Monthly Archives: July 2020

Travel

Yosemite(again, again)

Last month, my dad said that we would be going to Yosemite on the 22 of July. For those of you wondering,

“But we’re in the middle of a pandemic, how did you go to Yosemite at a time like this?”

Well, in order to get into Yosemite, you must make a reservation in advance(about a month or so)and it’s highly likely that you won’t be able to go on the date you were expecting. But on a different date. You aren’t allowed to enter Yosemite unless you made a reservation online previously. If you don’t then they won’t let you in. And the park is open between 5am to 11pm. And you can’t be in the park past 11pm. Also, please wear a mask and protection, and of course stay home if you are sick or feeling ill.

With that, my dad had gotten a date for us to go, this is what’s it’s like traveling to Yosemite during the pandemic:

I woke up at 6:15, my dad rushing in and out of my room to make sure I didn’t go back to sleep(even though I desperately wanted to). My mom had spent the night before and the morning of our departure prepping for our day trip. It took me about 15 minutes to completely function properly. But my eyes were threatening to close shut and my bed looked so welcoming…

But no!

I had to wake myself up and get ready, so I stumbled clumsily out of my bed(my warm, empty bed ), and went to brush my teeth and shower. I came back out, still really sleepy and tired. But out of bed nonetheless. I grabbed my glasses and put on my watch before heading to the living room where my dad was sitting on the couch while my mom bustled around the kitchen. I picked up a book and read while we waited for my brother to get up.

My brother had risen and was showering, while my mom finished up our meals for our trip, and my mom being, well, my mom packed the following for us to eat:

  • Idli
  • Tomato Chutney
  • Chapathi
  • Fenugreek Chapathi
  • Tomato Rice
  • Vegetable Stir-fry
  • Homemade Tortillas
  • Burrito Ingredients(Guacmole, veggies, yogurt, etc.)
  • Crackers
  • Oreos
  • Gummies
  • Pita Chips
  • Corn Chips
  • Gatorade
  • A bunch of other stuff that I don’t remember :’)

All this for one day. ONE. But hey, it’s food so I’m not gonna complain.

My sister woke up about 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave so my mom went and got her ready as well before we all stuffed ourselves into the car and started the three hour drive to Yosemite.

Now, I would tell you, my lovely, dear readers, an extremely detailed, description of the morning drive, but unfortunately;

I was asleep nearly the whole time.

Haha oops.

When I opened my eyes every now and then, the scene changed. Tall buildings that gleamed in the sun, transformed into rolling hills, which flattened into vast fields.

At one point, my dad received a call from our across-the-street neighbor.

“Hey Hari!”

“Hey John! What’s up?”

“Well, your house’s alarm is going off.”

Oh dear.

Turns out that my dad had been tinkering that morning with our settings of our security system and ended up making the alarm react to the most mundane things. Like a leaf blowing in the wind, or the rustle of bushes. Which would then proceed to set off the most annoying alarm sound ever.

Our neighborhood is usually pretty quiet, not too loud but just right. Unless there’s a huge event or something happening nearby. So the fact that our house would cause such an abrupt disturbance to our neighbors made me feel sorry for them. But also made me laugh a little bit at the prospect of the obnoxious siren piercing the quiet air.

By the time we stopped for breakfast, we were in a location where buildings and people seemed to be sparse. We drove around for a a couple minutes to find a spot where we could sit down and eat. There were a few houses here and there, and a school house too, but there wasn’t really a place where we felt was right to sit down and eat.

We continued driving around for a bit more, until we finally found a building that looked like a sort of office, and there was a parking lot. So we parked in a shady spot near a couple trees and my mom took out our breakfast and some paper plates.

Since I’m prone to motion-sickness, being in a car or plane doesn’t really do well for me. I don’t get seriously nauseous, but I always end up feeling slightly uncomfortable. So I leaned against the side of the car for about a minute to regain my composure and drank some water before walking back and sitting with my siblings.

My mom had brought a sheet to put on the ground and we all sat down with a plate for each of us. My mom then got out a container with which she filled up with the idlies she made the same morning and gave each of us a few, along with the spicy tomato chutney. We ate and talked for about 30 minutes before we clambered back into the car to finish our ascent to Yosemite.

I felt much less tired and sleepy after eating a good meal, and was a bit more energetic throughout the car ride.

The scenery around us was slowly turning from fields of yellowed grass to countless trees and deep valleys. We drove deeper into what soon was Yosemite. The road was caressed by the dips in the lowland. The road twisting and turning and bringing vivid green into our vision.

The trees stood like a never ending army, some fallen, some burned, some with scars but standing tall, or some with scars but broken down. The larger tree’s looked on proudly, while the little saplings tried to reach their branches up high. The entire valley was covered with tree’s of miscellaneous conditions. Giving the entire landscape the look of a massive green porcupine.

What surprised me the most was the fact that there was literally no one else on that road except for us. Usually, it this point there would be a significant number of cars in front and behind us, causing the drive to be anything but smooth. But that wasn’t the case during Covid-19.

The road was absolutely clear as we drove, no other car was in sight. And the only other cars we saw were one or two in front of us waiting at the entrance.

When we arrived at the official Yosemite entrance, we went through the booth to where a ranger asked us for our reservation paper, once we were clear, she gave us a pass to stick to the car window and bid us a good day.

The plan was to go straight to Glacier Peak and then ascend down and into Yosemite Valley and visit the waterfalls. BUT, that plan would slowly start to change as we traversed through Yosemite.

We first stopped at “Washburn View Point” which was about an hour into Yosemite and showed a great view of Yosemite’s Half Dome.

While we drove, I started thinking about how hyped up both El Capitan and Half Dome are, and how they are usually the most anticipated landscape in Yosemite. Which I find completely understandable, both are quite unique and and defiantly a sight to behold. But we also have to understand the history of how they were formed.

If you think about it, those two are kind of like siblings. El Capitan is the bigger more regal one, being nearly 220 million years old, while the Half Dome is 65 million years old.

El Capitan was formed when North America had collided with a nearby tectonic plate located under the pacific ocean. The constant friction triggered the rocks below to become blistering magma. The molten rock clambered up through the sears in the Earth’s crust. For millions of years, the Merced River weaved through Yosemite Valley, and shaped El Capitan to it’s best form, before the recent ice age(three million years prior)added the last bits of glam to the towering form that stands now.

The Half Dome was created some hundred million years later. With a process similar to my buddy El Capitan. You know all the molten rock flowing up through the Earths crust and making it’s way to the surface and blah blah. You know, all that jazz. But the attraction with this one that seems to be entirely different from El Capitan’s, is it’s unique curves.

Trust me, I’m just surprised as you are to be writing that a solid mountain is as curvy as a melting bowl of ice cream.

When someone says the word “mountain” your first instinct is to probably think of one. Like Mount Everest. The jagged lines and peaks, unforgivable surfacing, and the classic picture perfect dusting of snow on it’s insta-worthy summit. The picture perfect norm that we’re all used to seeing. In retrospect, Half Dome, is quite literally a dome(thus the name)but contrary ]popular belief, it was never whole in the first place.

Even though it looks like someone decided to take a butter knife and sliced it’s other half clean off, like a hunk of cheese. The massive rock was formed in that shape, so the “Half Dome” had never been the “Whole Dome.” The name is just misleading.

But it does make it fun to imagine the entire mountain as a massive slice of cake.

Great, now I want cake.

In our past trips to Yosemite, we always found a way to connect ourselves with the water, playing in the element and rejuvenating our skin. Whether it be to visit, the waterfalls, rivers, or even little streams. So I wasn’t surprised when the whole ride to Glacier Peak consisted of my brother asking when we would go to the “Mini Lake.”

The lake my brother was referring to was in Yosemite Valley; it was a body of water with patches of sand in various places around the perimeter, with a boardwalk as well. We had gone there the very first time we went to Yosemite with some close relatives, and immensely enjoyed it.

But I think my favorite part of the evening spent there was watching a mother duck leading her young ducklings while they trailed behind her, one or two faltering slightly but quickly finding their pace once again. They seemed unafraid of the constant trespassers of their environment and payed no mind.

But my little sister seemed to take a completely different approach to what my brother had said and interpreted what he said as “the Minnie lake.” You see, my little sister is an avid lover of the Disney character Minnie Mouse, so it was inevitable that she would meld together the two words “Mini” and “Minnie” into one thing she is familiar with. The unfortunate part of all that was soon made clear with my sister’s constant babbling of now wanting to go to the “Minnie Lake”.

When we arrived at Glacier Peak, we expected that it would take about 10 to 15 minutes just to find a decent parking spot. But we had seemed to find one right away! It seemed that the parking lot gods were smiling upon us that day. But really, it was the fact that Yosemite doesn’t want too many people in the park at once. But either way, we were happy that we didn’t have to waste time finding a parking spot.

We all grabbed our masks and sun hats from the trunk because it was quite sunny outside and the sunshine assaulted our eyes. Personally, I thought I looked a bit odd wearing a sweatshirt and a sunhat at the same time, but there wasn’t much I could do about it so I was stuck that way.

I was pretty excited to go to the Glacier Point mainly because the views are amazing, plus there is also a little walk that you have to go through in order to get inside one of the best viewing points. Plus there’s always little critters scurrying around and between the rocks and sizing up the humans that come in.

The little trail that lead to the view point was a quite steep so it took a bit of effort to get up their quickly without brushing up against anyone else. But breaking a little bit of sweat was definitely worth it, as we were met with a view we felt blessed to see.

The view is absolutely insane when your a significant height above the ground. Glacier Point has an elevation of 7,214, thus the protective railing all around the cliffs and such. We first went to a little corner where you could look over Yosemite Valley.

The meadow below looked like a child’s play mat with toy cars running in and out of it. Even the massive trees looked like playthings rather than giants. Of course, we tried not to lean over the ledge too much, because that could lead to very dire consequences.

After admiring the view from the railing, we went to the main viewing area where there were numerous boulders and concrete, in the center. Our family always sits in a little nook with our back against this massive rock like a family of little critters. But it’s always there waiting for us, bare of anyone else, as if it know’s of our presence. Plus, you get an undisturbed view of the Half Dome and it’s gorgeous surrounding landscape. When we sat down, we immediately set our eyes onto the familiar picture before us, completely nestled into the valley’s bosom.

Many people came and went, admiring the mountains or just taking pictures. Some only took pictures and then left, though I have no right to judge them only after mild observation. They have their reasons. Many stuck around for quite a bit of time, just like we did. Unable to remove ourselves from the comfort of the warm, sun-kissed stone, and the enticing view before us.

As much as we wanted to stay longer, we couldn’t with the amount of people continuing to trickle in and out. And we didn’t want to expose ourselves even more to other people. (Even if everyone’s wearing masks, it’s better to still keep your distance at all times when you are in public and avoid contact. )

We left our little spot on Glacier Peak and slowly made our way down the little trail before heading back to the car. While walking, we discussed where to go next, since we saw that Yosemite falls didn’t have that much water(it was only a trickle due to it being summertime here in California, and temperatures are rising). I was a bit disappointed because seeing Yosemite Falls is always one of my favorite things to do when we visit Yosemite. Though I hate to admit this childish perspective, the prospect of not seeing the beloved falls in the flesh until our next trip; hit me harder then it should have. But it couldn’t be helped, so we had to kind of create a trip plan as we went along.

By the time we reached the car, my dad said there was a place called “Mariposa Grove” that was close by and we hadn’t gone to before, so we all buckled up and drove there.

Since the word “mariposa” literally translates to “butterfly”(from Spanish to English). I assumed that the place we were going was a butterfly grove inside Yosemite. Or perhaps a walk through a garden or little grove. But when we arrived there, my assumptions were completely contradicted.

We parked in a shady spot near some fencing that lined along what seemed to be a grove of massive trees, possibly red woods. After parking, we ate a bit of lunch, which consisted of vegetables, tomato rice, and some snacks so we could fuel up. After that, we walked to what appeared to be a little visitor’s center with a massive display of a tree’s cross section. We walked over and took pictures against it, the wood was sanded down with no course texture to beseech it’s adherent’s. There were hundreds and hundreds of rings, impossible to count if I let my mind wander too long. But just from looking at the bark on it’s side, you could tell that this was one tough tree before it had been cut.

My dad and I both looked at a map that showed the expanse of Mariposa Grove and what it contained. But it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting.

There were three trails, each increasing in difficulty and length. I read about the “easiest” trail and apparently it was roughly 1 to 2 miles. And my immediate thought was

“Haha no.”

But my dad said we should at least see what the trail was actually like so we could go again some day fully prepared. With that, we all just went with it. We went back to the car to grab Thulasi’s stroller, water bottles, bug spray, and hand sanitizer, before making our way.

…So…

It wasn’t exactly what we were expecting.

Obviously, we aren’t professional hikers or anything, but we knew for a fact that it wasn’t exactly a good idea to go in a completely isolated area where bears and other freely roaming animals could be close by and ready for it’s next *friendly* meeting and your completely under prepared for a long walk.

The trail wasn’t exactly a trail. It was more of a road with free spaces to walk on the sides. I think if we had gone farther into the “trail” then there would’ve actually been a grove of large red woods for us to see. But where we were walking was a bit scary, especially knowing that it really was only us walking(quite slowly)on the side of a road.

We had walked quite far off from where we had started, but we weren’t getting any closer to any type of grove, and if we continued walking it would start getting too dark. So we bailed and decided to go back to the car. But before we could, we had to get my sister to put down a stick that was literally 2 feet taller then her, that she had found while we were walking. She was trying to use it as a walking stick, but it was so tall that she had to drag it along the road instead.

While going to and from that road, we saw plenty of people geared up with bikes and set to go on a ride through the trees. I envied them for coming up with the idea for bringing bikes. But then I remembered that I don’t know HOW to ride a bike.

Yup, that’s right, I can’t ride a bike. You can stop reading this now. I’ve disgraced you enough with my inabilities.

I’m kidding, please continue reading.

As we went back to the car, we finalized our next destination in Yosemite, which was the little beach that I mentioned a few paragraphs prior. I was excited for that of course, but I hate to admit that I was also terribly exhausted. Being in cars for long periods of time really does things to a person.

Once we reached the visitor’s center again, we took a couple pictures with the massive tree cross-section before strapping ourselves into the car and going down to the beach near Yosemite village.

It took quite a long time to climb down the mountain, but thankfully there was no traffic for us to rage over like we usually did. So it was quite smooth sailing, er – I mean – driving; from there. It was quite soothing to watch the tree’s as I listened to music, it was therapeutic in a way that made me feel like everything in the world would be okay soon. That like many things in life, this too will pass.

Before I continue on with my recollection of this recent trip, I would like to add on to what I just said about the world right now.

Everyday when we wake up, something new seems to have happened. Completely unpredictable, but predictably breaking our hearts and darkening our minds further. That darkness in our day overshadows the little things that make up for the bit of happiness that we lost. We may forget to savor in the taste of our favorite tea, or seldom our appreciation for the new blooms rising in their pots. Or perhaps we spend more time dispiriting ourselves more with the day’s news rather than visiting the deep undergrowth of our favorite books.

Going to Yosemite made me realize that the world won’t be like this forever. That sunlight still streams through the tree’s like stained glass. That water still runs fiercely. That the birds will sing, and scream if they so need to. We will rise, we will fight this, we will support each other even when it feels like nothing will support us.

This pandemic, these disasters, it makes all of us feel sad and helpless. But it’s going to make us stronger, and it’s going to make us realize that we are much tougher then we give ourselves credit for.

It’s just gonna take each of us some time to realize it.

When we reached the beach, we decided that we would play around a little bit before coming back to the car and eating our dinner while driving back home as it was getting a bit late into the day. So we made our way through the spaced out trees and onto the bridge that looked over the river. Which was shallow now that it was summertime. But there was quite a lot of water nonetheless.

I excitedly walked through the bridge(carefully to avoid people of course)and carefully clambered down a steep step of stairs before I heard the distinct crunch of sand and pebbles move under my feet. The air felt wonderful and the breeze was like something out of a dream. Soft and mellow, but rough enough to tousle your hair at the edges.

My dad and my siblings had gone ahead of me already and were my siblings were dipping there bare feet in the shallow water. My mom laid a blanket on an empty patch of sand and she and my dad sat down.

I proceeded to take of my shoes, socks, and started to rolled up my jeans until they were below my knees, before dipping my feet into the very cold water. At first, it was absolutely frigid, and the pebbles and rocks underneath my feet felt like tiny little knives stabbing me with each move and I had immediately regretted putting my feet in. But then, the water felt absolutely euphoric.

After a whole day of being the car and walking, it felt like heaven to dip my feet into the refreshing

cool water, while the pebbles and sand massaged my sore soles.

Soon enough, my siblings and I started collecting rocks and pebbles within the waters, and my parents made me in charge of making sure my siblings didn’t go to far into the water. Which was a bit difficult when I kept tripping and stumbling among the uneven floor of the river.

There was quite the variety in rocks color-wise. There were dusty blush pebbles, and deep greys, some were a muddy brown with specks of white and black, and reminded me of chocolate. And there were many other hunks of chocolate just like that one scattered everywhere.

Our individual rock piles were becoming bigger and bigger on the blanket my parents were seated on, each mound containing different kinds of rocks, either in color or shape. But unfortunately my parents deemed that it was time to get back to the car, after about thirty minutes of playing in the water.

I clumsily made my way back to the beach blanket and dried my legs and feet, before putting on my socks and shoes. Patting out any sand that got in it before slipping them on. Then we ushered the other two children out before we gathered up all the rocks we had collected and started the little trek back to the car.

When we got back to the car, my dad told me and my siblings to wait while my mom prepped our dinner. I assumed that my mom had already pre-made them before we left, but what I was met with told a completely different story:

My mom started to pull out little tubs of diced tomato, avocado, onions, plain yogurt, olives, and other ingredients, along with homemade tortillas. Then my mom pulled out a knife and cutting board(a small knife don’t worry)and started to rapidly mix and dice everything.

Right in the seat of the car.

My emotions right then were a mix of awe and being flabbergasted at the sight. For one, I didn’t expect an entire farmer’s market to tag along with us on our trip. I also questioned why I was surprised in the first place when this was a completely predictable thing when it comes to my mom. If I going to be completely honest, I think my mother would bring along our entire fridge and pantry if she had the capability to.

Anyway, since we had to get on the road soon to head home, my mom transferred all of the food and cooking utensils into the front seat, which is where she usually sits. I asked if she was going to make them all at once so we can eat them in the car. But she said she was going to be making them IN the car WHILE we were driving. On her LAP.

Am I the only one who is appalled by this?

My mom is a superwomen, that’s all I’m gonna say. Her dedication to keep those she loves healthy and and happy is on a whole other level.

While she did that, I drank a bit of Gatorade to ease my throat from being so parched, while my dad and siblings hung out near a couple of huge trees. And can I just say that trees growing in forests are insanely huge. Sure, we’ll see trees in parks or nearby by open spaces, but the tree’s that grow naturally in preserved places and other natural parts of the world are a stellar height.

I walked over to one of the tree’s and pressed my front against, craning my neck so I could see the top. But I couldn’t. My neck started to hurt and I was losing my grip on the rough bark. And even touching that bark felt like I was touching something that held more wisdom then anything else. Even with the course texture rubbing against my cheek, I couldn’t resist giving the tree a hug, even if my hands couldn’t even reach the other side, it was a fulfilling hug.

Once my mom finished setting everything down in her spot, we all climbed into the car, bidding goodbye to our tree brethren as we drove out of the picnic area and onto the road leading out of Yosemite. And just as promised, my mom made the burritos in the car. But what was amazing was that she was making them on the fly. All the while feeding my dad spoonfuls of a burrito bowl while he drove. The burrito itself was super good as always, and I polished it off after about five minutes because I was quite hungry.

The heavy food also made me feel very drowsy so I dozed of in 30 to 40 minute intervals, which was okay since the drive back home was around 3 hours. The entire car ride for me was the drowsy state between being asleep and being awake, to the point where I could barely process the scenery that rushed passed the window with each blink of my eye.

At around midnight we arrived back home, without a word, I walked straight into my room, grabbed pajamas, and went straight to bed. I slept so deeply that night as I dreamt of trees glowing with sunlight, and rivers gushing with freshwater.

Here’s a video my dad took from one of the viewpoints:

Writing

Love yourself, love your art!

(Hello, I hope wherever you are in the world, you’ve been having a lovely morning, evening, or night. And if you weren’t, then I hope reading this will bring your mood to a better state. Because you are worth it, and deserve happiness. 🙂

Before I start today’s post, I would like to address the little issue that came up when I had published my post last time. There seemed to be a some technical difficulties. You may have received multiple emails/notifications indicating that I had posted. Which was NOT intended. The bug has been fixed so hopefully it won’t happen again. Sorry if this caused any trouble.)

Recently, I’ve been spending a lot of time drawing, writing, and animating. It’s been a continuous process of coloring, shading, distorting, filming, and frame calculations. All while figuring out if what I made looks good or if I should throw it into the garbage.

As you can see, I handle failure very badly.

You see, as soon as I get really hooked on a project, I don’t rest until it’s reached the point of perfection. And when it isn’t, I get really frustrated and try again and again to make it look the way I want it to. Sometimes it’s really difficult to reach that point.

Creating things is fun of course, but it also can be mentally draining.

As an artist, you will be subjected to praise and criticism; just like anyone else. And in many cases, most of the criticism comes from the artist themselves. Someone else may say that it looks good, but there is always something that you may find to be wrong in whatever you’ve created. You might think:

“Why didn’t I ink this better.”

“Why did I use this marker?”

“Why did I only use this many frames per second?”

“Why is my voice so out of pitch?”

You might look at another person’s pieces and wonder, “Why can’t I do it like they do? Why is theirs so much better?” But in hindsight, thinking like that won’t make you feel any better. It’s going to discourage you from doing what you do best. Which is being the person you were born as. And that also means doing what you want to do in life. Don’t constantly criticize yourself harshly. Constructive criticism is good, example:

“This part looks good, but maybe I could use a different medium next time.”

“I’m proud of this! But what could I do to make it slightly better?”

( I use the term “artist” very loosely. Art itself manifests into a countless number of forms. Not just traditional painting and drawing. I’m talking music, film making, photography, sculpture, writing, fabrics, and so much other amazing things that I don’t have enough space to list. Everyone is(and can)be an artist in any way. )

Art is not a weak subject, far from it actually. It can move you to tears, or make you happier then you were moments before. And the process of creating something is euphoric and is kind of like a meditation for the mind. No matter what medium. When you are creating art, you are taking a piece of yourself and letting it reside in what you’ve created. You’re trying to convey a message through something else, so the person who will eventually view it can feel something from it.

But it can be a frustrating process to figure out how to do that.

Painting?

Words?

Drawing?

Sculpture?

Photograph?

Film?

Fabric?

Music?

Etc. Etc.

There are endless options when it comes to expressing yourself and what you would like to convey. But you also have to think about how your going to find the following things:

Tools.

Materials.

TIME.

The first two can be acquired physically or digitally, and there are many materials that you may already have at home. But if you’re a pretty busy person, it can be hard to fit in a certain recreational activity or hobby. But then again, you shouldn’t spend all of your time working. You’re going to stress yourself out and I don’t think you will even be able to function properly if you just work all the time. You’re only human right?

Anyway, I think that part of the reason why art is so important, is because it gives you the freedom of creation and versatility. There are no guidelines or rules for art that strictly say what it should look, feel, or sound like. That’s why it’s can be so calming and atmospheric.

Atmospheric?

At-mos-pher-ic.

Is that the right word for this?

Right, back to art.

I strongly suggest that you take the time to do something artistic in your free time. It could just be coloring for 5 minutes, or playing around with a music app. Whatever it is, you don’t need super-amazing-extra-fantastic-beautiful-gorgeous-complicated skill. As long as you’re having fun and relaxed, that’s all that matters.

The reason why I went on a whole rant about not criticizing your art and just flowing with it and yada yada, is mainly because we as humans can sometimes have the tendency to overthink things. And with all the chaos our world is in right now, all of us could do well with some calm I’m sure.

Don’t think too much about what you’re doing and just flow with it. You’re a leaf that has fallen off a tree and you have now fallen into a slow running river. Trust it. Let the water flood around you and guide you along a peaceful journey that leaves you breathing steadily and your mind free of thought.

When your doing art in order to relax… DON’T STRESS OUT OVER LITTLE THINGS. It’ll only make you feel even more mentally drained. So try to forget about everything that’s going on in your life and just make art. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be shown to anyone. You’re doing this to make yourself happy and at peace. And that’s all that matters for now.

I hope all of you artists out there found comfort in today’s post, and even if you aren’t an artist, you don’t have to be one in order to pick up a brush or start some wicked story just on your phone. You don’t need special skills to make yourself happy.

Stay safe, stay happy, and make some art you beautiful people!

Personal

Don’t make me go outside again…

This week…

I did the unthinkable.

I went…

Outside.

*GASP*

“Kanmani,

You didn’t.”

OH YES I DID

On Monday I tagged along with my dad to Costco because I needed to get new glasses because my prescription changed. And if I told you that everything seemed okay and normal would be a complete lie.

To give you some background, I haven’t gone outside since mid March; which was nearly five months ago. There were some cases where I absolutely had to go out but only for very short periods of time. Like returning my school textbooks. And with a mask on of course. But I didn’t go to places where there were tons of people, but rather where everything I had to do was in seclusion. So when I was suddenly dropped into a place with so many people, after not being in contact with anyone for 5 MONTHS, it can really do things to you.

On Monday, at around 3 or 4 o’clock, my dad and I hopped into the car and made our merry way to Costco because we needed to buy groceries and place an order for my glasses. My dad and I both wore our masks as soon as we arrive at the Costco parking lot and climbed out. My dad said we had to go to the tire center first because he needed to replace two tires on our car.

While my dad placed his tire order to the man at the counter, I looked around the interior of the building. And I noticed signs around the register and doorways that said that you were required to wear a mask by state law. And everyone we had seen so far in Costco was wearing one.

Since we are on the topic of masks, may I mention that no matter which one I wear, it never fits me properly? Either my face is to small, or every single mask I wear is just too big for my face. Which is a problem because then they leave open gaps near my eyes or under my jawline, which will then end up bringing in even more bad germs into your mouth and nose. Not only that, but it’s downright uncomfortable! So I try to position the mask so it fits snugly on my face.

Anyways, we left the tire center and headed to the Costco building.

I thought I was mentally prepared for seeing a lot of people when we reached the building, I mean come one, it’s Costco. Of course there will be a lot of people! But like many things in life, I had underestimated just how overwhelming it would be to be dropped into a massive crowd of people when you haven’t interacted with anyone for nearly 5 months.

As soon as we walked in, I instantly wanted to run back to the car and skedaddle out of there.

There were hoards of people pushing carts, talking on the phone, and the entire atmosphere of the store itself was overwhelming to my senses. It was too loud and too claustrophobic. But I pushed all of those thoughts to the back of my mind and continued with my dad to the Optical’s center.

The glasses are usually displayed on a large wall, and once you choose which pairs you want, you bring them over to the counter to place your order. It was essentially the same concept now, except every sales worker in the entire store wore masks, and the employees that worked in the Optical center wore gloves, masks, and those protective plastic shields that can protect your face. As well as constantly wiping down all surfaces and objects touched and handled by customers and employees. They also had everyone put glasses in a bin after you tried them on so they could be disinfected and sanitized.

I picked two pairs of glasses, one metal and the other was a different material, but both were glasses that I really like the style of. One was a bit rounded on the the bottom(which is a style I’ve been wanting to try for a while)while the other was similar to the previous model but a bit more rectangular and defined.

Once I had picked my two pairs of glasses, my dad and I made our way to the counter to place the order for the glasses and gave them my prescription. After that, a women from the counter came and asked me to sit down in a chair so they could get the measurements of my face.

Before I was told to put my eyes in and peer inside the binocular looking thingy, they had disinfected the whole thing, which I thought was great. But what I didn’t like was the fact that the smell was literally burning in my nose since I was so close to it. It was sterile and I thought I was gonna pass out from inhaling it so much. But I tried my hardest not to wrench myself away from the device that was supposed to measure my face and run outside to get some fresh air.

So there I was trying not to cry for a few seconds while I stared a fluorescent green dot the size of a grape.

After that horrific experience(though I appreciate the effort to clean everything so thoroughly)my dad had the same women(who helped with my order), loosen his glasses because they were too tight on his face and wouldn’t fit properly.

After that was done, my dad and I grabbed a cart so we could get groceries. And we finished grabbing all of the things we needed.

Well, actually, that entire sentence that was written up there is way nicer than what actually happened.

It was more of my dad dragging me around while I had to push the cart and make sure I didn’t bump into anyone or anything. Which is pretty hard when my dad has long legs and can walk really fast, while I have short legs and small feet. Not to mention small hands, which made it really hard to control the massive cart that was loaded with a ton of items waiting to be purchase. At some points my dad would drag the cart behind him while I held the handlebars, but then, he would run off to quickly grab something that was on our list, and then leave me to stand there awkwardly and try to give other people room.

When we went to the register and got everything paid for, my dad said he wanted to get something price-checked. So we went to the little area designated for that. But there was no one there to help us. So my dad went to an employee and asked he for help. She came over to where we were standing and waiting. She was a bit old, and had a kind demeanor, instantly apologizing for the inconvenience. She told us she was going to call someone over here to help us, but I wasn’t expecting from the kindly old women was for her to do this:

“51!”

My dad and I stared at each other in shock as this women bellowed across the entire store to her colleagues, signaling that the station needed someone. This goes to show just how relevant the phrase “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is. When she was done screaming(in very high octaves mind you)a man came to help us and everything went smoothly.

After that we clambered back into the car and drove home, and as soon as we got home, I kicked off my shoes and smushed myself into the couch while I tried to regain a sense of relaxation.

That was too much social interaction for me to bear so soon…

I hoped you enjoyed this mini story time, and can somewhat relate to all of this… Mess. Anyways, stay safe, stay happy, and wear your face mask!

Writing

Tree are the only ones who won’t judge you if you hug them too long.

Trees.

I hope we all still remember what real-life trees look like.

I’ve mentioned many times before that our house was a fixer-upper and we had to do a lot of work before actually moving in. Of course now it’s been a few years since then so there aren’t any major changes and fixes we have to do. But we’ve been adding new elements to our home like new plants and crops, or benches and seating areas around the outdoor area of our house. I think our house has changed very drastically since these three stages:

Renovation

Moving In

After Moving In

There are a variety of things that can make a place feel like home to you.

Maybe it’s the decor, or the people who live there with you. Or maybe it’s the location that makes you feel relaxed and at ease. Many people have different preferences when it comes to making themselves a/o their families comfortable. And it can be a few or a lot, but whatever it is, in the end if it makes you happy then that’s okay. For me, home is where I can curl up in pajamas all day, hair in a messy bun, and cuddle with my family and hang out together no matter what time of day.

Like I mentioned before, you can get homey feels from objects that make you feel happy and at peace too. Which can be plants, pillows, paintings, anything really. But in order to make our living space into a home, we had to make some changes to our house as well.

Obviously, it didn’t all happen at once, thus the different stages that I listed a few paragraphs before. Everything that was done for the house was done gradually and at the time when it felt like the right time. Nonetheless, my parents both underwent a lot of hard work to progressively make our house into more of a home. And there were definitely a lot of difficult things to do with each new addition or movement that was done around the house. Like moving our planter boxes, which are extremely heavy built.

This house has undergone many beautiful changes, interior and exterior. But I think the most gorgeous parts are in our front and backyard, where we have a copious amount of plants.

Many of the plants that we have, were grown from seeds or bought when they were still young, and there are also very old trees around our property that have been here for a number of years, quite possibly a couple decades. But of course, my dad being the big lumberjack he is(I’m kidding, he’s not a lumberjack), decided to go out and buy a bunch of trees!

I know what you’re thinking,

“Kanmani, they’re just wee little baby trees, what’s the fuss?”

NO THEY WERE NOT “WEE LITTLE BABY TREES.”

As you can see from the font size, this triggered me quite a lot.

My dad had spent four days. FOUR. Getting various different types of trees and planting them in our side yard. And they weren’t full-grown adult trees, but they were about 6 or 7 feet when my dad had brought them home. One of them being a maple tree. Either way, those tree’s were way bigger than I expected them to be. And i was okay with that part obviously.

However, what I wasn’t expecting how arduous it would actually be to plant these awfully heavy trees. So I assumed my dad would call someone, or maybe a professional, to help us put the tree safely and properly into the ground. Seeing as that was much more logical and harmless.

But my dad being the person he is goes with the complete opposite and decided to do the whole thing by himself. Which made both my mom and I go absolutely bonkers. While my dad is a very hard worker, and is always stubborn to do things by himself. He also has this incredibly constant knack to end up hurting himself physically in the process.

There have been countless instances where my dad would waddle into the house like a guilty child who ate a forbidden sweet in the kitchen, while cradling his hand, finger, or ankle with a scratch or cut. While he would receive an earful of scolding from my mother and me while my dad listened to us sheepishly.

Anyway, the reason my mom and I always go ballistic when my dad does another major project without any other person’s guidance, is because my dad will end up getting hurt. But it’s not like my dad listens to us anyway. No. He just barrels forward with whatever he had his heart set on doing

And this time was no different.

So there he was, paint splattered jeans, working gloves, and a massive shovel reading to disembowel the ground and burying the roots of a tree into it. Which is very laborious work mind you.

And if you think that’s hard, before my dad could even start planting them, he had to get them out of the car. Which was also super complicated and difficult. I mean, imagine taking a tree nearly the size of a basketball player out of your car while it’s laying down. Your gonna get slapped by some branches and get scritchy scratchies all over your arms and legs. But did that stop my dad?

Apparently not!

My dad spent four days planting four different trees in our front yard by himself, with little to no assistance. And each day he would have to transfer the tree out of the car before going over to the front yard to get it ready for planting.

After that, my dad would start digging subaqeuous holes in the spots where he wanted to plant the trees and let them grow. The dirt in our front yard isn’t, by any means, soft either. It’s good but it’s very hard to just scoop out in once go. So my dad had to go through like a bulldozer through that dirt because of how hard it was. While in the sweltering Californian sun.

But in the end, with all that hard work my dad had to do, we ended up with our front yard looking really gorgeous and fresh. And I think we’re all happy with the results.

I really wanted to do a post that was more focused on the natural aspects of home design before I start going into interior design strategies. And I hope this also helps to give you ideas on things you can do around your house or if you wanna try something new.

Stay safe, stay happy, and keep your plants(and yourself)happy!

Love you!

Writing

Hi KonMari, I’m Kanmani!

Recently, I’ve read through most of my collection and re-read books I haven’t read in a while. Honestly, it’s really nice to read books from a while ago and reconnect with them. It’s like catching up with someone you haven’t conversed with for a long time. And if it’s amazing to experience the same emotions you felt while reading the book the first time, and maybe even experience heightened instincts and anticipation.

While befriending my old books again, I was also able to revamp my list of my all-time favorite books. As an avid lover of books, my list of favorites is always changing and growing, but some books still stay on that list even after years of reading it. Now that I’ve mentioned it, I’ll share a little portion of my list with you guys.

  • “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • “Mirai no Mirai” by Mamoro Hasoda
  • “The Martian” by Andy Weir
  • “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling(But all of the “Harry Potter” books are really good)

Each book that I listed has a different theme, moral, or purpose. And each one hold vastly different characteristics and standpoints that can reside differently depending on how you interpret the author’s words. These books are one that I hold dear to my heart and mind because I loved the concepts, metaphorical standpoints, and the pure artistry from the author. I feel like there are a lot of people who don’t realize that books aren’t just pages that hold nothing but boredom.

Not to mention that there’s this exceptionally stupid stereotype that every book you pick up will be like a book you picked up in the past that you found boring.

Even if you don’t remotely like books, I recommend you don’t use the excuse, “Oh, there just aren’t any books that really attract my attention.” The great thing about books is that there isn’t just one person creating them. There are hundreds of thousands of people who write books based on something they are an expert at, or have had an idea planted into there head that they want on ink and paper and share with others.

There are so many different kinds of books tailored for different types of people. So there is an incredibly low chance that you won’t find something that even momentarily grabs your attention. And if you don’t like reading tons of words and paragraphs globed together(it’s okay, sometimes I do too)there are plenty of mind-blowing comics, manga, and graphic novels to choose from.

But there are time where we can’t just read books that touch our own pleasures. Like fantasies and such. But rather, more informative books to strengthen our awareness of a subject. It may be because you have to study for a class; or are in dire need to pass it. In those situations, we often begrudgingly sit down to pour over the book to strain out some cohesive knowledge.

And I understand that. Sometimes I find it difficult to sit down and focus when I could be studying something I enjoy learning about.

But the great thing is that there are so many incredible authors who realize this and tailor there work to be written in a way that makes a topic that doesn’t catch your eye at first, but then becomes completely mesmerizing. Sometimes it isn’t the subject, but how it’s written that will help you keep it in mind.

One such book is, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo.

The first time I read was when it released 2014. My dad had brought the book from the library and handed it to my mom for her to read. But my didn’t get around to reading it herself so I ended up reading it instead. As the years passed, I progressively started to understand the methods in the book each time I re-read it. And I love Marie Kondo’s perspective on tidying, and her procedures for improving your lifestyle through tidying properly.

Her methods focus around discarding the things that you don’t need or “don’t spark joy” and keep the things that do. Rather then cluttering your life(literally and figuratively)with things from both those categories. Not only that, but you must thank your possessions for the hard work they did while serving you, and thank them when you use them everyday.

But you aren’t supposed to just go barging through your house and throw away everything you think isn’t useful. You have to go through each category of items:

  1. Clothes
  2. Books
  3. Papers
  4. Komono(Miscellaneous)
  5. Mementos

Marie Kondo designed this method to help you realize what you need and don’t need. As well as learn along the way how to store everything properly. Rather then giving you rock hard phrases of, “Do this and your entire house will be clean!” or “Do this, this, this, and your done!” Marie Kondo takes all of her methods and backs them up with logic and very simple yet deep philosophy that really changes your perspective on you lifestyle.

I also wanted to point out her incredibly way of writing. She’s written her book in a way that was welcoming and understandable for any type of audience. Even if you aren’t a huge fan of cleaning up after yourself, this book teaches you how to enjoy it. And learn how to identify what you need and don’t need. And it’s all written in a way that is simple, concise, and deep.

This book was really eye-opening and taught me to look at everything with the utmost attention and perception; and think of every possible outcome rather than making one-sides decisions. Plus it’s such a calming book to read, I can completely flow with the words and understand them. I really recommend this book even if you aren’t looking to do some tidying.

As always, stay safe, stay happy, and get off your device and go outside and read a little bit! 😉

Comedy, Personel Things

Love yourself!

To give you guys some perspective, I had this post drafted a couple weeks before the current date, and I had unearthed it a couple days ago. I thought it would be a something fun and silly for you guys to just laugh at you know? Just a super lighthearted post that doesn’t involve too much deep thought. All you have to do is sit down somewhere comfortable and read through my usual shenanigans.

Alright, onto today’s topic!

Do you ever get that feeling when you look at the mirror, and are just taken aback by your own physical reflection? Because the thing about this is that, we’re literally thinking constantly all day. Kept with our own mind and thoughts. And that is what we know best. We know nothing better than the inner workings of our own individual minds. But we don’t spend that equivalent amount of time each day, looking at our mirror images and viewing every technicality in our design(Thank goodness).

Keeping that in mind, this leaves us with every single trait that we categorize ourselves into and what type of person we are, and what type of voice our minds have. So when you look in the mirror, you only see what others see in your presence. Which is your physical being.

Every time I look at my reflection in the morning(which is like forty-five seconds on a good day), it’s still hard for me to put two and two together and realize, “This is the body that contains the myriad of weird thoughts that I have everyday? Huh.”

To sum it up for you, I have absolutely 0% chance of growing anymore. Which was literally confirmed by my doctor. Just two inches. And I could’ve at least been 5’0. But no. My genes just had to screw up my chances of being an average-height human being that can reach things on their own.

So dear friends, for the sake of entertaining you all with my own unending pain due to my physical characteristics, I present to you a post that many of you taller readers cannot relate to. But are free to laugh and take this lightly. But those fellow shorties out there, this is for you.

Problems of being short:

(AKA, the everyday adventures(mostly struggles) of small babies around the world.

  1. Being unable to reach anything.

Attempting to reach things when you’re under 5’4( give or take)is a hazard to your life. With this pinnacle of habit, it has ended with disastrous attempts of reaching for snacks, boxes, books, etc.

A book on a high shelf?

Well good luck getting that thing down without a concussion.

Snacks located on a high shelf and you’re famished?

Sorry, a bowl of cereal is your lunch now.

Trying to mount something on the wall?

Even that stool you’re standing on is useless at this point so you might as well get someone else to do it to save yourself from going to the hospital.

There have been countless moments where I’ve embarrassed myself or nearly ended up decapitated or with a dislocated body part because I couldn’t reach something, and one incident nearly ended up with me having a dislocated ankle.

Moral of all of this is: Ask others to assist you!

2. Being babied.

So this goes for everyone I’ve met at school and have become comfortable enough to befriend. Be it long term or acquaintance, I have no idea if it’s just a me problem or if other people out there have this too. But people I’ve met and have become close with me just warmed up to the fact that I was, as they like to call it, “pocket sized.”

What I’m basically saying is that if you’re short; people will think you’re cute.

I’ve undergone my share of cheek squishes, surprise piggybacks, back hugs, face pinches, head pats, height based nicknames, you name it. And this has all gone to the point where I could be doing something completely normal, and then easily predict what my friend’s reactions will be so I can mentally brace myself for the babying that is to come. But of course they won’t overstep boundaries or anything like that because true friends won’t step over your personal space bubble when you don’t want them to.

But hey, love and attention is great, and it’s nice to know that there are people out there who love you for who you are and make sure you know it too.

3. Having freakishly small hands, feet, or both. (This may not apply to all ‘short’ people)

Yes, I have both. Need I say more?

To categorize my fingers and toes as actual parts of my body makes me question myself and the prescription glasses I’m wearing, because all I see when I take a peak at my toes and fingers, are chubby nubbins of flesh that are as small as a child’s. And I’m not sure if that’s entirely normal.

One time, as a joke, I measured my pinkie to see how big it was. But I was mistaken by assuming they were actually ‘big.’ But it doesn’t matter, I will proudly display my 5 centimeter pinkie whenever I make pinkie promises.

Do I need to start drinking more milk?

Do I need to start bathing in milk?

When I first started playing alto sax last year, my fingers weren’t able to reach one of the most crucial keys in the entire instrument. Which made me pretty spitting mad when I was put up to do one of my first jazz solos on the spot while I was physically incapable of actually playing. And when I started playing Bari sax for a short period of time(which according to my research is 6 feet, 4 inches, and roughly 45 pounds. Don’t believe me? Look it up.)it was essentially a lost cause and I couldn’t even carry that thing without asking some other poor soul to help me waddle home with it in my clutches.

I can probably write a whole list about the problems of having small hands and feet. So I will.

Hands:

  • It takes a lot of effort to play an instrument. More than it does for an actual person with average sized hands.
  • Nail polish looks terrible and makes your fingers look like deformed Teletubbies.
  • Big rings and other statement jewelry are too big on your hands and fingers.
  • Thumb wars are the worst and you always always lose.
  • Trying to wrap your hands around anything is literally impossible. (Examples: Footballs, rackets, stacks of books, bundles of something, thick utensils.)
  • When shaking hands with someone, your hands will get crushed.
  • Gloves never fit.

Feet/Short legs:

  • “One size fits all” is a lie.
  • Other people always want to compare their feet to yours. (Please explain to me why)
  • Your feet can easily get stuck in places that people with bigger feet can’t get stuck in.
  • People always point out the size of your feet(Please explain to me why).
  • Riding bicycles is pointless when your feet don’t reach the pedals.

Upsides of being short:

  • More leg room in cars/flights/etc.
  • Showers will never be too short
  • Shirts/tops meant for taller people can easily be turned into a cute dress or oversized fashion
  • Blankets will never be too short, so your feet will never stick out
  • You learn how to become a stealth ninja(from having to climb on top of things in order to reach something without damage)
  • Tall people can protect you from harsh weather(sun, rain, wind, etc)
  • You never have to worry about hitting your head on doorways
  • You can take a nap in even the smallest of spaces
  • Getting hugs from taller people is the best
  • You can where children’s shoes/mittens/clothing with no trouble
  • Calf-length socks easily become knee-length socks

Even with all of these struggles, we should all still love ourselves for who we are. Don’t ever, EVER, think that the way you look determines your worth. I cannot stress this enough, you are beautiful and gorgeous on the inside. This post was honestly just for laughs, but in all seriousness you should always embrace the beauty you have. Even if it takes some time to realize it.

Stay safe, safe happy, and love yourself!