Posts Tagged ‘Alexandria’
Snow snow snow
Snow snow snow… hehe… only for a half hour though 
I step out with my little daughter and surprise surprise, its snowing. Itty bitty wonderous snow flakes riding the air… so beautiful. The look of wonder on my daughter’s face as she stared up at the sky is a sight I will never forget. Her eyes lit up like a star with every snow flake that streamed onto her chubby little cheeks.
Heart melting moments like these especially when I am not expecting it, bring joy in ways that I have no words to describe… I close my eyes, smile as I take a deep breath and savor it.
I don’t get it | Who poisons a bird??
Weekends usually involve spending some family time, going out, meeting friends, cooking some Desi food at home, etc… but watching a pigeon convulsing was not something I expected.
My wife who was on the porch noticed a pigeon that seemed to be stuck in the space between the curb and the sidewalk of the parking lot. I go down to check it out.
At first look it did seem like it was stuck in the grass in between the sidewalk and the curb. It was flapping its wings, head bobbing up and down into the soil… I could see one of its feet repeatedly kicking away. At one instance I saw it move forward a bit and realized it was not stuck but sick. I wasn’t sure if I should be touching it or not, for I did not know what it had. I decided not to and wait for Animal Control to show up.
My wife called Animal Control and I sat there keeping an eye on the bird. After a 20 min wait they showed up. The lady comes over and takes a look at the bird and informs me that its most likely poisoned. She had seen a lot like this before and told me that these birds died a slow and painful death. Apparently it happened more frequently with pigeons as the poison resembled corn and pigeons seemed to go for it a lot more.
I am like, WTF… who poisons a bird?? Come on now… there is a Botanical Preserve behind us, there are plenty of birds around and its wonderful to have them. They may be a pain when they rip your plants or poop everywhere or build nests in places that make you pause and say to yourself ‘Oh! No, not here’. But that does not mean you poison them so they die a slow and miserable death. THAT IS TORTURE!!
The pigeon was most likely put down.
Crazy weather strikes again | Virginia
Two weeks ago, on a Monday afternoon I noticed the sky was overcast. I step out on the porch to check it out after all it was sunny like two minutes ago. On the far end of the horizon I could see lurking some bad ass dark clouds.
After my previous experiences with the weather here I did not want to take any chances. I decided to head out immediately and pick up my daughter from day care. It was a good thing that I did for it started to pour, not cats and dogs but monkeys and gorillas five minutes after I got back home. A crazy cocktail of high speed winds, lightning, thunder and rain.
Now my worry shifted to my wife who was waiting for the shuttle back home. And just as I was thinking this, she calls and informs me that the shuttle is late. I tell her to go into one of the shopping malls or something and wait until the weather calms down. I switch on the TV to catch any updates / warnings on the weather.
POOF! Before I could even tune into the right channel the power goes out in sync with a lightning flash… a brief silence followed by loud rumble of thunder.
I am now on high alert with my imaginary antennae out, while my daughter happily sucks on her bottle of milk. She seems to have no care in the world whatsoever. But I have seen the news before… shit happens and it can happen to anyone. Half hour passes and the weather seems to get better. I get a call from my wife, she is finally on the shuttle and manages to get home safe. Phew!
We sit around waiting for the power to come back and trying to keep our ever-active daughter engaged.
What next?? The fire alarm for the building starts to scream… with so many previous false alarms we cuss, moan and groan and manage to get ourselves outside. Our wait is answered by sirens in the distance and the fire truck finally arrives. This time around it took them a little longer than usual and it was only one truck. It was a fire truck from the Fairfax county and we find out that the fire department is having a busy afternoon.
And yes, it was a false alarm AGAIN. The apartment maintainence better fix it once and for all.
To think this to be end of our woes would be stupid. We still did not have power and it was now dinner time. I switch on the stove as per my wife’s instruction only to realize that it doesn’t work. Argh! The F#@#$#@ thing has an electric start.
I head out to the CVS nearby to buy a box of matches but the store is closed as there was no power… and they were not the only store to be closed. Back in India power cuts are so common that almost everything has a back up / alternative and life goes on. But out here the power cuts are so rare and the dependence on electricity so far reaching that life seemed to have practically stopped.
Luckily Giant was still open and I run in quickly to grab myself a box of matches and a flashlight. I did not know when the power would be restored. In the last storm some of the neighboring counties did not have power for more than 24 hrs. I wanted to be prepared.
I had done the grocery shopping that morning and I prayed that the food in the fridge didn’t go bad. The worst thing is when food in the freezer defrosts and then refreezes. Its almost inedible.
We had our dinner, my wife made some real good Quesadillas. Anju passed out for the night. The sun set around 8:30 something pm and the power was finally restored around 9:00 pm as light slowly faded.
Harrowing weather patterns | Virginia
I have lived most of my life in Bangalore and the weather in Bangalore for the most part is very pleasant. Whether its summer or monsoons it rarely hit extremes and winter if you can call it winter is pretty much pleasant too.
I have seen some extremes of weather during my mountaineering stint wherein all of us were even instructed to sleep with one eye and ear open for you never knew when the weather could turn for the worse. And it could very quickly turn into a life or death situation. I also dealt with continuous rains during some of my monsoon treks where I slept, ate and took a crap pretty much in the rain.
But nothing prepared me for the kind of weather patterns out here in Virginia. My brain is not used to processing or even registering Storm, Flood and Tornado warnings whilst at home watching TV and having to react immediately in some form or the other. I have had a couple of those happen already and have been fortunate enough to be residing in a safer area. Looking at the news footage and seeing the damage some of these tornadoes and storms did to nearby locations is an eye opener and testament to the immense strength these storms possess.
On Wednesday, I was busy studying when the light started to fade and it became dark. I went out on the porch and could see lightning everywhere. I was witnessing rapid weather changes unlike any I had experienced before. One lighting strike after another, loud clapping thunder, 58+ mph wind speed and it started to rain cats and dogs within minutes. Every time there was lighting I heard a beep on the alarm as it shorted followed by very loud thunder.
I rescue the plants on the porch and rush inside to switch on the TV to see the weather report for any warnings. The power goes out but comes back immediately and I don’t know what is happening for now I was waiting for the cable box from Comcast to boot. I could not even get online for the computer was rebooting too.
My wife calls from work and tells me that there is a Tornado and Severe Thunder Storm warning for Alexandria. Since Anju is at day care and we get worried. I get ready so I could leave to pick up Anju as soon as the weather showed any signs of calming down.
About twenty minutes or so pass and the weather seems to calm a bit and I head out. It was a five minute drive to the day care and the only trouble I had was at a four way intersection where the traffic lights were out.
The day care provider A had huddled herself and the kids in the kitchen (the innermost room and away from all the windows) waiting for the weather to get better. I inform her that the Tornado warning was off now but the Severe Thunder Storm warning was still on. I pick up Anju and get back home.
Once home I glue myself to the television as reports came in – traffic jams, falling trees, power outs and tornado and severe thunder storm warnings for many other places. The storm was moving quickly and the picture and audio froze… I had lost the feed.
The storm knocked out power and tv cables in many places. It wasn’t restored until yesterday evening. I was glad that I still had power.
