Blooming spring

What I love most about spring? The earth blooming into a lovely assortment of colors..
Which is my favorite flower? I love all wild spring flowers, specially daisy and dandelion.

The snow melts into spring, the earth blooms into life, the birds start to chipper, and everything turns bright. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

In primary school, we often had to write essay on different seasons, specially spring. We call spring 'rituraj', the 'king of all seasons'. And all our essays would invariably contain some line saying how leaving behind the gray winter, the earth adorns itself in different colors of spring. However, in the busy city of tropical Kolkata, this change is not so evident. Except the foggy gray winter mornings and chill of the northern wind, winter in Kolkata is beautiful. The blue sky, beautiful flowers in all colors, many outdoor activities, warm woolens, it all made my childhood winters. With the onset of spring, native flowers of Bengal would start blooming filling the air with their captivating fragrance, cuckoos would coo, and it would start getting hotter. The non-native flowers blooming throughout the winter made the blooming of native flowers with the onset of spring less apparent and exciting. And now the changing climatic patterns have sadly made spring almost disappear.

Therefore, after coming to Slovenia, for the first time in true sense I experienced how earth emerges into life. Snowy and rainy Slovene winter is all white and different shades of gray. The only hint of color is the bright blue sky on those rare sunny days. As I enjoy the snow sparkling in its beauty, I do also miss the colors and sounds. All winter I wish more and more snow. However, towards the end of February, I already start anticipating the spring.

As the snow starts melting, the first hints of green appear from beneath. And then one day, as I walk towards work in the morning, I notice a couple of snow drops peeping out and preparing to open petals. Snowdrop is the first flower of spring, a small, simple and elegant flower. It is a pristine white flower with gentle touch of green hanging delicately from the stalk. Soon, the green fields get dotted white with these pretty snowdrops. After a few more days, I notice this little patch of lemon yellow. The primroses are starting to bloom. Trobentica in Slovene, meaning trumpets, these little flowers have a fun side to it. True to its name, this flower can really be blown as a whistle. The sound is very sharp and high-pitched. Often times I pick a few from the slope of the hill and try to blow the whistle.

Soon it will be the time for tiny daises to wake up and fields will become a bright shade of yellow with the sunny dandelion, two of my most favorite flowers. Around this time, I love to go for a walk in Barje. Little dots of colors here and there make everything so cherry and bright. On Mali Plac hill, there are stretches where telohes or Christmas roses grow. They are in these lovely shades of white, delicate pinks, and bright greens. The nature as if suddenly bursts into celebration of colors. There bloom liverworts, hellebores, Clot's foot, blue-eyed Mary, spring crocus, red-dead nettle, star-of-Betlehem, snowpake, wood anemone, butterbur, squill, and so many more for which I do not know the name. Anyway, that does not matter. I love to admire the beauty of those tiny dots in all shades of pink, yellow, blue and so on. The fine painting of yellow, black and white in the heart of bright purple irises is so exquisite. I love those little hanging blue and violet flowers from which I often see bees coming out after a good meal of sweet nectar. Wild daffodils bloom and make poets wander around. Gentle red poppies wave in the wind. A fresh fragrance fills the crisp air.

Those lines I used to write in my essay of spring now make more sense to me. I love how the spring blooms slowly, one after another in a synchronized orchestra of colors. As the gray earth turns bright, it is beautiful to watch the nature unfold into its glorious beauty. I like this gradual yet tangible change. The gardens and balconies also get beautifully adorned. But the free spirit of the wild flowers are more charming and graceful to me than the ornate blooms. These wild flowers to me are a celebration of colors, beauty, and life. I just simply love wild spring flowers.

Crunchy chocolates

“Okay, now you go somewhere else, I will prepare some sweets”, said Blaž, completely surprising and perplexing me.

It was a week before my 3 months visit to San Francisco. Nervous and worried and annoyed and excited, I was exhibiting my usual emotions before a long trip. I was staying at Blaž's place, to spend time with him and the family, and also to be less nervous. We had finished dinner sometime ago. However, like many evenings, I was still at the dinner table talking with his mom, and spooning delicious bits of the cheesecake. Then suddenly there was this unexpected comment from Blaž!!

It even took me a few moments to understand, such sudden and surprising it was. My initial thought was that maybe he got something sweet, maybe a chocolate or something to surprise me; and wishes to prepare that, like take it out from the box and so on. And my reaction was, “Now!?” “Do I go to the utility room for a few minutes and you prepare it?” I was not at all ready to go up and leave my chatting. I was also not prepared for something sweet at that moment, already full from the cheesecake. Well, I actually did not realize he is asking me to go up in the room for the evening so that he can prepare something sweet for me. Therefore, he had to explain how he was planning this sweet surprise for me, but did not get any time for preparation as we were always together. Now with little free time left before my travel, he had no choice than to 'spoil' his surprise and tell me to leave. His mama suggested that I could be at the table talking to her, and Blaž could cook in the kitchen. This way, he could prepare, and I could continue talking.

I was so very pleasantly surprised and happy. Excited and eager for the sweets he would prepare, I could barely keep my patience and seat at the table when he was just cooking there a few hands away. From time to time, he was asking mama what to do, or she was helping him. Slowly everything was falling into places, little puzzles that I had chosen to overlook that evening.

At the grocery, Blaž bought some unusual vegetable fat along with other ingredients. When I asked about it, he had promptly declared it to be as something mama wanted to get. Being a cooking enthusiast, soon after reaching home I had to ask mama what she was planning to cook with it. I knew that she was planning a lunch for the weekend and assumed her planning to try some new recipe. But, instead of telling me about a new recipe, she hurriedly replied that she had no plan; that maybe she would use it sometime later! It was a very strange answer to me. One does not ask someone to get a particular ingredient from the store in a whim, without a definite plan. However, I just did not pay enough attention to the strangeness. Later in the evening, I found Blaž over the phone talking to his grandma. While often he gives me the phone in such occasions to say hi and talk to grandma, this time he had just avoided it. I had thought that maybe I was wrong; and it was not grandma with whom he was talking but someone else. Then of course, I did not bother much.

Now it was revealed that the vegetable fat was for the sweets he was about to prepare for me. And in the evening he was confirming the recipe with his grandma. Of course he could not tell me all those when it was supposed to be a surprise! We had such a hearty laugh over it. His mama said how she was confused when I asked her about the butter. Not knowing what to reply and trying to preserve Blaž's secret, she just answered something. And after the answer she was herself thinking how weird and strange it sounded.

My whole attention and excitement was then centered on the chocolates he was making with the mystery ingredients. I had no clue how it would be like, what ingredients he was using. And I just could not withhold my patience. It was a new situation for us. Blaž having a cooking surprise for me! I was just super happy.

Blaž's surprise for me were crunchy chocolates!! Crunchy cornflakes folded in coco. It was so simple that “even I can make it”, he said..

Seeing my excitement, his mama suggested maybe I should join him in the kitchen. I would enjoy it much more if I am there watching him cook. And poor Blaž had to agree. The cat was already out of the bag, and it would make little difference if I was there 'allowed' in the kitchen. Eagerly I joined him, and started blabbering about my excitement and all the subtle hints I was getting all the evening. How come he planned it? Did he cook the recipe before? How will these viscous chocolate solidify outside a fridge, is it not too liquidy? I was bombarding him with all sorts of questions.

The chocolate was ready. I helped him spoon it into dollops. Then it had to rest overnight and go to the fridge in the morning. Blaž said they taste best when cold like all chocolates. I would get to taste them in the morning for breakfast. They looked too inviting and yummy, resting on the kitchen counter. Oh, when would morning come?!?

My breakfast next morning was chocolates. The crunchy bites of the cornflakes complemented perfectly the rich creamy smoothness of the coco and fat. The coffee gave a lovely bitter dimension to the sweet flavor of it, and at the same time added to its rich tempting aroma. I loved loved loved them. Each was quite big, but soo yummy that one cannot stop after having two. Now, two is too few! Closing the box and putting it away was the only way to stop eating. But then, the box can be reopened easily any time ;) It was simply so delicious.

Blaž is not a cook. He does not know much or have the feeling. When he cooks sometimes, he meticulously follows recipes or instructions and the dishes turn out very good. It was therefore something very special when he decided to make some handmade simple and crunchy chocolates for me. It was exciting, delicious, and more than everything, precious. I was not at all expecting something like that. It was indeed a priceless surprise. I do not know a word perfect enough to express all my feelings. It was so loving and thoughtful of him. The subtle and sweet way of him showing his love touched my heart, and I treasure the experience as one of my best memories. Aww, he does make me feel so much loved, his only one…

That batch finished quickly! He had to make another one and put a box in my suitcase!

I just cannot stop smiling and feeling special when I think of it…

Croaking chorus

One of my favorite songs from childhood is the Hindi song 'Awara bhavre'. This song echoes the melody in every sound, and whenever I enjoy music in the sounds of nature, I remember this particular song.

Clouds covered the sky and mid-March became rainy. The thunder and wet weather called the frogs out from under the mud of fields and woods. It was time for them to wake up from their hibernating sleep, pair up, and go in search of water grounds for breeding. And like the past few years, volunteers around Slovenia gathered up to help the frogs in crossing the roads. Blaž and I also joined our hands in the little effort to save the frogs and other amphibians. This time we were more informed and joined the campaign at the beginning of the breeding season. We picked up and helped more forggies and toads than last year, and got a closer insight of the green world of frogs.

Armed with buckets, gloves, lights and jackets, we reached one of the locations (Harše) soon after we finished work. It was a bit early, but we could not wait for the evening to set in and simply started the frog search in one of the fenced fields.

We were just about to step in the field when we noticed by the edge of the road, close to the fence, a pair of toads hiding in the mud and peeking through the hole. It was still day light and we had to take a few pictures before pulling it out. The male one of course gave little kicks as we touched it, and with an ‘ark ark’ sound the pair was finally safe in our bucket. And behold, another pair was hiding behind it with their face hidden in the mud. They too landed in the bucket. This made us a bit conscious. We had to look more carefully for hidden frogs in mud. I was afraid of stepping on them, hiding and camouflaging in the mud and grass. We proceeded keeping a careful watch and with light steps. The first ones we found were all paired toads somehow buried in mud. We had to be careful to not hurt them or pull them too hard from their hiding hole. One was a bit more inside the mud. As we tried to dig it out, the scared little toad buried itself inside and inside. We left that poor scared thing alone. Never did we know frogs could push such deep down in the soil to hide. With the soil being just wet and not too soft, I was amazed at their ability. One does not realize how animal behaviors have the element to surprise unless one experiences them.

The evening was setting in, and now more frogs and toads were slowly coming out from beneath the soil. Soon the timid marsh frogs and active common frogs joined in our bucket. A bit scared and wanting to escape, all were trying to gather and stand on top of each other. A couple of naughty common brown frogs even jumped out of the bucket to be instantly caught back in.

All along there was this beautiful composition of different croaking sounds from our bucket and from other buckets around us. The most common sounds were the ‘ark ark’ (okay I do not know how to make frog sounds in writing) from the male toads. And even when it was sound of one particular species of toads, there were variations in pitch and loudness creating a melody. Common frogs would join them with their ‘uk uk ukk kk’ calls in a rhythmic and repetitive fashion. The timid green marsh frogs has a distinct ‘rrrkkkk rrrrkkkkk’ call with characteristic pitch that could be identified as an infrequent part of the natural symphony.

It was time to take our bucket across the road and release the frogs in the wet field there. We went a bit further in the field than where other volunteers, and released our little scared frogs. Some were desperate to jump into freedom; some were too scared to venture out. All stopped for a few moments and then started croaking and hopping their way towards the water grounds.

Standing there in silence, we could only hear the chorus of the frogs. The characteristic calls of the male frogs formed a beautiful symphony. It was amazing to listen to all the different calls of different frog species tuned into a perfect harmony. Listening carefully, one could also recognize the voice of crickets and other night bugs along with the loud croaks. It was like a grand orchestra by nature. It was hard to believe that the main road was only a couple of meters away lit under the streetlights and cars were passing from time to time. It felt there on the field like an island of seclusion, where only the darkness of night and sounds of nature enveloped us. Feeling the croaking music gave a sense of bliss, the bliss of returning to nature. It was beautiful and simple. One of the best music I have ever heard.

Last weekend I was in California Academy of Science museum, where they were celebrating Earth day weekend. Amongst other events there was a 'Save the frogs' presentation talking about how several species of frogs are getting extinct and most are endangered due to human activities and climate change. The lecturer was an amphibian biologist. He was telling stories from his studies in Australia along with mimicking different frog calls. It reminded me of the beautiful frog symphony experience from that night. Then, as a side comment he mentioned: the frogs and other amphibians evolving millions of years ago survived major extinction events; but in the last million years we humans have done the work, and have managed to push them on the verge of extinction.

It will be unfortunate to not be able to experience and listen to the croaking chorus on the fields, in the woods, by the ditch on some wet day. Music will be lost if these sounds of nature fade away. I wish to continue enjoying the sights and sounds of nature, beautiful and awe-inspiring in their simplicity.

Maya bee and silly Willy

I love the snowy winter, and then I love it to bloom in spring. Spring is all about budding greens, gentle colorful flowers, and new life. It is about the color, fun, freshness, curiosity, and admiration of something new. Spring is all elements that resonates life.

Slovenia traditionally celebrates Pust festival 40 days before the Easter. Pust is a mask ritual celebrating spring and fertility. And the ‘Kurenti’ from the oldest Slovene town Ptuj is the center of attraction in this ethnological carnival. Kurent is a monstrous bear like animal mask, which is so adorable instead of being scary. I love its colorful towering ‘hat’ festooned with ribbons and feathers. The long red tongue and red leg warmers are bright and fun. They collect handkerchiefs as they go around, which tied to their wooden clubs, give it a bit of vibe. And the best part for me are the large bells tied on a string around the waist. The loud sounds echo with the rhythm of the dance setting in the perfect festive mood for spring.

While the carnival exhibits and celebrates traditional masks, children and people go for an ‘as you like’ trip of cute and fun costumes. Dressed in popular Disney and animation characters or cute animals, children are for days excited planning about it. And adults are not left far behind. Stores get full with all sorts of costumes. Competitions and dances are planned for the day.

After last Pust, Blaž was convincing me that I should dress up in something cute. And I agreed in jest, provided he also dresses up. We decided to be bees, I would be Maya and he Willy. However, it was only a couple of weeks before Pust, when we started to take the plan seriously. The difficult task of finding the costume was ahead of us with no time really to spend on preparation.

There are hundreds of these costumes for adults in stores that I do not really find so interesting. They are costumes of Dracula, and witches, some strange colored wigs, or maybe a clown. Why would I ever like to dress up in that anyway? I think I still have this girl in me.. I am shy to dress up, but when I did plan, I wished something cute and silly. Something sweet and childish. Something that echoes my heart and spirit. Therefore, I decided to be Maya bee from this adorable cartoon. Maya is such cute, naughty and thoughtful. She just makes me smile. And I love her naughty smile. I decided to be Maya, and celebrate the free naughty spirit in me. Blaž gladly agreed to be my silly Willy. With all plans set, it was time for costume shopping.

The shops had these cute Maya costumes. Alas, nothing cute matched the size of 'grown-up' children. We found cute bee caps, and got some face paints. And then I did find something for us. There was this costume, still for children, but in a kind of apron style. It was not a dress, but had elastics and with possibility of modifications. The costume was bright in gold and black and had those pretty net-wings. We decided to get it. I also got a large pair of antennas. Back at home, the elastics were of course too short for us, and needed some fixing to fit our size.

It was finally the carnival day. We were going to Ptuj. Early in morning, I woke up with excitement and started dressing. My black jeans and yellow sweater were perfectly complementing the shiny stripes of the costume. I had put on yellow bands on my two ponytails. The big antenna balls at the end of the springs were bouncing, and I was in a childish glee. Blaž had his black National Geographic fleece to go with the costume. But, he forgot the black winter jacket and brought his usual grey one. Well, after all he was silly Willy. Our cheeks were bright in yellow, and brighter with our smile.

Initially I was a bit hesitant to venture out as a buzzing bee. Stepping out in the fresh welcoming air of budding spring, however, made me shed away all my inhibitions.

Reaching there, we put on the wings, and then started walking towards the town center. Shining in bright yellow and smiling gleefully, I buzzed around. I was happy happy happy to be a bee. I did not have to look in any mirror to know my face was radiant. My heart was beaming and eyes shone in mirth. I skipped a step and ran around. Well, when I get to be child for a day, I utilize my opportunity fully. The same vibrant smile, a bit shy and dimpled, adorned Blaž’s face too. It is so much fun to hold hands and run down the streets. And giggling without reason. Children dressed as bees looked at us, like – oh look, they are also bees like us. Adults did so too, thinking us a bit strange and silly maybe. Well, not everyone. A grandma stopped us to say how cute we look and that was sweet. Whatever the world thought, we were genuinely happy and beaming.

People gathered all over drinking and eating. We walked around in the crowd taking care of our wings! Then we met Blaž’s cousin with their little son. Dressed as the cute sheep Jon, Filip looked at us bees with a bit of surprise and confusion. It was the time for the kurent show, and both me and Filip were impatient to leave all those hi-hello talking and go to the square to enjoy the loud kurents!! It is thrilling to watch them make those loud sounds with their bells as they dance in a rhythm. Then soon, you find your feet tapping.

Time and often we should let the child inside us wander around. And so did we that day. Passing the days in mundane routine, we fail to recognize the child in us. It was therefore a precious feeling when I could meet the carefree girl inside my heart and act her. The wings were those of happiness that made me soar free. I skipped and hopped while making my steps, and roamed around in childish delight. It was not simply the smile of a happy heart. It was the silly giggle and the cherry laughter with the innocence and amusement of a child. That is indeed a treasure worth holding on to.

Smiling and shining as Maya bee with my silly Willy Blaž, I was one happy soul. I was a girl again.