Life Is A Circle

I have been grossly negligent in posting the blog this time. Please excuse me. It is summer, the boys (and their friends) are home all the time, I am knitting a blanket for the baby and Sachi has joined work half time. In short, life has bulldozed its way into our home. We are overwhelmed by its welcome return and no one is complaining.

Sachi started working from 12:00 to 5:00 PM last week. The first day seemed almost like the kids' first day of school. I walked out the garage, along the side of the truck, and wished him good day multiple times. He smiled back making faces and starting and stopping the truck a few times, joking with me. His staff in the hospital welcomed him with cards and food. His patients were more than glad to have him back. Suraj and Ravi sent him flowers (this he still talks about). After work he drove over to his favourite coffee shop and then came home. I was there to welcome him like a good wife. He looked like he was glowing. The day proved to be a tonic. We spent a pleasant evening and retired early. Next day I thought would be a repeat of the first day. Wrong. He switched into his old self and was already in the hospital while he was getting ready. Bye-s were hurried (I am getting late...!) and a quick photograph for the blog (come on Ambi...!!) and he was gone. He is doing well with half days. He takes a short nap after work and then catches up on the news. Watching Suraj, Ravi and their friends going in and out is our other main activity for the evening. Dinner is simple - Sachi takes some rice and curry with gravy, I take same in regular amount and the boys clean off the rest. Sachi also takes ensure (4 cans in a day) to make up for the needed calories. Peg tube is long forgotten.

Suraj is taking a world geography class and has informed me that he is going to ace it. Ravi took a class in movie critiquing and has already aced it. So the summer is passing in real relaxation. August 13th. Ravi will move back into dorm and put the next phase into gear. Around that time Sachi will start full time work. I will try to remember what I used to do when he worked all the time.

Jyoti is doing fine. She is here for 3 days. Jeff has gone to Chicago so she has decided to come to her maayke. We plan to pamper her while she is with us. Today Suraj and Ravi got their wisdom teeth pulled (which were growing horizontally according to Dr. Macknight). Their mouths are sore and they cannot eat regular food. Khichri, icecream and clam chowder are on the menu. I know at least fifty 'wisdom teeth' jokes but they look so subdued that I have not tried any on them (yet).

Our garden looks as colorful as can be. The kitchen garden is doing good too. We have cucumbers, tomatoes (and more tomatoes), zuchini, bell peppers(simla mirch), hot peppers, water melon and pumpkins. There were radishes too but by the time I checked on them they had matured into old fibrous leathers. Now I am waiting for the pods (moongra) and hope to saute them. The peaches are still small and green. The apples have become sweet but are not red yet. We will wait for them to match the red washington apples in HyVee before harvesting them.

I will try to be more prompt in writing. We eagerly wait and like to read your messages. We specially appreciate you replying even in the absence of new posts. You are our good 'karma'.

Till next time. . . . Ambi.

Lincoln Tapestry

Life Is Too Important To Take Seriously

That is why mankind invented festivals. Last Saturday we celebrated Holi at our home. When India observes this festival it is snowing in Lincoln. So we celebrate in July with all our friends. This holi was made doubly enjoyable due to the special bond forged between us in the past few months. The Lincoln community tenderly saw us through our hard time. This Holi was celebration of Sachi's walk through fire. It also happened to be Sachi and my anniversary. And good friends announced it to all with flowers and huge cake. Thank you Sarbani, Anup, Mona and Pratap. Here are a few of the many pictures taken on that day.

Sudesh Batra, Mona Chugtai and Sarbani's mother (who is visiting from India)

Nisha, Swaran, Poonam, Sudesh, Smita, Prem, Pammi and Ritu. Andrei's daughters visiting from California. We knew them when they were knee high.

Pool was a favourite place to cool down and clean up. Above picture is of Jeff, Norma (Jeff's mom), Jyoti, Isabel, Jim (Jeff's brother), Ravi, Ritu and Binu.
Anup caught with a full plate. He earned it though, having seen Sachi through two episodes of Pneumonia. Thank You.

Smita had great time catching everyone unawares. We love your enthusiasm.

These are our Country Acres neighbors. We are joined together by land and hearts. You made the festival special by enjoying it with us.

Below are J.P., Vishal, Pratap, Arif and Wasim. They were having great time but agreed for a gentlemanly picture.

Last but not least our kids made the day complete by their unencumbered joy. Right is Suraj (who spent the whole time in the pool) with his friends Nilesh and Asawar. Below is Ravi romancing with Ami. Ami's mom sent authentic paans that I
forgot to take out with dessert (Freudian slip?). We are enjoying them still. Thank you Ritu (and sorry all of you who missed out on the treat). Next on the right are Jeff and Jyoti who got into the Holi spirit big time. If you look closely at Jyoti's T-shirt you will notice 'RAVI JUNIOR' written on it. Ravi thought he will name the baby but Jeff stepped in quickly and reminded him the baby is 'JEFF JUNIOR'.

There are no words to thank friends and family for the joy you bring in our life.
Adding to the truth is subtracting from it.

gratefully yours.....Ambi.

ooPS (hours later)

True sign that things are getting better: I forgot to mention that Sachi's peg tube came out yesterday. He went to Dr. Dave Dyke (one of his friends) for this. A quick yank, screech halting pain and it was out. No anaesthetic, no pain pill. Sachi is very brave. I needed some soothing balm for my nerves though. We went for lunch at Red Lobster after that. He has a patch of gauze covering the hole which according to Dr. Dyke will heal very soon. No stitches needed. Sachi will have two belly buttons though. He is doing good today.

Still grateful....Ambi.

Nature Speaks

It is summer in Lincoln and Oh! how we wish you were here. The first wave of the season's blooms is on parade outside our home. I woke up early in the morning and took these pictures in the first light of the day. The dew wet my feet and the air felt cool. Suraj, Ravi and Sachi were asleep so I got this personal time to commune with nature. Come, walk with me a bit. This pleasant surprise is our first attempt at water gardening. The sacred Indian Lotus blossomed two days back. It closes at night and reopens in the morning. I sit and watch it often.

This Hibiscus flower brings many memories of home and Botany class dissections. In Lincoln it grows in summer only.


These are Floribund Roses that grow in a pot outside our front door.

This circle full of flowers is visible from the family room window. We plan and plant it meticulously every year. This bed was created after the fire. It was our homecoming present to ourselves.

This bed of marigold and roses is outside our bedroom. The pink rose blossoms like to peek inside.

Cherry tomatoes are abundant and very sweet when ripe.

The flowers in the center island were planted later and are still growing. The purple Liatrus was planted when we first moved here and is 18 years old.

Nine O clock is called Moss Rose in America.

This is blue Hibiscus. I discovered it in the nursery this year and it is delightful. It grows to six feet height and spreads four feet. Unlike the red variety this one survives winter.

These are the peaches growing on our new peach tree. Remember the picture of Suraj against this tree when it was in bloom? Now it is laden with fruit and if Suraj was standing behind it you would not be able to see him.

This is Rajnigundha growing from bulbs that our friend Jeetu Samal gave to us few years back. It is called Tuberose here. What an unromantic name for such a sensuous flower.

Aah! Dinner plate Dahlia!! Looking at these Sachi fondly remembers the dahlias Bou used to grow in her garden.

Hydrangea. We have planted four of these this year. They grow to a height of six feet. In alkaline soil their blooms are pink. In acidic soil their blooms are blue. I fed them acidic fertiliser to get these blue blooms.

This is Pink Kanaer. It is called Oleander here. It reminds me of a twelve feet tall long wall of yellow, white, pink and red bushes in Delhi. These lined the street where I used to catch the bus to go to college. Standing in front of my little potted bush I can hear my friends talking and smell the smoke from the buses.

We used to have Black Eyed Susans where these daisies are growing. When they got burnt in the fire I decided to put these to please Jyoti. She loves them.

This Canadian Goose sat in our yard the whole day yesterday. In the evening she was gone and has not come back yet. The Canadian geese winter in South America and go to Canada for summer. I guess we were this one's day stop only. There is a pair of Red Cardinals that nests in our yard and stays over during winter. I have been trying to photograph them but no luck yet. Few times I have also seen a deer nibbling at our shrubs. He looked very young early in the spring but now looks full grown. He is camera shy too.

We have two of these pots on either side of the front door to greet everyone.

Apples on our ten year old dwarf tree. These have to be sprayed every two weeks to save them from bugs. The new apple trees that we planted this spring sadly died. They had a year's warranty so we will get new ones next spring.

These flowers grow on Balboa Sunset Trumpet Vine. It grows under our Gazebo and wraps around it. Its growth is so vigorous that we have to prune it often. When in full bloom it is stunning.

Of course Sachi fades all blooms when he comes out. Do not roll your eyes!!! This Saturday is our thirty fourth wedding anniversary and this is my gift to him. He is number one in my heart.

He is slowly recovering and beginning to enjoy life. Every now and then he even goes shopping for groceries. Suraj and Ravi have to behave because he now notices when they slack off. Even I have to behave; I kind of got used to being the boss instead of just a co-boss. He plans to start working half time from July 21st. He will have to build his stamina real fast for this. I like having him home but I want him to choose to stay home. I am glad he will have that choice.

Enjoy the Summer. Enjoy it to feel the gift of life.

This gift that is tenuous and tenacious at the same time.
. . . . Ambi

Home. A place to welcome Family.

Last week's visit of Anita (Sachi's cousin) and family was a long awaited event. We remember her when she was her daughter's age. Her parents were our hosts when we first came to USA in 1977. They helped ease our transition from India to our new home in America. We remember those days fondly. Anita was quite a handful at that time. Too smart for her five years and a bundle of energy. She still has the same 'zing' to her personality and energy to keep up with her girls. We love you Mama. Sachi loved practising the role of a grandparent with Anisha and Anjali.

The kids truly won our hearts. They even mellowed down the cool dudes in our home. With smooth innocence and effortless guile they led Suraj and Ravi through hoops. The house is quiet without them. It was a pleasure visiting with Shyam. His sense of humor at being the odd man out in the family is endearing. His passion and achievements at work are impressive. He is a young & fast upcoming scientist at Johns Hopkins. Come again Shyam and family.

Sachi is handling the summer visitors quite well. There are a few times he looks exhausted but he recovers fine. This is good practice for being up and active at work. He has been trying to get off the peg tube feeds but it is proving difficult. He is taking ensure (a nutritional supplement) by mouth and also trying to take a little bit of food. Some days are good, other days it does not go OK. It is still quite early. So nothing to worry. He has lost 4-5 lbs. If this keeps up he will have to go back to the peg tube for some nutrition. His stamina is improving bit by bit. We have still not started our movie outings though. Today while Sachi took a nap, Ravi invited me to go see a movie with him. I guess he noticed me eyeing the movie page in the newspaper. Sachi better start the Friday night family outings soon or I might take Ravi up on this offer.

Suraj and Ravi are both working this summer. There is plenty of time to sleep late and wake up at noon though. We love their presence at home even though we get to see them only when they are hungry. Jyoti and Jeff made a quick trip to Chicago for a friend's wedding. They squeezed in a dinner with Naren and Vivek and seemed to have had a very good time. They are back now and we will see them on July fourth.

This is our 31st year in America. Everyone in USA have a wonderful Independence Day. All of our families in India, Thialand and Australia, You are invited to the Celebrations. Lots of love from all of us...........Ambi.