It was a bitter-sweet visit. It was really wonderful to see my sister, my mother and my nephews,
as well as our children who don't live with us. It was also great to just get to slow down and relax (well as much as one can during christmas time).
But it was also the beginning of Smitty's chemo treatment, and that put a real damper on the festivities. Her health really suffered from the treatment and she's still dealing with it. I was struck by the colors though. Somehow you get used to the colors where you are living and don't really realize how they may be so different from somewhere else. What I really noticed was the difference in shades of Green. Somehow in Bangalore though there's a lot of dust and smog, the greens are still brighter and fuller. Those in northern California are much greyer.
As you can see in this photo taken while I was on a walk at "the ponds" near San Rafael with my mother and sister remembering my Father. He used to lead bird walks here every Thursday morning. And there is still a group of people who go every week and they call themselves the Bruce memorial Thursday walkers or something like that. 
They get to see birds like this Great Blue Heron every week. We didn't see any white pelicans this week, but we did see the river otters who have moved in to the ponds 
and a variety of water birds that seem to be there year round. I guess this is one of the biggest things I miss not living in the Bay Area. It is so easy to get out into the open and see the beauty of nature.
I like this photo despite the power lines in the back, because it shows the old and new power generation (yes those are solar panels at the bottom), and yet is beautiful in its own way.
And finally, yet another example of the local green color in the wonderful winter sunlight.
Happy New Year!
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