One of the Butterflies by W.S.Merwin

The trouble with pleasure is the timing
it can overtake me without warning
and be gone before I know it is here
it can stand facing me unrecognized
while I am remembering somewhere else
in another age or someone not seen
for years and never to be seen again
in this world and it seems that I cherish
only now a joy I was not aware of
when it was here although it remains
out of reach and will not be caught or named
or called back and if I could make it stay
as I want to it would turn to pain.

I heard of this trail from quite a few people, cited as one with extremely scenic views over varied landscapes of redwood forests combined with grassy slopes of Mt.Tamalpais overlooking the ocean. We arrived at Muir Woods around 2pm and as expected, there was no parking to be found. So, instead we drove up straight to the Pantoll Ranger Station some 4 miles further ahead. This cut our intended hike, but being no enthusiast of hiking in the dark, I think it was best that we were left with a 6+ mile trail in the remaining 4 hours of daylight. The Matt Davis trail starts off right at the Ranger Station and it was the ranger who recommended going out on MD and returning on the Steep Ravine. In hindsight, I think it was a great suggestion, since the MD trail is longer and quite steep going down to Stinson Beach, while the Steep Ravine inspite of being a little steep on the way up, doesn't feel quite so- save for a 10ft ladder!  Matt Davis starts off as a narrow trail on exposed slopes of brown grass, but very shortly, enters the cool shade of the redwoods and it is extremely pleasant to walk on without the afternoon sun beating down your neck. It is flat for most of the first 1.5 miles as it weaves in and out of the forest and hugs around Mt. Tam and should supposedly offer exquisite views of the ocean. But to our dismay, it was one of those usual foggy afternoons, where all we could do was imagine how the water would look from there. Then begins the steep descent to the Stinson Beach, but an extremely good workout for the knees.  After about 3.3 miles, we arrived at Stinson Beach where we found our way to the nearest Cafe (the one right outside the beach entrance) for a cup of coffee, but instead only found a Veggie Burger which A decided to try after much deliberation on how best to justify the extra calories. It was fabulous and was devoured in no time. A short stroll on the beach and we decided to hike back at around 5pm. The Dipsea trail actually offers really good views of the beach and the beach-town, and would have been great to walk down to the beach on this trail as many others we encountered were doing. This trail meets the Steep Ravine after 1.2 miles from which point, it is a climb of 1.8 miles through lush (almost tropical) greenery back to the Ranger Station.  We made it back by 6:15pm and with lot of daylight to spare, to my great relief.
We finished the day with an excellent ( and extremely indulgent) dinner of Chhole Bhature and Veggie Kati Roll at Vik's Chaat Cafe in Berkeley.

There are biographies and then there are memoirs, and then there is that which is an intriguing 'braid' of the two.  Where the author is no longer an outsider in the screenplay of events, but himself a living and breathing character, adding a few sprinkles of salt and pepper to the concoction.  Two Lives by Vikram Seth is one such piece, and flipping page after page of a beautiful tale of love, life, friends, fiends and a time marked by events so strong, that half a century is defined by them,  you grow breathless reminding yourself that the author is not weaving a web of fantasy, but instead, this story is one that actually unfolded over 50 years, and that these characters actually were alive and so real.  The Seths of Biswan open the memoir with a view into what their principles were, and for times as old as the early 20th century, they come across as a family that is savvier than the others you have read about, and actually hold education in high esteem, besides the fact that their women seem so independent, given the times. Dr. Shanti Seth, somewhat fortuitous in the pecking order, nevertheless, is a character of compassion, moral strength and kindness. This trait of his, accompanies him through the book, until just about the very end of his life.  Henny Caro, the lady with scars from a time that unjustly descended on her family in the form of a dictator who would go on and be responsible for the lives of thousands of people in one of the central countries of Europe, is an interesting ice-maiden of sorts, until the author pleasantly unveils her caring, motherly side. These two pivotal characters of the book are as interesting in their actions, thoughts and words in white as well as in the shades of grey. And it is this greyness that makes the book so credible and possible to relate to. And it is done in true Seth style - philosophically, with tenderness and a wisdom beyond years thats always makes him a pleasure to read, where he reveals a little more of me to myself. The only part of the book I would not have minded changed, is the author's purported description of the brutalities of the German concentration camps and what Henny's family must have gone through. Other than an in-your-face-can't -avoid feeling of disgust for something that has been condemned to no end, the description serves little purpose in the book.

Excerpts from the book:

'It is true that centuries are arbitrary units-determined, among other things, by the miscalculated date of birth of the founder of a religion and the number of fingers on our hands- but because we invest these units with spurious significance, they take on true significance. Shanti and Henny's lives were almost coeval with that arbitrary unit, the twentieth century. Both were born in 1908, Henny died in 1989 and Shanti in 1998. Many of the great currents and movements of the century are reflected through the events of their lives and those of their friends and family.I felt that a picture of those individual lives would be complemented by glimpses of their century,even if these glimpses were mediated by the opinion, perhaps opinionatedness, of the author. Indeed, the lens has also turned upon its wielder, for this book is memoir as well as biography.'

'Behind every door on every ordinary street, in every hut in very ordinary village o this middling planet of a trivial star, such riches are to be found. The strange journeys we undertake on our earthly pilgrimage, the joy and suffering we taste or confer, the chance events that cleave us together or apart, what a complex trace they leave: so personal as to be almost incommunicable, so fugitive as to be almost irrecoverable.'

'No one apart from the two parties concerned understands a marriage and what goes on in it and often enough, not even they.
What is perfect? In a world with so much suffering, isolation and indifference, it is cause for gratitude if something is sufficiently good.'

A very poignant and valuable piece of advice for any endeavor of creativity, from Harold Davis' inspiring photography blog:

'If you want to take interesting photos you need to look with fresh eyes at the everyday things around you'

True, the beauty of creativity lies not so much in doing different things as in doing things differently.

Rein in those meandering thoughts
Converge those mental waves
Lose yourself in the moment
And nothing will cease to amaze.

One of the best things about living in the Bay Area is the proximity to natural pleasure spots well-removed and away from it all while being so tantalizingly close to civilization.  This Sunday we drove some 10 miles out of San Jose into the Los Altos hills to hike along the Long Ridge trail in the Upper Stevens Creek County park area. Heading south on Hwy 17 towards Santa Cruz, we took the Hwy 9 exit through Saratoga, turned left on Big Basin way and after some 7 miles or so, made a right turn on Hwy 35 and almost missed the trailhead at the 3.2 mile mark. There were quite a few cars parked on either side of the road and when we came across the Palo Alto city limit board, we realized our mistake and doubled back to where the cars were parked. The Grizzly Flat parking area is across the street from the Long Ridge trail. The boards were placed somewhat away from the road which is why we missed them as we wound along the curved road. A couple of brown chameleons darted across when we were examining the maps and another member of the reptile species slithered up the dried grassy slope. With the sun beating down at 89F, this kind of company just did not help. I have made a couple of wrong calls earlier when it came to picking hiking trails and a strong scent of undesirable nostalgia rose up inside me.  But the trail looked promising with some green gentle slopes and a few steps later, as we entered the shade, our initial discomfort started to fade alongwith the fading of the rustle in the bushes.  There are a few loops in the Preserve and we decided to take the 4 mile round trip loop along Long Ridge trail to the Wallace Stegner Memorial bench that was expected to have a good view of the Los Altos hills and the ocean beyond and then find our way back. The trail is quite easy with some steepness initially, but thereafter mostly gentle. This trail is shared by mountain-bikers, so we had to step aside to let some speeding cyclists race downhill. The trail gets pretty close to the paved road at times and we could hear some traffic going by a couple of times. After about 75 minutes, we came to the open area where the bench was located and took the opportunity to get some good pictures of a great view and eat our picnic lunch. We also spotted a fox farther up on the hill, looking out and taking in the view. We took the same route back to the parking lot passing some more bikers on the way.

'Self-actualization is a state in which we ironically transcend ourselves and connect with the oneness of something bigger than us'
A few years ago, I read a book that spoke of Nirvana and the role of reincarnation and what purpose it purportedly serves. Perfection or peaking of our potential to achieve was cited as one of the ways of attaining eternal bliss. And today, on Chip Conley's blog, the above words seem to echo the same sentiment voiced in that small book steeped in eastern mysticism. We drink the same wine off different bottles, don't we?

With age and cynicism, I have moved away from fiction to more practical and real works of words. Occasional and selective forays back into the web of stories have been pleasant and I enjoyed Jhumpa Lahiri's two earlier books - Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake. Interpreter of Maladies was an engaging tapestry of crisp stories of various flavors. The Namesake - the book perhaps overshadowed by the film based on it, was more of a saga of a man struggling with a weird name and a weirder heritage.  The author writes from a perspective of a person raised in mingled cultures- the fine dance between a unique identity but at the same time striving to be and feel integrated into a foreign society.  Immigrants expectedly will identify closely with and feed off of  this aspect of her work. But as an immigrant audience, I found a subtlety and metaphorical beauty beyond this apparent in-your-face attempt at striking a chord with the reader.  Wall Street Journal today has an interview of the author whose third book 'Unaccustomed Earth' was just published.  I might just make another exception to my 'No Fiction' rule once again.