Some Places Just Keep Coming Up

I am quite sure that every one has at least a place in mind that you wish to go back to some day. That place has somethings that imprint in your memory that make you want to experience them again. The idea of going back keeps coming back again and again when it has a chance.

For me, Cliffs of Moher in Ireland is one the place that keeps coming up when I am thinking of going somewhere. I visited the cliffs in 2015 around the beginning of summer during my business trip to Ireland. We were fortunate to be able to wrap things up to have the last day freed up :).

I am more of a city goer than going to see nature (mostly). I like seeing different cultures, experience local foods, learn about its histories, learn how local people live, listen to the local speaking language etc. Those are fascinating things for me.

But Cliffs of Moher has different kind of magic. It does not offer those things that cities or towns typically offer. Perhaps, it is a kind of city that was built by nature to be seen and feel with just a little bit of human touches.

Nevertheless, she has much to offer and especially in a very profound way.

I know, I know… we (human) likes to get involve in everything around us. We like to add a things or to for our own purposes. But at Cliffs of Moher, our touches here are just so slight and in a way bringing her beauty out even more. Like this lone tower, that cliff would be too lonely without the tower. I do not mind this kind of human touches at all.

Of course, I was tempted to get inside the tower and go up to top but with little time that I had, I decided to skip it.

From the quick tower visit, I just simply looked back to head to the other parts of the cliffs. The view of the path and beyond was something to pause a little bit just to have a full taste of it.

A bit of glance back toward the tower as I was walking along to the opposite side gave spectacular views of the cliff that the tower stands on.

The rails seem to be made of concrete and overtime weather does a nice job to blend them in with dark green grass around them.

If you dare, you can get out of the beyond rails in some sections path (I am not sure this is allowed but there was no sign telling so). Yeah, step out and let your adventurous spirit flow by a notch.

Some sections including area around the tower, have sheets of rock stood up as fences. I really love it. I do not think I have seen this kind of fence elsewhere yet.

Finally, I felt it was time to turn back. My colleagues were no where to be seen and we did not have time. It just happened I spotted someone sitting down and watch over the ocean. It was a good idea to sit down and rest a little before walking back.

The views of the cliffs on the way back were no boring as well. The bright colors of the rocks looked so beautiful from this direction.

Looking toward on the walking path from this direction lets you see the vast, clean open field. It gave me a completely different feeling. Ah another delicious feeling!

I felt a little bold again and walked off the path outside the rock fences. Fun…

As I walked along the trail, the land side view kept offering expansiveness feeling.

I have noticed the concrete fence (I might be wrong about the material the fences were made of and I am sorry if I am wrong) while walking before. I could not help to have a closer look what grew on the fences. The bright yellow things that grow on fence also look amazing. They are like pieces of jewelry decorated naturally by nature – nice touch.

Almost back at the entrance now, I just realized that the souvenir shop was inside the hill! I must give credits for the concept. As opposed to build a typical building that stands up from the ground and would destroy the nice scenery around it, the shop inside the hill is a perfect way to keep the place as natural and keep its vast expansive feel with minimum intact. Even the parking lot seemed to be at the distance or was at low profile.

I glanced back to the path that I just walked from to have one last look at the cliff and I found 3 picnic benches placed with nice spaces apart. I was not sure that was intentional but the benches blend well the way they were place. So inviting for you to sit!

The place gave me feelings that I had never felt before. The wide broad open view of the land on one side and the magnificent cliffs along the ocean line just gave me senses of profound relaxation and stress relieving.

I love to go back again and spend more time strolling along further and find nice spots to rest from time to time. Definitely I would try to go inside the tower and walk up the top. I am sure the views from the top will be spectacular.

Thank you for staying with me to the end. I know this is a little too long. I hope that you have good memories of a place somewhere that you want to go back to.

Happy New Year 2024

Happy New Year 2024

Wishing everyone a very happy year…

from

YellowCable

Eye Candies Can Be Delicious

Halloween this year has just passed a few days ago. I hope everyone enjoyed the day even you have not directly participated in it. I always like giving candies to young children coming by for trick or treat at my front door. These days, this might be the only reason that I still like candies. But, but, but, I like a different kind of candy these days. It is eye candies!

As far as I know, eye candies are quite harmless to your body 🙂 It does not increase your A1C in your body. It is impossible to cause tooth decays. I am not sure that it helps with your hyper 😉 though. Oh yeah, it might cause your eye sore 🙂 or other unwanted emotions. But who knows, FDA (Food and Drug Administration) may announce a warning for eye candies in the future for it might have harmful effects on your body.

For now (till FDA gives warnings), I hope you enjoy these eye candies and especially for those who did not have any candies from the just passed Halloween.

Just in case FDA happens to require ingredient label on these candies. The last picture above is the ingredient (and the only one) of these eye candies. I hope you can tell what it is (hint, a tag of this post should give an official written label). However, I do not have nutritional label for these…shhhh…

Please have a great day everyone. Thank you for visiting.

Oh Yes, Mr. Postman

I’ve head that sense of smell has strong tie to memory. That is a rare case for me. To me, sight and sound seem go together with my memories more often. While I am going through old pictures (again), this old picture (again) just keeps bringing back the song that was one of my favorites when I was a young teen. It was the song that me and my close buddy both loved. It was the time that you discovered may new interests. Going to school had additional purposes than before. Such a lovely period of time…

Oh yes, wait a minute, Mr. Postman
(Wait) wait, Mr. Postman

Oh, yeah (if there’s a letter in your bag for me)
Please, please, Mr. Postman (why’s it takin’ such a long time)
Oh, yeah (for me to hear from that girl of mine?)

There must be some word today
From my girlfriend so far away
Please, Mr. Postman, look and see
If there’s a letter, a letter for me

…

From “Please Mr. Postman” song, The Beatles version.

‘Untitled’

Sometimes words are better not be said.

Let it be silent.

Let it be kept to inner thoughts.

Then let it just pass.

Only let it belong to only you, to be beautifully kept for as long as you can remember.

I hope you all be well and happy.

Yellow Cable 🙂

Summer Vibe

I am a bit surprised this year to see some trees are shedding their leaves already. I am still having an impression that it is still at the peak of summer. It is only in late August and there should be few months before Fall sets in. Perhaps, this is due to recent rain and storm systems moving by. I hope it is really the case than summer is near its end as I am really enjoying energetic vibe of full sunny day long of summer this year. It does not mean anything physically but rather mental energy that sometimes is enough to get you moving to do things that you need to do.

I hope everyone has good summer time and enjoys energetic vibe of summer or whatever vide that makes you feel good. For those who are not living in the regions of the world that currently is not summer, please also enjoy the vibe of the season you have now too.

Not All Memories Are Fading

Recently, I was going through old pictures taken many many years ago to keep the disk space reasonable. It was not an easy process to decide which ones should remain or which ones should go to recycle bin and ever ever gone. This is at least for me (perhaps I am a hoarder). Many times, I found pictures that I did not touch at all from the beginning look kind of good now. On the contrary is also true, I found many that I thought was good and spent efforts working on them and now they don’t look that great. Decision is hard and it can wear you out (it did it for me).

Another thing that I discovered or realized while going through the old pictures is how I recall those moments the pictures capture. The pictures only help bringing back stories or what sorts of emotion at the moments. The mind images of them are vague, narrow and in bits and pieces. It is hard to see them clearly again (except for those who have picture perfect memory). It was like reading the summaries of those time again rather.

This picture of a young girl just stood out among many that it was about what is left in my memory. I almost threw it away at first and after so many years I am glad that I didn’t. Not that it is a great picture but the stories that it can help bringing back. I was at the party and seeing her having a great time. Everything was fun to her. She was simply running around people, hiding behind chairs with non stop smiling and laughing with other kids at similar ages. I was having fun watching her and other kids without having much thoughts other than trying to get few pictures of her and other kids.

The picture summarizes the story behind the moment it captured. The summary of the story also makes me sees how our mind perceives things we wanted in order to have fun or happiness as we grow older. Simple thing that can make you happy does not seem to be seen around anymore. I know this is our nature but once in a while it is good to try to enjoy simple things in life.

Please have a great and fun summer (or winter if you live down under) and look for simple things to enjoy!

A Yellow Goblet Collecting Sunlight

Imagination is one of the sources of creativities. I have come across a news about a possibility to develop a drive that lets a spaceship travel faster than speed of light without introducing something so exotic (negative energy which does not seem to exist) and breaking the law of physics. I am sure scientists have been attempting to see if we can travel faster than light since we learned the speed limit of the universe many years ago. But in my opinion, the idea may have come from a TV series ‘Star Trek’. The spaceship USS Enterprise employ ‘warp drive’ that allowed the ship to travel faster than speed of light and went about every where in the galaxy. I think that is an imagination that sparked the idea and led us to seek away to realize it.

As you read this, you may think this is a post on April 1st 🙂 No, this is not an April Fools article (unless I was reading a fake article a few weeks ago – a very early April Fools story if that was the case). I am very excited. It is one small dust step closer to realize a spaceship that can travel far into space. Perhaps, a couple of hundred years from now but Yea!!!As you read this, you may think this is a post on April 1st 🙂 No, this is not an April Fools article (unless I was reading a fake article a few weeks ago – very early April Fools story). I am very excited. It is one small dust step closer to realize a spaceship that can travel far into space. Perhaps, a couple of hundred years from now but Yea!!!

Oh, for me now I imagine when seeing this tulip that so looks like a goblet. It is just a special one only to come up once a year and collect early spring sunlight..

Have a Happy April Fools day and Happy Spring!

Hi There… Meow, Meow, Meow…

I always look for feline friends when I go out and about near or far.  It is my habit of trying to make friend with them :).  I spotted this  poor feline friend taking shelter from late morning hot sun.  I stopped to greet her with my imitating sound of her kind,  meow, meow, meow… I did not expect that she would pay attention to my greeting. She might be a feral cat or about to turn feral from a long  time being a stray cat and about to lose socialization with human. I was quite surprised that she actually walked to me!

Her condition looked poor at closer but yet her friendliness remains intact at least from my perspective.  My heart felt warm.

I encountered another feline friend elsewhere. She looked wonderful. Her fur was in perfect condition. She was just laying on street where people walked by basking early morning sun. She does not mind me getting close up to take a shot of her. I think she might just be some’s cat than a stray one. Any way, I was glad also to meet another friendly one.

Ok, I am not ignoring our long time four legged friends. This fellow came and gave me a curious look at me. I might looked strange 🙂 Any way, I was delighted nevertheless.

Friendliness does not take much. A simple friendly gesture is enough to keep us together as society and even further to including these other species too. Your brief smile can give a mile long to other’s heart.

I hope everyone stays safe from your friendly YellowCable 🙂

Closer Visit

My Visitor

I have a post a long time back about my customer who came to dine at my place. This fellow was another customer who visited my restaurant. He came quite late (the owner was about to go to bed) but that was fine. I did not mind that at all. This guest wasn’t wearing a nice and smooth green suit as the last one did. His costume was a little rough and the colors were too dark shade on one side. It wasn’t my typical liking but I respected him regardless (how could I be so rude to my guest).

This was a rare situation for me to have a chance for observing my guest a much much closer distance without him felt intimidated by me. Yeah, I have a glass shield between him and me. I let him enjoy my place as long as he liked and I enjoyed my good look at him.

On a little more on a serious note though, looking at his eye this close makes me thing of something else. My guest is different than you and me not just by the look but also profoundly at genetic building blocks. But that wasn’t what I am thinking of. I am sure he has many of the same feelings as we do. I am sure he has the sense of fear, sense of survival and sense of self as we do and I am pretty sure he has sense of happiness too. This view gives me a greater respect to him as another living being with heart and mind as we do. Are different looks or genetically differences are that important or common feelings that we share are more important? Hmm…

I have to thank him to let me take a chance to have a closer look and gives me a different view.

A Place for Distancing

 

We are supposed to stay home and keep distancing, social distancing.  I am glad to hear some parts of the world are getting better. Complete solution to keep every one safe from this corona virus pandemic is still far away. This picture just caught my attention. The beach front here has few benches to sit. That is perfect to be for enjoying outdoor and isolate. It is a bit unusual when come to think about it.

Please stay safe and stay healthy, mentally and physically.

A Little Late Happy New Year 2020

Happy New Year 2020

I am a little late to say happy new year to everyone this year. It is a little late than never. I hope everyone has a great new year celebration and I cannot say it again – Thank you for coming to “A Bit of Wiggle Room”.  Please have a very happy 2020!

Souvenirs From Summer

“Have you been busy?   My dental hygienist casually started conversion as I began to lay down on the dental chair.  “Summer is short isn’t it?” She continued.

“I have. Oh,  yes, summer is short indeed.” I replied to her. Her questions got my mind lost in thought about this past summer.  It stuck in a loop trying to search for a big thing or two that stood out from this past summer. The seeming useless loop quickly ended once it heard her voice instructed me to turn my head a little bit for her. Yeah, the usual scare of dental operations was its new focus 🙂

Even there was no bit excitements, I definitely enjoyed this past summer very much.  There were few little and simple things that let me effortlessly flow with time. I don’t feel this summer has just passed by so quickly or I don’t feel that I am about to miss it as it was in the past years.

Seeing autumn has shown her signs, I definitely will miss long and bright days of summer but I will not feel strong resistance from missing those days.  Still, it is still good to have few nice memories from summer before moving deeper into autumn. These little purple flowers are souvenirs from summer. As a tradition  of traveling goes, it is good to have souvenirs from the places you visited.  Some things to remind you of those places or time.

I hope everyone had a joyful summer… and a nice welcome to autumn!

Stand by Me

I am not sure this is true for most professions or not. In the past few years, work places are moving toward more collaboration or specifically more toward team oriented. Working alone (I don’t necessarily mean in complete isolation) becomes thing of the past. I also don’t mean there is no time to think independently either. But the trend is more of doing more of coming to do works together at many levels. The goal isn’t for more quantity but more of quality.  Pair working is encouraged for many things you do daily. I think it is a good thing.  As a consumer, especially when you use health care service, it could make you feel better if you see more than one doctors work for our condition.

Of course there are things to overcome when you work close with others. I am sure you can think of few things that might be a problem. For me, the trend does not come naturally but over time I feel more comfortable, confident for things I do as the results have been through extra pairs of eye than my own, discussed, debated and consented. This reminds of “Stand by me” song. It may not fit the thought exactly here but it gives similar feel in a sense..

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me… 

By Ben E. King

 

Eiffel Tower

Summer time is the time for travelling somewhere. It is time for vacation for most. Many of my colleagues at work are having plan to go on their vacation somewhere and some already have gone and back. I love to ask them how things go with their plan, where they are going, why they choose such places etc. These get me in the mood of going somewhere too. At least they remind me about my trip to Paris a few years ago..

I remembered well that Eiffel tower was the place that came to mind after I settled in a hotel room late evening  in Paris. I guess for some reasons, I gravitated to big towers ( looking back, Tokyo tower was the first place I went to see when I was in Tokyo too). I’ve seen Eiffel tower in movies, TV shows etc.  so many times before. I was eager to see it real life.

From the far way view as shown in most movies or shows, the tower stands tall as a hallmark of the city and it gives so romantic views of Paris. Seeing it in close up, my view transforms to a very different view. It is such a wonderful engineering marvel. It impressed me of careful calculations and execution at all levels to support such large and tall structure ( it was the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years).

Those are just parts of my impression. Another part is the artistic part of the creation. Having great engineering design that includes human experience or form is not an easy endeavor.  Eiffel tower possesses a perfect balance between “form” and “function” in the modern days’t term.

For people who come to see the tower, the area around the tower is made like a park (I guess) with big lawn and big trees for shades. When you come to visit the tower, you can take your spot to sit down and relax for awhile.

It was a little bit too bad that I did not have a chance to see the tower at night when it was dark. But even such a short time visiting the tower, it has given me another perspective and impression.

Hope you a great summer time whether you stay home or journey somewhere.

 

Fall in Spring

Fall can happen in Spring too. It is different kind.  It is gentler.  It is a sign of starting new, fresh and cheerful.

Spring does not happen everywhere but I am sure there is always season for starting new, fresh and cheerful just the same. Where ever you are, I hope you find joys in every season you have.

Something Sweet

I am in a mood for something sweet.  Hmm.. actually, I do not necessarily mean sweet desserts.  Those are good thing (from time to time) too.  I mean sweet moments that you come across in your daily life.  Especially the ones that usually are overlooked or are just hidden under plain sight. The ones you experience their sweetness when you slow down and be in present moment.  Sometimes, just taking a breath of fresh air and knowing you are still alive and well  are the sweetest thing you have missed out for a long time.

Are you in the mood for something sweet too?

Have a happy St. Patrick’s Day … and have some strawberry cheese cakes.

Winter is leaving…

For me winter is the time that I don’t feel like doing much of anythings. I keep watching up and down of the cold temperatures. After the peak of the winter has passed, I have been telling myself it is another minute longer day coming… I would be happier soon. 2 out of 3 the famous groundhogs predicted shorter winter (people say mostly they are wrong though). That sounds very good but I am developing a different feel now.  I want winter to last, may be just a little bit longer. I think I might have found things that I could be happy with during the time that I wished the time could move a little faster…  It feels like you’ve found few drops of water in hot desert.  Those few drops of water are your life extender, the treasures that you would never thought of possible. They are not easy to find for sure. Perhaps, it is our mind that so focuses on things are easily seen, those superficial things and deeper values are overlooked.

Happy New Year 2019

This is a bit late for posting for new year wish but it is better than never.  I hope the just passing 2018 dog year has been a good one overall for you.  I know for some, the year might be a bit vicious one.  I am recently inspired by president George H. W. Bush’s acceptance speech for kinder and gentler nation.  I hope the 2019 would be a kind and gentle year for you all. They are like cool clear water in the the hot days that make us feel refreshed.

As always, I want to say thank you to everyone who visited “A Bit of Wiggle Room“. I wish everyone a very very happy 2019!

A Quick Tour of St. Augustine’s Church Galway

When I was in Galway a few years back, I always walked to Middle St. from my hotel to find dinner and enjoy the activities on Middle St. I have read people say Middle St. is “Time Square” of Galway. I think that is more charming than Time Square. I love the much smaller, friendly atmosphere and much more cultural around the area than Time Square. I have few pictures around the place which perhaps will be my future post but for this post I think I will take a few steps off Middle St. to a smaller side street St. Augustine St. to meet St. Augustine’s Church.

I was looking for a place to have dinner as usual.  This time I was convinced by two young man and woman holding signs pointing to an Indian restaurant through the Buttermilk Walk st. off the main street. I had quite lively and fun talking with the young adults. I was convinced to try out the restaurant they were advertising.

I followed them through Buttermilk St. and came out on St. Augustine St. The street was much quieter than Middle St. almost day and night. There were practically no people on the street at all.

The day was still young and I was in no rush for dinner. The street was really nice with small shops.

Cute bright green chairs and small table out side the shop

Pink bicycle

Book Store – I think they were closed at the time already but it looks like a nice book store to explore.

There I saw St. Augustine’s Church just across from Buttermilk alley.  I was not expect to get inside the church but the man stood at the church door spotted me. He seemed to read my mind that I was interested to come inside the church. He looked at me and quickly  encouraged me go on inside and look around. That was very kind invitation. I could not resist.

I stepped inside the church. The 2 or 3 people before me were stepping out as I was in. The church turned absolute quiet.

The church is arranged in antiphonal fashion with seats facing toward the central aisle. There is a altar in the middle and a Presider’s chair behind.

There was a lectern as well. The altar, the Presider’s chair and the lectern are made of more than 5000 years old Croatian oak wood according to the church booklet. From the look, they are very beautiful big solid wood.

After a quick  view of the inside of the church, I stepped to the left side of the church. This is where I met the Pieta.  Look to the right to the opposite side of the church shows elegant support structure of the church.

The cedar wood strip ceiling brings the soft and natural feel to the inside rather than all concrete structure.

There are decorating pieces along the wall.  There are carved heads of twelve apostles preside over the side of the aisles. I continued to walk along the left wall of the church toward the opposite end.

At the end of the left side aisle locates shrine of the Sacred Heart. Again, the wooden strip ceiling is above. I do not know the meaning of those color paper hanging on the trees in front of the shrine but I do like them. They reminded me of the similar arrangement I saw while I was in Tokyo before. I am guessing these may be the written wishes.

This is the point to turn to the right of the church. The right is the middle of the church where you can see the high altar at the center of the church.  The high altar is made from Carrara marble.

The stained glass was the work of George Walsh from Dublin.

I looked back to see the church from the center toward the entrance. The point of view let me see the beautiful pipe organ on the second floor.  From the look of such beautiful pipe organ, I would love to hear its sound.

The church look very spacious and airy.  From this view, you can see the lectern at the other end. I quite like this arrangement. By this time, I felt that I’ve spent too long already and this was around the closing time of the church. Time to leave the church.

Steps from the front door to the street level.

Now, it was time for the dinner.  The restaurant was a quick right turn when I stepped down to the street level to the left of the church.  I was glad to listen to the young advertisers on the Middle street. It was more than just getting to the restaurant but an unexpectedly memorable trip to St. Augustine’s Church in Galway.  The food was great as well.

I  hope you enjoy the quick tour of the St. Augustine’s Church in Galway.

Wordless Time

There are times when spoken words are not needed. Seeing these white roses was one of those times. Only few brief moments of silence were enough to appreciate their unspoken words.

Feeling Happy Blue

I have read questions about why we use “feeling blue” to describe sad or depressed feeling.  Some are based on medical reasons that when our body is starved of oxygen can turn our body bluish. When you were hit with a blunt object your skin could turn deep blue or black. You are in pain or uncomfortable from these conditions. I guess these probably good good reasons people associated sad or depressed with “blue”.

There are many good reasons for blue color is associated with completely opposite feelings too such as  happiness, calm and relax.  For me, I have stronger  association to these feelings with color blue than the other way.  Blue sky draws my eyes to it almost every single time. It calms my thoughts all of the sudden for a brief moment.

Sipping my morning cup of coffee, listening to my favorite songs and writing this post on a Saturday morning make me have quite happy blue at the moment.

“I don’t like this livin’, I love it
Sweet magnolia blue sky up above it 
I don’t call Corolina just a place I visit 
I call Carolina home”

“Life’s Too Short” by Darius Rucker

I am in Ireland (… and there is no snake here).

A little story for a cold winter morning:

I had a great chance to visit Galway, Ireland back in 2015. The hotel that I was staying is near a beautiful lake (it is  Lough Atalia lake – I am not sure it is a lake though). I had a thought to get a good view of the lake one of the mornings there.  The first few mornings were a bit disappointed from the cloudy skies and some rain. Finally, a great break with sunshine and  clear blue sky morning came. Yes!

Just right across the road running along the hotel, I saw this great view of a railroad bridge across the lake against a great blue sky.  Great, I needed to get a little closer … but …there was one little problem. There were tall grasses along the bank of the lake.  A big snake thought started flashing in my mind!!  I have (bad) snake phobia. “There is no snake in Ireland, right ?” I asked myself.  A calmer thought tried to reason.  “Yeah, that must be true. Everybody says that.”. “OK, let go then”.  After these few moments of the hesitation, I went deeper into the tall grasses and knelt down taking the picture (with still faintly fear in mind) 🙂

I was happy that I did and walking back to the hotel was a bit easier than the other way.

Please stay warm for those who live in wintry climate and be safe from the flu (it is very bad this year in the US).

Happy New Year 2018

The year is about to turn again.  I hope everyone has many many great moments in 2017. I don’t mean those grand big ones but those little ones that keep your days short.  I am sure there were many of those not so great ones too. Life won’t be real if there wasn’t one. I hope those were easily forgotten.

As always, I want to say thank you to everyone who visited “A Bit of Wiggle Room“. I wish everyone a very very happy 2018!

Autumn Is Coming

Summer says, she has to leave.

She says, Oh dear don’t look so sad.

I say, Summer please stay a little while longer.

I will miss many warm long daylights we have had together.

My hand reaches out for hers for the last time.

She says, Dear you will be fine with my friend Autumn.

You know she is as kind.

She will cheer your up with her colorful shine.

Good bye and we will  meet again soon.

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower was the first place I went to see soon after I touched down in Tokyo many years ago. I was hoping to get there before it got too dark.  It was the around this time of the year or around starting of summer. The day light should  last a bit longer but on that day it got dark a bit sooner.  I thought would miss the opportunity to see the tower during the day time but I guess the near dark scene itself was worth seeing.

I have not put much thought about the tower at the time but remembering it from seeing it from old movies or TV series that had big monsters (Godzilla, etc.) came to destroy the city. I just read about it later that its purpose is for communications (television and radio broadcasts) and observations.

There are elevators to carry tourists up to the observatory decks. The elevator was decorated with colorful lighting fixture inside. I really like it when I stepped in. It gives feeling of cheerful and fun.

There are two main observatory decks. You can have good views over Tokyo from the decks. Tokyo was a busy place but one of the street below did not look too bad at the time.

Among modern tall buildings there are interesting Japanese style buildings into the mix. I wished I could ask some one about those buildings.

Part of the observatory deck floor stretches out a bit and was made with glass. They are looking windows. You can step over and see the ground right below your feet. It gave strange feeling that you stood on air and could fall at any moment (at least it is for me 🙂 ).  I noticed that the ground below do seem to have a playground (a little train track there).  You can also see a small antenna attached.

There is a shrine on the observatory deck. It is “Great Shinto Shrine of the Tower”. From what I read briefly that it is the place students come to pray for their success in entrance exam.

On the way back down,  the returning elevator places you on the floor that have small exhibition, souvenir and snack shops. The exhibition showed small models of old houses. I am not sure what the exhibition was about but only guess it probably shows the houses around the area a long time back (about the tower was built?).

The details of the model houses and the items that made up the place are incredible. I always love  seeing the small models since I was young. This exhibition is just  a great eye candy for me.

I could spend a lot of  time exploring this small world;  following this street,  that street looking at the shops, houses and be absorbed by their realistic details.  I hope you get a feel of them too.

This is one last snap – the queue lines to elevators to the observatory deck.  I hope you enjoy the tour of Tokyo Tower. Have a great Summer.

 

There you are!

This is an American green tree frog. I recall seeing them only a couple of occasions at night. They came to get their evening meal (those insects flying around the lamp). I am quite sure they are out there more often than I can count. I do not like to go out and check things out at night (I am afraid to run into another kind of fellow that has no leg and also loves to eat frogs).

This time was not even at dusk yet and this fellow showed up. He must have heard about this 4 star rated restaurant and wanted to make sure he has a good sitting place or perhaps he had a date and wanted to show his date that he was punctual.  For me, I do not really plan to make any profit out of the restaurant for tree flog population nearby but I was glad to meet this early bird customer during the day time. He was patiently waiting and did not make any fuss or sound. The best part to me was he did not mind me taking pictures of him.  He simply hung there smiling happily at me. In return, I gave him and his date to dine without any charges. Good deal 🙂

Peacefulness In Darkness

I love to go into work quite early if I could. I really love it when no one is there and the work place is still quite dark. Of course, the place is not in total darkness. The hall way lights and and the faint blue early morning light from the glass windows around are the sources of light that keep the place from complete darkness. The main light that lights up my desk is the light from the monitor sitting in front of me. It comes alive when I wake up the computer routinely in the morning.  For a good while until others arrive and all the lights are turned on, I’ve found temporary peacefulness in the dark and from the place that I would not normally imagine would be possible. For such days, I feel I have immunized myself against any craziness from the rest of the day.

I hope you find peacefulness in some way in your daily life from time to time.

Leisurely Sunday Morning

Basked by soft and warm sun light

Touched by gentle breeze

Muffled by the sound of small waves

 Lost by limitless ocean in front

New thoughts lessened

Raging mind slowed down

Content and joy slowly raised

What a Leisurely Sunday Morning..

Sunday morning is the time that I usually feel there are little less things on my mind (not always though :)). Actually, that is a also true for Saturday but it is rather a starting of winding down feeling (and that is another story).

Epilogue:

“Ooops! Wait a second, what ? There is a thing to prepare for tomorrow. .. arggg..”

Hope you have a great Sunday!

Wintry Days

 

Last weekend was the first snow days of this year here. The weather stations predicted 6 inches to 7 inches of snow accumulation. That was considered quite high for the typical wintry days in the area. Fortunately, the weather pattern changed the last minutes (ha! even mother nature changes her  mind the last minutes too). The snow accumulation was only about a couple of inches. Whew, that was a relieve for me. I am sure  that disappointed many many young kids who were excited about snow and were looking forward to have  fun days in the snow and school closes. At least they were not disappointed about the school closed on Monday after.

For me, I was glad and secretly thanked the nature’s last minute decision for not pouring pile of snow in the area. I was still nervous regardless. The temperature were near record low (it dipped into single digit degrees Fahrenheit) and reported near zero or actually zero on Sunday night. That raised any concern for not too young houses. Being stuck in the house during the time also made me felt like doing a jailed time from a rebellious mind. If power went out things could be worse. I think that could be quite the opposite for young kids who felt free from being off from school and just having fun… hmm.

Our nature is always strange, under the same situation some can be cheerful while some are dreadful.

Can we always have a cheerful mind in any situation we are in?

Special Time of The Year Again.. Happy Holidays

This is the special time of the year again. I want to thank everyone for visiting “A Bit of Wiggle Room”.  I cannot say enough that you have made this place special, likes another home to me. I truly thank you.  I wish you have a warm joyful holiday season and a happy new year.

“May you never run out of joy and happiness

and never be drowned by sadness. “

Stuffs from A Nightmare

When I saw this tree, the first impression I had was it was a scare looking tree. It could be a thing that you ran into in your nightmare. The surrounding thick fog and still early morning light were probably the major factors contributing to its scariness. I saw it again not too long ago in a clear broad daylight and it is just a poor looking tree.

I do not remember that I’ve ever dreamed of any trees before. When I was a boy growing up, I recalled dreaming about ghost chasing me. Ghosts have not visited me in my dream for a long time now. I guess that is because I now feel that they are like you and me. Would it be nice to befriend one? 😉  My nightmares recently were more of getting caught in a repeat loop of thoughts that I was unable to break out. They are not scary (not at the surface anyway) but cause tiredness and restlessness later. I do not like that.

I hope this does not cause anyone a nightmare. The Halloween is coming soon. It is around the time we can talk about scary things a little bit. 🙂

WRAL Freedom Balloon Fest

I am always fascinated by things that fly or airborne. Hot air balloon is one of them that I had not seen in real life. I often see them in the TV news. I know there are some activities in the state where I live but the places are long drive away. They are probably also private. Seeing a real hot air balloon was on my wish list.

I guess it was my lucky day a couple of year back to hear  WRAL (a local TV station) organized the WRAL Freedom Balloon Fest at two locations. One of the locations was just about 30 minutes away. I normally do not pay much attention for what is going around. I was glad to hear about the event. Yeah!

The WRAL Balloon Festival is free for public. They even provided free shuttle bus rides from the nearby mall parking lot to the site that year. There were sponsors and volunteers to help running the event. Since I was aware of the event, the festival is a yearly event around Memorial day weekend.  It is really a nice idea that WRAL, sponsors and volunteers to organize and run the event for the community.

The near location is not a really big open field but there were a fair number of balloons at the event. The event started early in the morning and ran to dusk. My plan was to get there in the evening to avoid hot sun and hoped to see balloons in the night sky.

If you do not already know the process of how to get the balloon started airborne, the process to get the balloon airborne is interesting. It starts by putting air (“cold inflation”) using a fan to fill enough air into the balloon. Once good amount of air is inside the balloon, the frame is lit to make the air inside hot and that creates lift. Too bad, I did not recall this activity to look for during the event.

I believe the word “Freedom” part of the festival name is relating to freedom as freedom of the nation. Seeing a man can float up in the air makes me think it is also another kind of freedom. It is the deeper desire of human to be free to go anywhere possible. It is the freedom from being tied down by this earth.

Today we have much better ways of air traveling than by hot air balloons but I can imagine the slow and gentle floating up the air will give you a different feel. No rush to get somewhere, look around for views from the high up, enjoy breeze and fresh air.  Definitely, it is quite less complicate to get airborne than other means. It works with the same concept as we most already familiar with – boat floating on water! No, I am not at all trying to say it is an easy thing as making things float on water. The balloon may look simple but things that let it flyable are by far not simple.

I saw this long rope on the grass . The rope looks pretty strong and fairly thick. It suggests to me that once the balloon is airborne it needs quite strong rope to hold it.  Hmm, it though it is supposed to be lighter than air 😉

I did not touch the fabric of the balloon but it looks so light and thin. I am quite certain that entire balloon can be folded into very compact. The fabric are so colorful. I think it is the part that draws most attention when we seem them in the sky.

It was a very fun event for everyone. I spot this young lady posing to her husband. I could not help taking a picture of her at the same time. I was wondering how she looked in the picture taken by her husband. I love sneaking taking picture of people being taking pictures 🙂

Everyone looked relax and just enjoyed the afternoon summer time among in this fun event.

This picture is just to tell that I am not only a cat person. I also like dog a lot too 🙂

I just love this scene, life full.

The sun was low but it was going to be a while before the sun went down completely. I forgot that the day was long during summer time. I could not wait that long. Surprising, many people were still coming to the festival as I was leaving.
I hope you enjoy the balloon festival with me.

Washed Away Sand

Last waves have just receded.

They washed away sand.

Leaving behind streaks.

Streaks are like scars.

Scars that won’t last long.

Just  like anything built on sand.

The next waves could heal the scars.

Or create new scars.

When I was young, I remember that I loved building sand castles (who does not like to do that?). I learned that waves would wash it away. I tried hard to protect my castle from the water, the waves. You can guess that it was fruitless efforts but as a young child it was fun. It was fun building it and protecting it.

Summer has peaked. It was hot and sunny this year.  People have taken time off to the beaches or elsewhere.  I hope you find some time off and have a great summer time (or winter time for those who live in the southern hemisphere) 🙂

‘A Bit of Wiggle Room’ banner star.

I would like to introduce the ‘A Bit of Wiggle Room’ banner star (above). I met him (may be her) some time ago when I visited Historic Oak View County Park in Raleigh NC. I am not sure the park hires him to greet visitors or he just felt the place is his. I spotted him around first. He eventually came to greet me as a good host would. He even walked along with me when I was around at the park.  I felt warm welcome by this fellow.

I used a picture of him for the ‘A Bit of Wiggle Room’ banner from the beginning and have not changed since. It was a fond memory and I just like show few better pictures of him.

Here is the good look at the star of ‘A Bit of Wiggle Room’. He just posed nicely for me to take picture. He is a pure smoky cat (smoky color is one of my favorite color for cats). I hope you agree that he is quite handsome in this picture.

You may recognize the picture above as it is the banner of the ‘A Bit of Wiggle Room’. This is a bit better version than the banner. Here he was walking along side me around in the barn house. That made me feel special 🙂

I think it is good to remember a long time friend once in a while. It is too bad that I did not get his name. Anyway, I hope you like the ‘A Bit of Wiggle Room’ banner star 🙂

A Bench on The Lawn

For some reason I like seeing benches. I am a little bit drawn to them. This bench on the lawn of the neighborhood was arranged in an interesting way. The family seems to have a great imagination for having the bench with the duck and the ducklings figures near the bench on their lawn. When I see it, I can imagine the bench was near a small pond under the big tree. I would see myself setting on it in a warm summer afternoon. There would be waves of gentle breeze coming from the pond time to time. The tree provided just a perfect shade for only soft light through.  I would break bread in my hand into small pieces and throw them to feed the duck and the ducklings and watched them busily feeding the pieces of bread on the ground… A bench near the pond, it is.

Have a great day.

We are Ground Covering Flowers

We are Ground Covering Flowers.

Near the ground, we grow.

Among debris and fallen leaves, we live.

Together and humble, we are.

Those are our beauty.

Many only look for beauty from high up.

Perhaps, when you’re down and look low.

You may find us down by your feet.

Our beauty can cheer you up from below.

Don’t be afraid to look low.

Remember us when you are not down too.

We are Ground Covering Flowers.

Changes We Love

Changes are part of the nature. Everything is changing but most of the time we do not care about them. The notable one that we often notice is when unexpected changes occur and they lead to unfavorable result to us.  We have tendency to resist changes; we want things to keep on doing as they have been doing.  They yet keep on changing on us.  We do not welcome these sort of changes. “Agg, my car’s engine just quits!”.

Of course, we also often heard people suggest “you need changes”, “go take a break for a while”, etc.  These are changes we create to have certain out come one form or another. They are somewhat controlled changes. We need this kind of change from time to time to make us better. Even when thing has been doing so well for a long time, we sometimes need to add change to see if it can be better, to improve or just to keep us happy (we are bored).

Not all of these needed controlled changes are liked by everyone in every situation either. Sometimes the results can not be clearly predicted. Sometimes, we need strong courage to make such changes.

Are there any changes we like and in particular the changes that we do not even introduce? I am sure there are a number of them.  The very obvious ones that are occurring everywhere here are Spring changes.  I am quite sure that everyone love changes that it brings.

Changes in Spring are amazing, beautiful and so alive. They are the work of nature. We may not recognize or look at changes in Spring from the perspective of changes but they are for certain changes. They are not only just beautiful but they are also absolutely needed, not just for us but for every living things around us. Changes we love, Spring.

Happy Easter

“Take it easy .. Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy..”

I am an Eagles fan. I always like most of their songs and a few I keep coming back to listen again and again. I even went to see their live concert 5 or 6 years back which was not typical for me. It was great even sitting up high and far far away from the stage.

For some reason, I feel like listening to “Take It Easy” song again this weekend. I know the lyrics before but perhaps just have not paid much attention to it (or just paid attention to just fun and music part of it :)). The theme was light and for sure gives you feeling to keep thing easy. But this time around, I feel something different about it.

“Take it easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can“

I think “take it easy” is hard to do. The sound of your own wheels is your own thought that can really drive you very crazy. It often time drives you to take thing too hard and forget to “take it easy”… I think this part of the song is a good reminder of that we should step back and take it easy sometimes. Of course that does not mean to be careless or less attentive.  I also think taking thing easy but with careful and attentive can be blissful.

By the way, you may not know Glenn Frey who was one of the band lead just died on January 18, 2016. Glenn was the co-author of “Take It Easy” with Jackson Browne. I have been listening to Eagles’ greatest hit album all this weekend. “Take It Easy” is again repeating one more time …

“Take it easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy
Come on baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me”

A Little (not) Fun on My Flight Home

I was returning home from a half way around the world trip last week. The trip was not bad. Things needed to be done got done. My spirit was high from finishing the nice trip. I  was looking forward to return home for a nice weekend rest. The returning part of the trip did not go so well when the agent at Bengaluru airport in Bangalore informed me of my last fright out of JFK airport to my city was cancelled (it was a multiple-leg flight).  I somewhat knew there were a snow storm on the way from the south to NYC.  I pressed on. I wanted to get at least to JFK airport.

The nice agent finally said,

“Oh, it looks like your flight is not cancelled.”

“But I could not give you the boarding pass for the flight out of JFK.”

“You will have to get it when you get there”.

Did I hear it right ? I thought to myself,

“Yeah, it is ok to get the boarding pass there.  It is not uncommon”.

I immediately checked in. I had a high hope!

My last international flight before getting to JFK airport from Bengaluru airport was from Heathrow airport. The news about the weather in US at Heathrow was about the same that snow was continuing on to NY.

Finally, my flight left Heathrow and I caught a sight of Heathrow airport below. Good bye Heathrow. I still had hope that my flight out of JFK airport was still good.

The flight from Heathrow was smooth. I forgot any thing about the snow storm and my potential cancelling flight out of JFK airport.  As I walked out of the plan, my name was called at the gate.  I thought that was a good news thinking the airline knew me and tried to get me on the soonest flight.  I was wrong. The agent at the gate told me my next flight would be on Sunday. It was Friday night and that would be about two nights in NY city somewhere.

So much for the high hope of returning home that weekend. I was sure that the snow storm could not be that bad. But I was again wrong about that. It was quite severe that I could only stay in the hotel room and my flight out on Sunday was cancelled too. The next available one would be on Monday night or Tuesday. Aggg…

Well, it was not all that bad. I had good rest and probably better than if I were home. I was quite enjoy watching the entire series of “Resident Evil” , a few from series Star Trek the Next Generation and some other movies. I was busy finding the soonest flight out of JFK. I was even considering plan to rent a car and drive home myself (Yeah, not a good idea) or take an Amtrak train out of Penn station in NY city. It seemed like making a plot to get out of prison.  I also learned that snow storm has name too. Jonas is the name of the storm. A cool name 🙂

Once in a while, I took a break to take a peak out of the window to see what it looked like outside.  I hoped snow stopped and hoped the road was clear.  I really appreciated those who kept the road clean. It was cold, very cold. Jonas dumped 30.5 inches at the JFK airport. It broke the record of 26 inches during Feb 16-18, 2003. That was a lot of snow!

Now at home listing to “Ain’t Got Far To Go” by Jess Glynne which I came to know on the airplane during this trip gets me thinking differently about the meaning of the song.

Happy New Year 2016

The 2015 is ending.

I wish you all find many happy memories from the passing year.

I wish you also find many good lessons to remember forward.

The new year always reminds me to say…

(Big, big)  Thanks to everyone who visited “A Bit of Wiggle Room” and …

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 

A Foggy Morning

As I was going through some old pic.. This one caught my eyes this time. It was quite a memorable foggy morning. The fog was the thickest that I have ever seen. The fog also lingered till very late morning. That was quite an unusual long lasting foggy morning. Remember that foggy morning again…

Oh, I think you might enjoy “The Morning Fog Has Lifted” song to go with this old picture too.

It rains and rains…

It rains and rains. For many days it rains and rains. Not pouring down heavy but long and lasting, it is torturing.

Day and day of grey skies, my thirst of sun light increases. If I were a vampire, I would be a vampire of light.

At night, my mind was unsettled from uncertain of tomorrow.  At least, it was calmed down by the sound of the soft rain outside.

Fell asleep, hoping tomorrow would be brighter.

A Little Brown Rabbit

Little brown rabbit, I see you and your friends when I go out and walk around. You are so cute. You look so gentle.

Your eyes are wonderful. They can see nearly all around. You are so quick and can jump high. I cannot get close to you every time I try. I’ve never found where you live. You just pop here and there.

You do not hibernate in winter but that is no problem for you.  You just switch your foods to barks and twigs that they are easier to find.

Oh, your teeth also do not stop growing but that is not a problem for you too.

Little brown rabbit, you are amazing but yet are so vulnerable. No wonder you are a symbol for being kind to animals…

Summer Time and Few Moments of Coolness with Hydrangeas

I always find hydrangeas refreshing to look. To me, they are summer time coolness flowers. Part of the name (hydra) means water. Although it means Hydrangeas need plenty water to glow well but they produce cool and refresh blooms in return.

I do not know that was because of their color tones or what else but I always feel refresh and coolness when I look at Hydrangea. The feeling may just be a flash of a moment or two but I know it is there. I guess I am biased because I love the flowers. They are just irresistible to me.

I hope these hydrangeas give you the fresh and coolness even though it is not Summer where you at 🙂

Mr. Copperhead Visit

It was about this time last year that I had a surprised visit. Mr. Copperhead visited me.

This Mr. Copperhead thought he has found a nice cool and safe place for a summer afternoon rest (he could actually be “she” but in order to find that out I believe I needed to get more intimate with him/her — let’s better assume “he” for now 🙂 ). Well, unfortunately for him (and for me) the place happened to be underneath my garbage can.  Not so good idea for both of us but I did not blame him a bit.  The cool and peaceful place was no longer a peaceful one as I pulled the garbage can out for a weekly pick-up.  I was sure he was disappointed while I was so …. freaked out. Mr. Copperhead was less than few feet away from my feet. Aggrrr! … jumped … brain froze etc …

Mr. Copperhead was calm and perhaps was only a bit surprised by a sudden exposed to sunlight and saw a real scared looking man standing a few feet away. We looked at each other for a couple moments. Mr. Copperhead remained calm. He looked like a gentlesnake.  Good! That helped me calm down (but not by much) to allowed me quickly got on my feet to run … ah, hmm … to get my camera from the house 🙂 .

I am definitely a gentleman as well but in this case I had to be a bit less and took few pictures of him without I asking his permission.  I do not know snake’s language. I would if I could 🙂

We parted in a good way. I am sure I will see him or his kind again (as usual around here) but I hope not to get too close as with this visit again… 🙂

Note:  I can understand now why people call “copperhead”. The head of the snake is bright copper color.  I think Mr. Copperhead here is quite handsome. Don’t you think so?

Meiji Shrine Tokyo

The official summer of 2015 starts today.  Travelling is probably on many people mind now. I feel like going somewhere too but for now I would just like to take you for a small tour of Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Meiji Shrine is the one of the two shrines that I visited Tokyo a while back.

Meiji Shrine is located in Shibuya area which is quite busy place in Tokyo. The Harajuku subway train station is just in front of one of the entrance to the shrine. That is so convenient to get there from the subway.

This is the main entrance of the shrine. I guess many probably have seen this Japanese style gate of temple before or even this gate in particular. This style of gate is called “Torii”. The Meiji Shrine’s gate is very large and made of wood.

The entire area is in the big dense evergreen forest. The actual temple part is small relative to the entire area. There is a long walk from the entrance gate to get to the main temple.  The path is surrounded with tall green dense trees. I found the long walk along these trees gives you tranquility.

The above is the scenery of the well preserved forest surrounding the temple. The forest was quite dense and moist on that day but I think that accentuated the serenity of the place even further.

I really do like the drainage design along the walkway.  The wide but shallow duct made of rectangular shape stones and the green mosses grow on the high wall is a great design. The man made structure blends in with the surrounding green so well.

The above is one of the lamp post. The style just matches with style of the temple there.

These are sake barrels. They are for decoration.  I found this link to give information about the barrels and the shrine – http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/10/16/reference/sake-barrels-at-shrines/#.VYaPbvlVhBc It is quite interesting.

There is another inner Torii before entering the temple main ground. It was a welcome sight as the main ground opens up as you walk deeper. I think it gives subtle happiness feeling that you have accomplish some goal.

You will find a place to wash your hands before entering temple. This is a Japanese tradition that you can see the setup for washing before entering a temple. The place provides running water and small ladles to scope up water for washing your hands. I had one picture in the Hase-Dera temple post awhile back.

This is the wooden door before entering the temple. It made of big thick solid pieces of wood (this one made of 3 big wood panels). The carving looks like a flower. It uses many gentle curves and circles enclosing straight lines in the middle – very eye pleasing.

This is the main ground of the temple. There is no picture taken allowed beyond this point.  My memory is so vague now to remember what I saw there beyond this point. I am sorry about this.  I can only just recall peaceful feeling. I guess that is more important than the visual memory of the details.

On the temple ground there is a place setup for hanging wooden wishing plaques (“Ema”).  I wished I could read Japanese language. I would like to read some of these.

I exited the main ground through the other door. The door panels here are the same structural style but with different wood carving pattern. The design keeps gentle curves design theme however.  The carving appears to represent leaves. Still, they are gentle, simple and eye pleasing.

This is the last picture of this post. I  like this view a lot. It just gave me the sense of real peacefulness. The building just stood there and there was no people near or close by at all.

Hope you all have great plan for this Summer.

 

I got a PhotoBomb! But I like it..

When I was in a park somewhere in southern part of Thailand along time back, I came across this beautiful vines that grew on the base of a very very big tree there. The shape of leaves and how the vines formed looked so gracious. It drew my attention. I took the picture. I checked the camera to see if picture has focus where I pointed to.  The picture was great; I thought. I was happy.

When I got home and viewed the picture with normal size computer screen, I was so surprised.  There was Mr. Lizard handsomely stood few inches away from my main subject. Aggrr!! I was disappointed but not because of Mr. Lizard planted a photobomb on me.  I was disappointed that I did not see him and I could take a picture of him instead. He did such a great job blending with the surrounding (he was designed for that). He could be my supper star in that picture.

I like the picture nevertheless 🙂

Pink Azaleas

I saw few wonderful blogs about pictures with pink color in them for fun. I am not officially joining the weekly fun theme but they inspire me a bit to follow along with pink azalea pictures.

Azaleas are another spring flowers that you will hardly miss around where I live.  I would say most houses around here have them in the yards. Pink azaleas seem to be most common but they can come in white, blood red or other shades too.

Azaleas are not the early bloomer in spring and they are not the late bloomer either. At this time, the flowers already turned brown and are falling off.

Azalea has meany meanings depending culture. In China, azalea is a symbol of womanhood and the whole plant means “the thinking home” bush.

I can relate to a symbol of womanhood very easily.  I think many people would agree with the symbol of womanhood especially the pink ones. Aren’t they pretty?

I have a bit of trouble relating azalea to the “the thinking of home” meaning. The bush can be quite dense and could be trimmed into nice shapes. That could make good decorating plants around perimeter. I guess these characteristic of azalea make them suitable grown around houses as bushes. I guess the “the thinking of home” could make some sense this way.

In the west, azalea represents temperance. This is also a very good meaning.  I quite like this meaning. The meaning that reminds you to take thing in moderation or to be self-restraint.  We can use good reminders from time to time from pink azaleas 🙂

A Green Room In The Back

 I read an article recently. I do not recall what it was about now but I recall the author mentioned that when he sees pictures he took he re-lives those moments again.  I think he is right.

It was in July. The weather was hot and humid in Bangkok. Going outside from the air conditioned room was a far thinking.  But when I saw this green room at the back of a souvenir store. The room was outside but for that moment I forgot about the hot and humid air. I just wanted to be in it. I stepped out. It was pleasant. I was not disappointed.

A Visit to NC Museum of Art

The North Carolina Museum of Art has a long history. Its history begins in 1924 and was located near Raleigh capital. I did not pay much attention to the place until NCMA moved to the new place and got modernized. That prompted my visit to the place during the first opening week at the new place (current) in 2010. I visited the place only few times after that. Lately I have been thinking about going back and see new exhibition and the other parts of the museum but have not gone there yet due to my forgetfulness, cold weather and many other excuses etc. This Sunday morning, the thought of going back came back to me again. I am not sure that I would visit the place again today or not but a least I bring the old experiences of the place to share here.

I was fascinated by this art piece. I was wondering what it means (I sure there was a written up about her but I did not read it and any pieces here too :)). I feel the lady pilot was it pain;  mental than physical even there are planes plunge into her body.

This sword handle and the sheath are beautifully decorated.  It looks quite old and worn out but those beads are still bright and colorful.

This wall is full of sculpture of human heads or faces. Each head piece is not much of interest to me but how all of them are put together on the wall makes up a completely different experience.

This Mona Lisa piece is what I think where art meets science. The art part is the actual Mona Lisa image made by putting different colors of thread spools and put on the wall.  At close distance from the wall, one may not realize what it is but with the glass crystal ball acting as a wide angle lens the Mona Lisa picture appears. Cool.

A couple enjoyed one of the art piece.

The painting portrays a very happy family and a very perfect one. At least that how I felt from the colors tone, members of the family interacting with each other and a family pet. I believe the man felt the same.

In side the museum has as section that set aside that looks like a cafeteria or perhaps more of restaurant. The tables and chairs arranged nicely in rows.  It is interesting to see that only table for two are their default setting.  I guess visiting an art museum is considered as a romantic outing. Oh, each table had two fresh tulips as well. Nice.

This is an animation of a tree. The animated picture of a tree is projected on a blank wall near the cafeteria. You can stand and watch the tree swaying and changing its colors. It is very creative.

I was so amazed by seeing the details of the fabrics in this painting – surreal! I am wondering how much time the artist took to create this. One must have an amazing passion for such creation.

I would say this is my most favorite piece there at the time. Simply, she is beautiful.

This man can glow in the dark. He was placed near the entrance.  I spotted him as I was about to leave. An interesting piece and I also like it.

This is the last picture from NCMA that I have for this post. Hope you have little of fun along.

Bare Trees

Nature is strange. She seems to have two sides. One strides for creation; with all wits to survive. The other is the master of chaos. She is skillful of destruction. Yet, no side ever truly wins. Eternally intertwine. Perhaps both serve the same purpose.

Observe her works on these bare trees. I am wondering. Will I ever understand her?

Bleeding Heart

I was shocked or heart broken when I learned that these flowers are named “Bleeding Heart”.  How could people do this?  My mind opened up a little bit, yeah its shape is a good match of the name.  Still, I did not want to give up fighting back my disappointment about naming to such charming flowers.  My good friend Google shows me the site that gives a bit of story about “Bleeding Heart” flowers. Here is the content from “http://flowerinfo.org/bleeding-heart-flower“:

“Because of its characteristic shape, the bleeding heart flower is at the center of many folkloric tales. One of the best known stories – which has many variations – is generally told directly through the anatomy of the plant itself. This story tells of a prince who tries to win the heart of a beautiful maiden by giving her gifts. With each gift, two of the petals are removed. Despite his attempts, the maiden continues to refuse the prince, and so he pierces himself through the heart – the heart having been formed with the discarded petals, the knife with the green stamen. The essence of the bleeding heart flower is said to open up and strengthen the heart chakra, which in turn causes a person to feel emotionally soothed and open to the possibility of new romance. It is thought to be especially useful after a heartbreak. These blossoms are also frequently used in love spells. One such spell includes braiding the flowers into your hair, lighting a white candle in honor of the goddess of love, and reciting a poem or incantation.“

I felt better after reading the story. “Bleeding Heart” name is not so bad. I like it better now. I think this is also a good story for today, the Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Flights Over To Las Vegas

About a year and a half ago, I had a chance to go to a convention in Las Vegas. It was also the first time for me to join any convention in Las Vegas.  Although I had been to the city before but it was a long time ago. One of my most anticipated about the trip other than to learn from the convention was the scenery during the flight over canyons from the east. I was having a different anticipation about the flights over than before.

My luck was with me. I had window seats on all the flights over to Las Vegas (I love window seat). The flight was also during the daylight . The schedule and the seats were perfect as I could hope for.

I was settled in my window seat and waiting for the plan to take off.  There was not much interesting things out side my window except for there was another sister plane getting ready to take off as well.

I believe there was one connecting flight somewhere before the last leg to Las Vegas. I saw the ground crews was working on luggage. I was glad that I did not have to worry my luggage for this flight that the crews had to work on. It was only few days trip and my belongings were with me.  I was delight that I was truly traveling light 🙂

Looking out the window and anticipating… While I was keeping eyes on the views below I was also enjoying the view above – deep blue sky and the warm sunny afternoon.

As anticipated, I had the first sight of an interesting ground terrain below.  It started to change from flat to mountain ridge.

The ground terrain continued to change below. There were less trees on the ground now. There were also low patches of cloud covering the view.  I guess my luck was getting a bit weakening. I was hoping to get some clear views of the ground before the flight ended.

Finally, I got few clear views of the ground below and the view that I was hoping to see. The terrain was fascinating.  It made me think that I could be on Mar if there was not the river there.

This is another interesting view of the terrain that could get before the flight ended.

I hope you enjoy the flights over to Las Vegas with me.

Happy New Year 2015

It is another turn of a new calendar year.  It is the time that I would like to specially thank everyone who visited “A Bit of Wiggle Room”. I am grateful.  I also wish everyone finds happiness in every moment just like a bee contents with a single mind flying around collecting sweet nectar from one flower to another… Happy New Year.

Wishing You To Have A Lot of These …

I wish you all to have a lot of presents for this holiday season 🙂

But more important…

I wish you all a lot of good times this holiday season.

Last but not the least,

I wish the upcoming year brings you lots of joys and happiness.

🙂

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all…

Grateful for each hand we hold
Gathered round this table.
From far and near we travel home,
Blessed that we are able.

Grateful for this sheltered place
With light in every window,
Saying “welcome, welcome, share this feast
Come in away from sorrow.”

Father, mother, daughter, son,
Neighbor, friend and friendless;
All together everyone in the gift of loving-kindness.

Grateful for what’s understood,
And all that is forgiven;
We try so hard to be good,
To lead a life worth living.

Father, mother, daughter, son,
Neighbor, friend, and friendless;
All together everyone, let grateful days be endless.

Grateful for each hand we hold
Gathered round this table.

(From Thanksgiving Song Lyrics – Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Red Leaves on The Ground

One thing that I like about Fall is its beauty can extend down to the ground. Fallen leaves that scatter around on the ground can also be so pretty. Those still bright and colorful fallen leaves help amplify the beauty the scene.

Some say Fall is the second Spring.  I think I agree to that but I also feel Fall moves at a faster pace, is more dramatic and has a bit of sadness. Perhaps that is how a great thing should end, likes a great firework show that ends with quick bursts of grand explosion…

Del’s Freez and Good Old Time

Going back to the place where you had good time always brings back the old happy feelings. The place does not need to be anything extraordinary.  It could just be a plain, simple local store down the street, any place at all. The relationship you had with the place is all that matter.

Del’s Freez is one of those places for me. I used to go to Del’s Freez for a scoop of cold ice cream on Saturday night during summer time. It is not a fancy ice cream place. It is rather old fashion than most common ice cream places in town. They just have a serving booth.  There are tables and benches in the open next to the booth just for those who want to sit there.

The place is just right on the US 1 highway. People can pulled in their cars from the highway and park next to the place. Some folks order the ice creme and go back to enjoy their ice creme in their cars.

I visited Del’s Freez again a few years back on Saturday night in summer again. Del’s Freez is just the same; plain, simple and still very affordable. The new paint job seems to be the only thing that keeps the place going along. I was there at the right time and was able to enjoy the fantastic Florida’s summer sky.

The items on the menu look about the same. They are just common items; nothing fancy. I like the slogan “Del’s, The Ice Cream Man. The Sweetest Man in Town”.

I think I agree with the slogan.

It was like the old days. I enjoyed a small ice creme cone, relaxed and watched families with cheerful children hanging around…the good old time.

Do you have such a place?

A Morning Over Atlantic

It was a morning flight across Atlantic ocean from UK to US.  The Sun was already high in the sky but it was still giving its soft golden light over the clouds and the sea below.. I was sitting by the window seat watching this beautiful scene slowly passing by. I felt so refreshing and peaceful. The sight wiped out my sleepiness and tiredness from the trip.

The cloud opened up to show the calm water below.

Nothing lasts forever, the show was ending.

I could not resist a cup of coffee to complete the morning.

I am not sure now what the rest of the flight was. I was probably picking up an easy Sudoku problem from the airline magazine to solve and finishing the coffee 🙂

Banana Leaves

I have just recently heard a joke. “What was Beethoven’s favorite fruit?”.  The answer is “Banananaaaaaa!” (symphony #5).  I thought it was funny. That reminds me that I have few banana leaf pictures. It is also the summer time where banana trees thrive with fresh green leaves.

Banana leaves are quite useful and they are still used in certain parts of the world where banana trees thrive year round. They are good for food wrappers (so natural), serving plates or decorating. Bananas are good for you too. The “Banana Leaf” is also a common restaurant name. I went to one in CA and probably more in other places too.

For me, I like the yellowish green color of the leaves when they are young and turn deeper green as the leaves get older. They are signs of summer for me. Too bad, this year summer has just passed its peak. This year was mild and pleasant in particular.

A second look at the leaf.

A bit of closer.

I hope you enjoy your summer time where you are. I know for some, this is not summer (it is strange to think about it). These banana leaves can help warm you up 🙂

At King’s Cross St. Pancras Station

King’s Cross St. Pancras Station is the biggest interchange station in London. It is also where you can go to other countries from London by train. The station is beautiful from outside to inside. The architecture is well blended of modern functional train station serving fast trains and the English style building from the outside.  No wonder that the place is often seen as part of advertise or movie scenes.

The station has another significance than those conventional senses. The thought did not occur to me before until I got there. How could I forget.. The station is also the famous train station that Harry Potter got on a train to Hogwarts school of wizard! The place is real! It must be the same feeling of a child that sees Disneyland and thinking the places and characters from fairy tales are real.

It was too bad that I was a bit groggy from travel far the day before when I was there to catch a train. I missed doing a bit more looking around or searched for the famous platform 9 and 3/4. I wanted to try to get through the  magic wall there. However, I was looking for wizard families there and I think I saw one or two 🙂

 A street view of the station. I like that back taxi.

 The transition of the roof structure meets the red brick outside wall.  I like the well blend of the modern construction and older style.

The roof has clear opening to let the natural light into the station below.

I could not help taking a closer look at the roof 🙂

A couple of lady muggles walked along the Eurostar train. This was on the upper floor of the station.

The famous Eurostar train.

Searcys St. Pancras Grand is a fancy restaurant. I did know about this place when I was there otherwise I would have taken another closer look.  Beautiful doors!

Now, I think I spotted wizard families having breakfast.

A lovely flower shop at the station. I like those flowers in the paper bags placed on the floor.

This is a fruit store. It makes the station different than any airports that I have seen. It made me feel more of inside a supper market or a mall rather. I wanted to try one of those apples.

A gentle police was helping a traveler.

The lovely young girl and her mother seemed to be looking around. Definitely a wizard family 🙂

Hope you have a little fun at King’s Cross St. Pancras station with me.