she’ll buy another pair just like her or maybe she’ll learn to live!

Come winter and I find myself missing a glove, so now I have two single gloves, I can’t discard them. What if it is a serendipity situation as unlikely as it may seem? Maybe I should also write my number on a 5$ bill before using it at the grocery store too.

Of course the attachment to the gloves is not as much to the head cap I lost a few days ago, the only one I’ve really bonded with, the one I’ve possessed since my sister gave it to me years ago, from the hills of kodaikanal.

This usually happens with socks, not to me though, maybe I’m more careful with socks, it could be the fact that I have a few that are all the same and it won’t matter if I miss one, 3 exact same socks will still make a pair, no?

And then there are those pretty earrings, about 4 dangling single earrings and again they can’t be worn mismatched. Maybe I’ll find the second one, maybe I won’t.

C'est La Vie

And as long as it does not hit the fan, it’s all good and even if it does hit the fan, as long as it does not hit you, it’s all good and even if it does hit you as long as you can clean up good, then it’s all good, maybe it was even worth it, maybe you’ve learned something, maybe it will enrich you!

That’s 2009 for me.

Spending the first four months of the year in my hometown sparked some much needed realization, re-thinking and resolutions. In retrospect, I think the initial charm of working in Mangalore had just started wearing off. It was an almost annihilation vs acclimatization scenario at work too.

Then the assignment, having heard of the single street, desi dominated culture, I was kinda prepared for what I was getting into. However I really got off the wrong foot on the start of the trip itself with trying to postpone the trip by a week so that I could cast my vote in the Loksabha elections (missed polling day by 3 days). I think it was disappointing with my enthusiasm for administration and politics at their zenith during the time especially considering the efforts to oust ‘anti-secular’ candidates, not that it was successful in the end and not that my vote would have made a difference to the result!

I did not particularly enjoy playing the lead role that was forcefully thrust on me in the movie that was titled with a literal definition of being taking for a ride in Mumbai and then having to deal with the most arrogant staff at the ATL airport was just over the top! Thanks to them, I missed my connecting flight and was subsequently on stand-by for 3 more and then had to spend a day in Atlanta, all this after a painful 17 hr journey plus the 15 hours in transit!

From the Pacific Northwest to Northwest Arkansas, the differences are stark. Of course, it’s not the geographies of a place that make or break you, it is the people. Nothing much changes at the workplace and even if it does, I don’t want to dwell on it here. Slightly averse to workplace friendships, looking back, it’s been a good year with friendships and despite all the long distance friends I have, I can count at least one good friend here.

Where would I be without my long distance friends? Be it the innumerable travel tales or the little pieces of advice on health-care, the constant cribbing about your ex employer or ex girlfriend, the countless pictures from every single occasion back home, the process of learning to climb trees while rediscovering myself in the most surreal ways, smiling more and being a part of me while I made sure my glass is always half full (be it with wine or vodka or more recently whisky!) . You’ve stood by me through the rain and snow, you are very much appreciated. And to my sister, you are beautiful in every single way, you are loved.

If you blame me for the decisions you made in life, fine. Get on with it, move on, I still love you, there’s no two ways about it.

To my two best friends who are expecting babies on the very same day and coincidentally on my ma’s birthday, I wish you the very best and to my friend who’s facebook status can no longer say ‘single and complicated!’ you’ll be okay, you have a beautiful future ahead of you and don't forget the enlightenment you still owe us ;’). To all that’s been amiss in 2009 may it find its right path, to each of you, to all that you do in this year, may it make you happy, may you have no regrets and at the end of the day, take the time to wait for the smile that the eyes began and keep smiling.

And now this sounds like a speech! Happy New Year 2010.