Sunset from Cadillac Mountain, Maine

6:18:42 PM


6:21:11 PM


6:24:16 PM

Photos taken on Sept 30, 2007.

Niagara Falls..

At last - we have seen the falls.
For decades, it has been the foremost thing to see and admire - at least for people from India! Yes - I want to single them out here. It almost felt like we were in India to see a natural wonder in an Indian city. The buses were 90% occupied by Indians, the Niagara Falls National Park was almost all Indian. I guess the Niagara Falls is like the Taj Mahal in India. You just gotta see it!! Anyway - it took me 8 years to check it out - and I am glad I did it.

We took a great boat ride all the way to the foot of the falls.. and the falls looked absolutely gorgeous in the night!


Here are some more photos..

As my sister points out - there is some mention of Canada in all (or most) of my photos and she wondered if the grass was greener on the other side.. well .. if you are talking about Niagara, the grass is most definitely greener on the other (Canadian) side! We did not venture on that side of the world as there would have been immigration consequences - but do intend to check out the view from Canada one day.

Parents spend time with us

My Parents were in town for a little more than 2 weeks. While it was a short trip, we had a great time together. Old times, old tales, talk of family and friends, wine and Jim Beam were on tap. We visited Boston a couple of times and a last minute white mountain trip as well. Both my parents were keen on seeing Harvard and MIT (Its a desi thing - as a friend points out).

While they were here - there was plenty of drama on the immigration front. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) rose from the dead - and died again. The department of state (DOS) and the US Custom and Immigration Services (USCIS) joked with thousands if not millions of legal residents in this country. A comprhensive series on the events in cronological order can be read at my brother's blog (1, 2 and 3). After the drama, the words 'current' and 'retrogressed' have taken on a whole new meaning for me. Acronyms like PD, AOS, ROW, EB, GC, RFE, VB, AP, EAD etc have become like living objects controlling the lives and livlihoods of millions of people. Still oblivious of those shortforms? Good for you. May you never have the need to know anything about them.

Here are some photos from my parent's visit.

Enjoy.

Amma_Papa_2007

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AKV Skiing

My sister and her kids came up to NH and we drove up to Maine to ski. It was my second time skiing - but I must say - it wasnt toooo bad. The kids, Dhruv (his second time skiing too), and Tanya, (her first time) were amaizing. They took to snow as a fish takes to water. Shruti and Mini - hmm - the least said about them the better.