PAGES FROM NEW JERSEY
MONDAY, 18 MAY
Though I could not sleep well due to jet lag or change of place or the excitement yet I don't feel tired at all. The day breaks early here. It is clear at 5.30 in the morning and for an early riser like me, it is simply invigorating to mind and soul to sit with a tumbler of tea out on the terrace watching the squeaking squirrels running on the branches of Sycamore and Magnolia trees, the hares hopping on the grassy meadows. The squirrels are big and pudgy, really seem to be the squirrels of a developed country- healthy and free in comparison to the squirrels of a developing country- small, slim and shy. They are grey in colour and do not have a striped back like in India. The hares have dotted back and are light brown in colour.
The sky is clear blue with white patches of clouds drifting on the sail of cool breeze. Yasmin shows me how to sway a towel to fire detector if it goes on in case I forget to switch on the exhaust before turning on the knob of the burner of electric stove. Every now and then the distant sound of the siren is heard. I see the joggers and morning walkers on the jogging trail in the park behind the apartment.
The WiFi connectivity is good. It is so heartening to find my track-runner App and other Apps in function on my cellphone.
Yasmin is ready to leave. I also get ready to go for a walk. We find a sealed carton lying outside the door. The online order of Acrylic Paint Canvas has arrived. Nobody here touches or takes away others' goods.
I see off Yasmin at a juncture and then turn my steps onto the jogging track of the park. I find many Indians and a few Westerners. Hunters Glen has many Indians. Yasmin has told me that it is cheaper than other places to live in. The park is big, with Basket ball ground, Volley ball ground, children's park and a small stadium. There are wooden benches too. The jogging track has two circles- inner and outer. There are trees mostly on both sides of the tracks. I take my walk on the inner circle and feel glad to find the WiFi connectivity working there too. The park is big but the walkers are less in number than the Sanjay Gandhi Park in Patna where, if you are not cautious, you are sure to collide with others. I complete two rounds of the inner circle and come back.
I have started with an acrylic painting. I work leisurely on it, taking off now and then to watch the episodes of Zee Zindagi serials or answer to the messages on Whats App. The patches of clouds have spread and the sky is overcast with them. The afternoon turns a little cold. It might rain tomorrow. Weather is very unpredictable in New Jersey.
Days are longer than nights here. It is 8.00 PM and not dark yet. People are still strolling in the park. Some are cycling too. It gets dark at about 8.45 PM. People stay awake and work for more hours than sleep at night, seems to me a good reason for Americans' success story. I remember the lines from a poem in childhood days," जो सोवत है सो खोवत है, जो जागत है सो पावत है." But these lines are so contradictory to the Sleep Therapy that suggests 7-8 hours of sleep at night to keep the worries and ill health at bay. One should rather believe in "Make hay while the sun shines."
MONDAY, 18 MAY
Though I could not sleep well due to jet lag or change of place or the excitement yet I don't feel tired at all. The day breaks early here. It is clear at 5.30 in the morning and for an early riser like me, it is simply invigorating to mind and soul to sit with a tumbler of tea out on the terrace watching the squeaking squirrels running on the branches of Sycamore and Magnolia trees, the hares hopping on the grassy meadows. The squirrels are big and pudgy, really seem to be the squirrels of a developed country- healthy and free in comparison to the squirrels of a developing country- small, slim and shy. They are grey in colour and do not have a striped back like in India. The hares have dotted back and are light brown in colour.
The sky is clear blue with white patches of clouds drifting on the sail of cool breeze. Yasmin shows me how to sway a towel to fire detector if it goes on in case I forget to switch on the exhaust before turning on the knob of the burner of electric stove. Every now and then the distant sound of the siren is heard. I see the joggers and morning walkers on the jogging trail in the park behind the apartment.The WiFi connectivity is good. It is so heartening to find my track-runner App and other Apps in function on my cellphone.
Yasmin is ready to leave. I also get ready to go for a walk. We find a sealed carton lying outside the door. The online order of Acrylic Paint Canvas has arrived. Nobody here touches or takes away others' goods.I see off Yasmin at a juncture and then turn my steps onto the jogging track of the park. I find many Indians and a few Westerners. Hunters Glen has many Indians. Yasmin has told me that it is cheaper than other places to live in. The park is big, with Basket ball ground, Volley ball ground, children's park and a small stadium. There are wooden benches too. The jogging track has two circles- inner and outer. There are trees mostly on both sides of the tracks. I take my walk on the inner circle and feel glad to find the WiFi connectivity working there too. The park is big but the walkers are less in number than the Sanjay Gandhi Park in Patna where, if you are not cautious, you are sure to collide with others. I complete two rounds of the inner circle and come back.
I have started with an acrylic painting. I work leisurely on it, taking off now and then to watch the episodes of Zee Zindagi serials or answer to the messages on Whats App. The patches of clouds have spread and the sky is overcast with them. The afternoon turns a little cold. It might rain tomorrow. Weather is very unpredictable in New Jersey.
Days are longer than nights here. It is 8.00 PM and not dark yet. People are still strolling in the park. Some are cycling too. It gets dark at about 8.45 PM. People stay awake and work for more hours than sleep at night, seems to me a good reason for Americans' success story. I remember the lines from a poem in childhood days," जो सोवत है सो खोवत है, जो जागत है सो पावत है." But these lines are so contradictory to the Sleep Therapy that suggests 7-8 hours of sleep at night to keep the worries and ill health at bay. One should rather believe in "Make hay while the sun shines."
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