Ariel the musician

Part of what we do at the meditation ashram is chant, and chanting is supported by harmonium and drum. The harmonium is actually a medieval European instrument that made its way to India and stuck there. Ariel recently started really practicing with it, and before you knew it she was playing a very complicated chant called Jyota se Jyota at the family gatherings on Sunday. She really really loves it.

Here she is showing off her new-found skill...



That's Cool Ray in the background on the chair, and in the foreground Michael is this close to grabbing the camera...

Fun Michael Photos

Well, I have some doozies here from my phone, and I thought I'd share them.

Michael likes to wear hats, and in this case he insisted on wearing two. Then his pants got wet and I threw some new pants on him. This is the result.





And here is just a super-cool photo of him. What a guy.

Pumpkin Patch visit

We had a wonderful trip down to the Ardenwood Farm near Fremont to get our pumpkins from a Real Pumpkin Patch. I'd never done this before, and boy was it fun. They also had a maze made in a cornfield called, appropriately, The Maize. We were happily lost, and then headed off for ice cream.



You can see all the photos here, there are some fun pictures including kids in wheelbarrows and behind school buses and an odd place to find a conservatively dressed Indian family...

Cool Ray

My uncle Ray came to visit us this weekend, perfectly coinciding with a quick visit from my Mom.

Little Michael is very quick to learn people's names, although usually not pronounced perfectly. As a result, "Uncle Ray" became "Cool Ray." I liked that, and kept calling him Cool Ray, and Michael would repeat.

Then my Mom insisted on correcting Michael, and so "Cool Ray" became "Uncool Ray." Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.