Long Walks On Leafy Streets

8/18/2016 Vista Sorrento Pkwy, San Diego, CA.
I could not let summer go without a swan song. So last week I decided to take a break from work, kind of. On Monday after lunchtime I left my office to get a haircut and shop at Costco. Have I written how much I enjoy shopping at Costco? It was especially fun because I was out there in the middle of the day instead of in my office. Of course I enjoy doing mathematics but it is also nice to take a break from it, especially after having worked pretty much all summer. It was nice to walk the wide aisles when it was not so crowded. I also like how they have some organic and environmentally friendly products as well as how they treat their workers. The employees are always cheerful at Costco. They do not use plastic bags at all, instead let people use empty cardboard containers to pack their things.

On Tuesday morning after breakfast my parents and I with Prashant set out to Sandy Point State Park on the Chesapeake Bay, just beyond Annapolis and looking out at the Bay Bridge.
I wanted to leave home before 9 but the way things work with elderly parents and a year-old baby we only managed to leave at 10.30. Sandy Point is a nice substitute if you do not have time or the patience to drive all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. After stopping at the Siva Vishnu temple on the way we arrived there around 1.30pm. Prashant fell asleep in the car so I waited and relaxed in the car while my parents ate their lunch at a nearby picnic table. Once he woke up I changed him and took him to the water. They have a clean beach area with a section of water cordoned off for swimming. The water is also tested for contamination although in the summer months they warn that jelly-fish might be present. Prashant at first expressed his disapproval of the water, as he has done whenever we took him to a beach area so far. My father then started splashing the water around and he totally enjoyed it. After that we could take him into the water and he started splashing it around with delirious excitement. We left around 4pm and stopped at the Bowie Town center for charging the car. We had driven about 66 miles until then, starting with only 80% charge from home, and it still had about 15 miles of charge left. We could have made it all the way home but I didn’t want to risk it. I am happy that the car went that far in spite of some highway driving. We enjoyed coffee and snacks at the Starbucks there and got home by 6.30pm.

On Wednesday after dropping off Prashant and spending some time at my office I headed out by bike to Dupont Circle. I got one of the Capital bikeshare bikes. I use these bikes a lot these days, mainly to commute to and from my office to Prashant’s daycare in the Washington Hospital Center complex. It was quite hot but there was also a nice wind blowing from the south and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride except for the last part where I made the mistake of trying the sidewalk on P street, near the circle. Not only I got delayed (if you return within 30 minutes the ride is free) I also irritated one guy with a camera who testily asked me “You know you are on the sidewalk, don’t you?” I must admit I enjoyed the guilty pleasure of repeatedly ringing my bell and annoying him. So if you are reading this, dear irritable cameraman, I ask for your forgiveness of my juvenile behavior. After relaxing under the cool shade of the amazing canopy of trees there I took out another rental and biked to Coffy Café in Columbia Heights. I have always enjoyed this place not only because it makes me feel good to support an independent coffee shop run by a black woman entrepreneur but also because it is a fun place to hang out. I read a story about the young Indian CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai. Turns out he comes from the same background as I and grew up in Chennai where I spent five great years during college.

On Thursday after dropping off Nicole at Brookland metro and Prashant at the daycare I took the bus and metro to National Harbor where I spent a couple of glorious hours writing this, checking email etc., while watching the Rio Olympics on TV and planes taxi in and out gates. I always enjoy airports although these days due to environmental concerns I don’t fly much. It is such a wonderful thing that in these days we are able to fly away anywhere at a whim and be at a completely new place at the other end of the world within 24 hours. After that I biked to Alexandria along the Mt. Vernon trail using Capital Bikeshare and enjoyed a late lunch at the Chart House overlooking the beautiful Potomac River with a view of the Capitol dome in the distance.

This week has been quite busy. While continuing to work on my research, I have been busy getting ready for classes next week. Although I am teaching courses that I am quite familiar with, I wish I had started preparing earlier! Yesterday evening I was quite exhausted. Because Nicole had to go to a meeting I had to feed and get Prashant ready for bed. After reading to him for a while I just plopped down on the floor and let him play until he got sleepy. In my tiredness I started to worry about unnecessary things. But then a wonderful thing happened. I don’t know if it was the combination of watching him play and the soothing lullaby music but a great feeling of love swept over me. The ancient Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar wrote that love starts with one’s family and then spreads outward to the whole world. I was able to feel love for everyone including those who are doing harm to the world, in the same way a mother loves her children even when they are behaving badly. I was able to feel a desire to serve the world not out of my ego but out of love. I also felt that the spirit or force that I believe pervades the whole universe is at its base a force of love and harmony.

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