National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru

A quiet oasis in the midst of the chaotic bustling city of Bangalore or Bengaluru. Our rickshaw driver, however, wasn't familiar with the place and we almost gave up trying to find it. We rounded out the day with a visit to Lal Bagh Gardens and Commercial Street.

Keeping the pollution at bay.

Touring Mysore Palace

The old palace was pretty impressive; however, we were only allowed to take pictures outside it.

Republic Day in Hosur

We joined the 67th anniversary Republic Day festivities at the Seventh-Day Adventist Matric Higher Secondary School a short walking distance from my parents' home in Hosur.

Carrizozo / Pino Family Ancestral Home / July 2-4, 2016

The Pino family has lived on the ranch for more than a hundred years.The ancestral home, a stone's throw from the present house is currently in poor condition, but is slowly being repaired and renovated. It's an old adobe building with a lot of character. I love to walk through the rooms imagining what life was like so many years ago.

The Pino Family Ranch is located in the Chihuahua scrub desert a few miles outside the town of Carrizozo and at the foot of the Carrizo Mountain which peaks at 9000 feet. The ranch is approximately 2500 acres of open grassland and is not currently a working ranch.

Here are a few pictures of the old house.

Carrizozo Music / No Scum Allowed Saloon / July 2, 2016

Paul Pino and the Tone Daddies played at the No Scum Allowed bar in White Oaks. The bar is a great old west saloon in New Mexico's Billy the Kid country. This old mining ghost town once boasted a population of 4000.

White Oaks is about 12 miles from Carrizozo. These pictures were taken en route.

The saloon has an outdoor stage with lovely views of the surrounding Lincoln National mountains.

It's a tradition to follow the band here and listen to them play -- and to dance under the cool summer night sky.

I connected to wifi on the premises and skyped dad and mum. What a hoot it must have been for them to get a taste of the festivities of the evening. You'd be hard pressed to find anything in common between Hosur and White Oaks.

We left before the sewer backed up and sent everyone running except for Greg the bass guitarist who lost his sense of smell decades ago. All in all it was a great evening.

Fort Defiance, Arizona With Gina

May 6-9, 2016

Friday, I took the two-hour train ride on Amtrak from Albuquerque to Gallup where Gina met me. We had dinner at Applebees, then made the 45 minute drive to her place in Fort Defiance. Her house, including others are in the amidst an old settlement on a canyon floor.

This area has been inhabited by the Navajo Tribe for centuries, except for four years (1864-1868) when they were forced by the US Government to relocate. The historical 300 mile "Long walk" had its starting point here. The relocation proved to be unsuccessful and the Navajo were allowed to return to their lands.

I took early morning walks in the canyon. Photographed a few of the many old buildings now vacant and falling apart. The rez dogs unnerved me a little. The dogs roam free. have loud snarly barks and sneaked up behind me. Sort of like the stray dogs of Maranatha Colony.

It was at least 20 degrees cooler than Albuquerque and just barely spring. Saturday morning, on the way to Gallup, we stopped at Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, to take pictures of the "window."  In Gallup, Gina did a few errands. We had a thin crust pizza at the Silver Stallion and bought organic healthy bread to take back. We made stops at the public library and watched the Kentucky Derby race.

On the way home we visited a co-worker Tatiana, her husband Sergei, and their 3-month old mutt Oscar. The puppy was kidnapped from a rez dog that had five pups. The house they live in, and which belongs to the tribe, is a beautiful old stone and timber house with flag stones in the backyard that mark significant events of the tribe's history. Made me think of Hampi where day to day life is conducted among ancient historic landmarks.

On Mother's Day we had puris and potato, and a chocolate dessert that I had made and carried to FD. In the afternoon we dug up the hard ground in the backyard for a garden plot.

I returned by train Monday morning. All in all a lovely time.