Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir, Bay Area

Hindu calendar is lunar based calendar and all of our festivals are celebrated according to the waxing and waning phases of moon.
But Hindu culture is also very permissive and inclusive as well. We adopt things and put a label on it like nobody's business.

One such example is that each day of the week is devoted to a deity. The Weeks and Months are part of Gregorian Calendar and has nothing to do with Hindu Calendar but as we were accepting a foreign calendar in our country we were molding our rituals and traditions to continue to incorporate our religion and culture into our everyday life.

Today is Tuesday - Day of Hanuman ji, he is the monkey faced God and Son of Wind and also referred to as 'Pavan Putra (Son of wind). He represents ultimate strength and energy as well as unyielding devotion to  Ram and selfless devotion to serving what is right and inherently good. He can get rid of all demons in your life. When he's on your side, nothing and nobody can harm you....

I think because of all the funny and inspiring stories built around the life of Hanuman ji, he is easily the first God that most kids connect with. I know I first connected with him because he was so silly and yet he was God. My grandma would tell me stories from Hanuman ji's childhood and life and later during one of her travels she brought me a story book with all stories of him.

Recently, we visited the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir in the San Francisco Bay Area (picture above) and I decided there couldn't be a better day to share the pictures from the temple than a Tuesday. The temple is located at a hill top in the middle of a forest, it is a meditation and Ayurvedic center along with a Hanuman Temple. It's often known shows up as Mount Madonna in internet searches.
Take a peak:

Beautiful chandelier with Raag- Ragini

Ornate column, looks like Tibetan inspired to my untrained eye

A hanging diya adorned with roses, interesting touch for day time decorations

Loved this panel so much, I need this reminder often...

A Ganesh ji (elephant head God) panel

Ganesh ji is the remover of all obstacles so he's prayed to first...

Standing outside the main temple pavilion

Another interesting Ganesh panel, he's rarely shown as blue so I found the color combination unusual 

Norcal Beaches: Stinson Beach

Stinson beach is one of our favorite beaches in northern California. It has good road access, plenty of parking and very family friendly.

We discovered it by accident one time when we took a turn in the wrong direction heading out from Tamalpais State Park and reached the Pacific Ocean.

Pardon the fact that the pictures are unedited but I really am trying to post something everyday and even though its hard I'm choosing regularity over perfection and consequential delays.

The water at Stinson beach like all Northern California beaches is cold unlike the Southern California Beaches or that of the tropics. But once you get over the fact that the water is cooler than typical beaches, it can be a lot of fun to just wade in water, splash in it or go for body surfing.  

There are a lot of coal barbecue grills for open use and there were large outdoor tables and benches for family picnics close to the parking lot just beyond the beach entrance. Pets are allowed in certain portion of the beach only and are required to be on leash.

It is a good spot for picnic, people bring tents and hammocks and picnic blankets. You can either bring food from home or carry out from the eateries on the road. The road had breweries and sandwich places along with coffee and ice creams too. 

Spotted these beautiful sunflowers at the entrance of the shops and restaurants.

We bought ice-cream for the ride back and one of the option was to have a shot of espresso over vanilla bean ice-cream and that of course was my favorite...

Hike to Lassen Peak

Towards the end of summer vacation this year in July, we decided we want to tackle a summit hike and since we didn't have a lot of time to train, Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park seemed like a good hike. Its about 2.5 hours drive from Sacramento on I-5 driving north.

You can partake in the experience of our hike through the video at the end.

Exploring Sacramento: Mid-town Murals...

As much as I love clean lines and fresh minimalist decor, there is something about the murals in a city street that makes it so inviting and less intimidating… its like someone cares about them.

It was during one of the educational walks of my Planning course at UC Davis that I discovered these murals in the Midtown Sacramento. Before this encounter, the city that I had met was very formal and business like or so I thought. The walk was so refreshing it was like finding the fun and exuberant side of your very stern co-worker during a happy hour.
This realization, that we often don't know all facets of a person or a city or a place but still form strong opinions about it based on the limited encounter,  prompted me to share the colorful pictures of mid-town Sacramento. If you are a local or a visitor, you might see this city in a new light or perhaps it will prompt you to take another look at the city you live in.

Our very first airBnB experience…

One of our very good friends travels a lot for business; and after a while he lost the charm of staying in crisp and professionally managed hotel rooms and longed for the feel of a home. So he decided to explore staying in accommodations listed in airBnB, the lived in homes, neighborhood coffee shop, smell of breakfast and brewing coffee. He shared his good and bad experiences with us over dinner one day and convinced us to give it a shot.

Do God sponsor vacations?

There is a saying or should I say belief in indian culture that once each day, the goddess of wisdom 'saraswati' blesses your tongue and whatever you happen to be saying at that moment comes true.
I grew up listening to this quote and knew that all it is doing is encouraging us to speak good all the time because you never know when she is gonna come and bless you and then whatever negative or positive you might be saying at the time would come true. And the fear of something negative manifesting in real life keeps you thinking happy thoughts at least for the time that we are aware of them.