There is no I in Happyness

Finally, we got to watch the Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith and his real son, Jaden, who also plays his son in the movie. [Note that the y in Happyness is not a wrong spelling, but the actual title used. More on the title, or our take of it, later]. It's a pre-viewed DVD that we bought from BlockBuster, at a discounted rate.

The movie is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, who struggled to make ends meet earlier on, resulting in the estrangement of his wife who decided to move from SF to NY to work there. While I do not subscribe to what amouts to a wife abandoning his husband in his greatest time of needs, instead of enduring together through thick and thin that life throws at them as their marriage vows go, I certainly can understand her disillusionment, after being let down so many times. But this movie is not about Gardner's wife, it's about how he turns his dire circumstances around through true grit: perseverance and never give-up attitude.

Despite his arduous journey through life, he never deviates from the path of moral uprightness, never consigning himself to a doomed life of crime, to delirium, to escapades from reality that "down" people are wont to taking substances to numb themselves, driven to become "out" people in the process.

And his messages to his son are clear too: never let anybody tell him that he can't do something, not even his dad; and never even think that Mom left because of him (son), but rather Mom left because of Mom.

The movie also highlights how an affable personality will evoke the best response from others. Gardner always sounded cheerful and grateful even when a cold call turns out to be a rejection. But he also never pushes the issue, respecting the negative responses of the day with grace, believing that he could always come back another day. The moral of the story is not to make any enemy out of any relationship, even a business one. So often people just turn nasty when a deal falls through, thinking that that would be the last they see each other, foolishing burning the bridges that they might need to cross in the future.

I believe the movie has many lessons for those in the telemarketing business, even though I'm not a fan myself. Finesse, courtesy, and poise in the face of potential rejection. Warmth and eagerness to help. All make for a lasting social networking milieu where inter-personal skills reign supreme.

The movie also shows a human side of Gardner, succumbing to expediency, like the time he ran away from the cab driver when the guy he shares the cab with forgot (purposely?) to pay his share after the guy alighted from the cab first.

Coming back to the different spelling, Gardner actually pointed out the erroneous spelling as it appeared on the graffiti outside the childcare center in Chinatown that he sent his son to, with a y instead of an i in Happyness. In the movie, Gardner agonized over the use of the term pursuit in the Declaration of Independence: the unalienable rights of men to life, liberty, and happiness. To him, there is a subtlety implied in the use of "pursuit": happiness is not a right, but we do have the right to pursue it.

Anyway, back to my take of Happyness. Consistent with the teaching of Buddha, I think that word as spelled has a much greater connotation: that there is no "I" in happyness, as happyness will only ensue if we give to others. As Gardner asserts, he wants his son to know his father. And that motivates Gardner to push his son's needs above his own (granted this is a much narrower sense of no "I") and that he finds happyness in the process.

The 5th Meditation/Dharma Discussion of MWBA: The Five Aggregates

The 5th meditation-cum-Dharma session under the aegis of the Middle Way Buddhist Association (MWBA) was duly held on June 16 (Sat.) at its Clearwater venue.

Bhante started the meditation session promptly at 9.30am, gently prodding the attendees to relax, to wish all beings to be happy, calm, healthy, and peaceful, to instill universal kindness for oneself and others, and to cultivate calmness, which is a powerful inner force.

In the ensuing silence, I fought a personal battle to banish all thoughts from my mind, while taking note (observing) of each passing sound: cars passing by; coughing; chair creaking; door closing; ringing tone; fan blowing, air-cond humming; distant whispering; feet shuffling; chair hitting the floor; and some of my own shallow breathing with occasional deep breaths; swallowing saliva and feeling facial muscles twitching.

I also tried mentally chanting Amituofo in rhythm with my breathing, for a while. Then my mind wondered off to thinking of my medical exam appointment next week. After making a conscious effort to resume the chanting, this time the mind drifted to tennis greats and I remember enumerating the south paws: Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and now, Rafael Nadal. Then it was back to chanting and before I knew it, Bhante’s voice came back on, signaling the end of the meditation session.

After a brief break, Bhante commenced the wisdom session by introducing the Five Aggregates (skandhas): form, feeling, perception, volition (another term that has been used is mental formation), and consciousness. Form (rupa in Pali; incidentally this has the same spelling and meaning in the Malaysian language, and this is not the first such link that I’ve come across) refers to the physical body and environment, and has the distinguishing feature of being constantly changing, i.e., impermanent. But often times we cannot see nor feel these changes taking place, and become attached to form and its various manifestations: I, me, my, mine, etc. Our failure to detach from form is a cause of suffering as clinging to and grasping form makes our existence a painful and stressful one.

Once we understand impermanence, just like Khema, a beauty queen who used to take great pride in her charming self, but realized impermanence when she witnessed the transformation of an angel through the ages created by the Buddha, we can then practice detachment.

On Feeling (vedena in Pali), there are three sensations: pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. Our habit is to grasp happy things and reject unhappy/painful things. But pleasant sensations, though positive, are impermanent as well. Therefore Buddha taught us not to attach to either, but just be realistic. When a feeling surfaces, just let it rise, then let it stay a while, and then let it vanish.

Bhante then narrated a story of a man who after inviting the Buddha to dinner, blamed the Buddha for anything that went wrong at the dinner. But the Buddha just smiled at his tantrums. After the man had vented his anger, the Buddha asked, “what if there has been a last-minute cancellation of your dinner invitation, what would you do?” “I’ll enjoy the food,” said the man.

And that’s what the Buddha did. He ate the man’s bad words and his good food too. The moral of the story: do not react.

Bhante’s teacher once gave the following answer when posed the question: Why are you born? To die. Because while birth is uncertain, death is certain.

From discipline comes concentration, and wisdom ensues. One of our problems is not having enough discipline. There are various techniques to deal with a difficult situation (e.g., inter-personal friction) such as stay like a log, let it pass, read spiritual books, chant Amituofo, have compassion, say thank you.

A body has 32 parts. Next time when we are faced with an enemy, consumed with anger, just think about which part of the enemy that we are angry about. And our anger will subside.

On that note, Bhante and the attendees adjourned to a hearty vegetarian lunch, thanks to all who brought along a dish or two to share.

Sister Lily making an announcement prior to the vegetarian lunch.

Mindful March or Mad Rush?

Rat race is a common term used to describe the hustle and bustle of life in our efforts to realize our life’s aspirations: fame, fortune, status, power, etc. Implicit in the term is a mad goal rush to the oblivion of others, the motto of many being the end justifies the means. At a personal level, this mad rush may also manifest in other worthy endeavors, at least in the eyes of others who are brought onto the bandwagon.

While this single-mindedness pursuit may describe a focused approach, it often lacks the comprehensive planning and due recognition of inter-personal skills that are vital to attaining the intended objective, even one that professes to help others.

Blinded by the zealots’ own grand vision, they often bulldoze through what they see as indecisive, and worse, ignorant compatriots, relegating them to mere peons who do everything as told. Furthermore, this primacy of attaining the goal, no matter how noble it may seem, at such a torrid pace that it outstrips the ability of the other members of the team to flank the team’s progress, is counter-productive to say the least. This is especially so in an enterprise that relies primarily on the spirit of volunteerism.

This myopic way has at least two drawbacks. Firstly, it leads to disharmony as nobody likes to be ridden roughshod over and treated as a mindless drone. Secondly, it brings on added stress to the team leader, who in turn may compensate by relying on the few who are deemed as high performers, further contributing to chaos in an already highly volatile situation, instead of bringing out the best in each and everyone in the team to bear on the enterprise.

Then there is the alternative approach that maintains the same focus but at the same time is mindful of the individual strengths of the team members, making efforts to bring everybody up to speed, and cutting slack where necessary for some others so they may achieve the same leap, thereby pulling the whole enterprise along a mindful march.

Right efforts must be complemented by right speech, which is not reserved only for those in the target group, but more so the team members who collectively view the enterprise as a worthy cause, regardless of their individual motivation. In this respect, constructive criticisms are always welcome, but if those could be couched in a non-criticizing tone, no matter how justified and self-righteous those dishing out the criticisms may deem these to be, those at the receiving end may just take these less personally rather than reprimands, and thus feel motivated to amend their ways.

There is really no band-aid remedy for disgruntlement in an enterprise. Each deserves a case approach to its resolution. But whatever the source/cause, an amiable but yet firm tone of dispensation, be it advisory, didactic, or even reproachful, will surely go some way in soothing frayed nerves.

In the same vein, the obliquity assumed in this blog article is intentional in consonance with the Chinese saying that there is no need to draw the intestine in a cartoon sketch. In a similarly analogous manner, it too fits the Malay proverb that whoever consumes the chili will feel the hot spice.

A Sand Mandala: A Buddhist Symbol for Impermanence

We read about another Vesak Day celebration in the Bay area, scheduled for June 10, 2007, on the June 7, 2007 issue of St. Petersburg Times (Tampa & State, pg.4B).

This time, the venue is Chua Phat Phap Buddhist Temple in St. Petersburg, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple that we have visited earlier as blogged here.

However, this one has an addition: the display of a sand mandala. According to Wikipedia, while mandala is Sanskrit ("circle", "completion") and has a Hindu origin, "in the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, mandalas have been developed into sandpainting. In practice, mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically, a microcosm of the universe from the human perspective."

The Wikipedia article further adds:

"To symbolize impermanence (a central teaching of Buddhism), after days or weeks of creating the intricate pattern, the sand is brushed together and is usually placed in a body of running water to spread the blessings of the Mandala."

"The visualization and concretization of the mandala concept is one of the most significant contributions of Buddhism to religious psychology. Mandalas are seen as sacred places which, by their very presence in the world, remind a viewer of the immanence of sanctity in the universe and its potential in his or her self. In the context of the Buddhist path the purpose of a mandala is to put an end to human suffering, to attain enlightenment and to attain a correct view of Reality. It is a means to discover divinity by the realization that it resides within one's own self."

As shown in the following scanned copy of the St. Pete news, Venerable Tashi, a Tibetan monk based in Bradenton and who was also present in the last two Vesak Celebrations featured in my blog, is a picture of rapt concentration, deftly guiding the tiny flow of colored sand grains issuing from a small tube by rubbing a metal object against the tube's notched surface to form an intricate design of a mandala, which was gradually taking shape as shown in the bottom picture. What a painstaking undertaking indeed.


Today, we made a beeline to Chua Phat Phap Buddhist Temple. The completed mandala was placed in front of the stage in the sanctuary, which was slowly being filled by a constant stream of Buddhist practitioners and other attendees, patiently waiting for the service to begin. We were informed by the usher that indeed the sand mandala will be destroyed after the service and the sand, filled in small bags to be given to the attendees.

Mom and son at the front compound of Chua Phat Phap Buddhist Temple.

I was able to take a picture of the sand mandala before the service, which looked much more vivid than its black and white half-completed counterpart in the paper. However, I take heed of the significance of the symbolic act of creating and destroying the sand mandala, it being the impermanence of things.

The Space-Land Nexus: a Chanced Encounter

While CY (our D at Oregon) and Dan were here vacationing recently, we had plans to bring them to the nature trails at Lettuce Park off Fletcher, just next to the Hillsborough River. But somehow we never got around to doing that (somehow is a very powerful and convenient English word. Used judiciously, it can convey a sense of "while many things are left unsaid, somehow (that word again) the reader will understand and empathize"). So was their plan to amble to the USF campus. So two rain checks.

Yesterday evening we decided to pop in at the Lettuce Park, bringing along WJ (our elder S), a kind of vicarious experience for CY and Dan if you will. While coursing through the entrails of the Park, we learned that the Park closes at 8pm at this time of the year, and the boardwalk, 7.30pm (seems kind of early when the sun does not set until past 8pm), is inhabited by venomous snakes (after all it is the wild, but there are posters to help visitors recognize these species), that Sheriff’s Vice Squad has a occasional presence (perhaps a caution to the passionate?), and that the speed limit is 13mph, not 10, not 15, but 13 (sounds ominous?).

We took one of the entrances to the boardwalk, elevated about a few feet off the ground, winding through trees covered with Spanish Moss, with sparse undergrowth and not a whole lot of canopy compared to that at Alice Lake, Gainesville. Perhaps it was the season of summer drought, the ground was dry, evincing some dampness because of some rains in the past days.

While promenadng on the boardwalk, we skirted a shallow wide creek in which several birds were feasting themselves (the sign by the boardwalk railing shows a picture of blue Heron, but we doubted that’s what we saw as they looked like turkeys). Then we came upon the Visitor Center, which is built like a timber lodge like those seen somewhere in the thick wood on a postcard. It features vertical timber panel walls and deep upstairs windows that jut out like tubes (see the pictures that say much more than my bald pen (a Chinese expression) can do justice.)

The bunch of "rowdy reptiles" (the term was inspired by an inscription on WT (our younger S)' T-shirt that he wore yesterday. Obviously that is in reference to the Gators, but it would do as well here).

A pavement path lined with plants with needle-point leaves leading to a resting shed.

Just to show that I'm not making this up ...

Approaching the start of the timber boardwalk.

The relatively dry terrain, sparse undergrowth, gnarled and knotted tree trunks ...

Shallow wide creek teeming with roosting avarian kinds.

"Plane, it's a plane ..." Seems reminiscent of a WWII movie with a lone bomber plane roaring through the sky over a lush forest ... But it's just a shot through the tree canopy with what looked like a cargo plane gliding by.

The timber lodge that is the Visitor Center with vertical wood wall panels and deeply recessed windows upstairs.

Then wify pointed excitedly to the sky, exclaiming “rainbow, rainbow”. Sure enough, a band of colors arcing across the sky, blocked partially by the tree canopy. Wify said this is the first time we were able to witness this natural phenomenon, a result of light refraction by the water droplets in the atmosphere, scattering the normally white spectrum into different colors in accordance with their wave lengths.

Then outside CVS, our favorite place to shop for non-food grocery (Publix would hold a similar distinction for food items), we had a complete view of the colorful sky bridge, set against the overcast sky. View the picture and marvel at the rare glimpse of the natural world at work.

My feeble attempt at a rainbow composite. Somewhere, over the rainbow ...

While we were back at the CVS car-park after our shopping around 8.30pm, we saw another contrails-like smoke column extending from the darkened edge of the overcast sky zigzagging back to earth. Several thoughts went through my mind: smoke from burning on the ground, a burning plane falling off the sky???

Back at home, I was looking for clues from the TV night news. It reported a million dollar home on fire at St. Pete, possibly due to lightning. But direction-wise, it did not seem right as we were facing east at CVS while St. Pete is to the west of us.

It was not until this morning when I saw the picture of the rainbow and the smoke column side by side on the St. Pete Times, and the caption, that it hit me that I had shot the evidence of a successful liftoff of the Atlantis shuttle launch. Cape Canaveral is east of us, albeit at more than 100 miles away, and the launch time was 8pm. So that explains it. Unwittingly, fortuitously, and imbued with an uncanny sense of placing ourselves at the right time and the right place, we were able to catch that historic moment of man’s quest for space, a gargantuan one at that. “Next time we can have our own private viewing gallery for a shuttle launch right here,” wify quipped.

The space-land nexus, through the billows from the Atlantis Shuttle.

A Sarasotian Vesak Celebration

On the heel of our attendance at the 7th Vesak Celebration on May 26, we headed for Sarasota yesterday to attend a similar celebration organized by Mitreya Center and held at Unity Church, Sarasota. The occasion was graced by Bhante Dhammawansha, the resident monk of Dharma Wheel Mediation Center whose members greatly assisted in organizing the propitious event.

This is my first trip to Sarasota, the famed retirement community off South I-75 on the way to Naples. The venue, Unity Church, is located along Proctor Road within a picturesque setting of individual homes. The entrance road winds among statuesque trees all the way to the back with plenty of carpark lots scattered alongside the road at discrete places ending in a place dubbed the labyrinth. So is the main building, the sanctuary where the ceremony was to be held, which is interconnected to other buildings, e.g., bookstore where the vegetarian dinner was to be served) by internal corridors.

Clockwise from Top Left:
(1) Looking toward the entrance at Proctor Road from the premises.
(2) Entrance to the Sancatuary adorned with Buddhist flags and symbols.
(3) The setting inside the Sanctuary.
(4) Attendees waiting outside for the procession to start.

As with the May 26 celebration, the ceremony was preceded by a procession from the Labyrinth to the Sanctuary, led by Bhante and three other Buddhist monks and accompanied by the drumbeat made from a single drum and two “outriders” carrying the Dharma wheels symbols.

After the welcoming speech by Karen Miki, the Unity Church Chaplain, Bhante led the attendees on a brief meditation session, admonishing them to instill happy and compassionate thoughts and to wish all living beings to be “well, happy, healthy, calm, and peaceful”.

In his subsequent Dharma talk, Bhante related the exchange between Buddha and a traveler who was in awe at the radiance emanating from Buddha. During the exchange, Buddha called himself a supernatural being, or superman, in the sense that he was the awakened one, attaining detachment in thought while finding himself in the material world that is fraught with wars, and other human miseries, much like the lotus flower that has blossomed in the lotus pond, unattached to the mud that breeds it. Bhante then passed on the following timeless, peaceful messages:

-- There is no need for us to find external agencies for our inner peace. There is no need for mediator, and we are our own savior. Buddhist teaching treats protecting our mind/thought as paramount, and has the universal law of cause and effect as one of its core canons. We are naturally fearful of dying, but that is so because we have not cultivated our mind sufficiently.

-- Calmness is not a weakness. It enables us to see clarity. Imagine driving along I-75 at the blinding speed of 80 mph. The scenes at both sides of the road would just swoosh by. But if we slow down, the ensuing calmness will enable us to see clearly, and be in better control of ourselves.

-- As a routine, we take our daily garbage collection out of the house, almost mechanically as we are driven to keeping our house clean. However, we do the exact opposite when it comes to our mind: we stuff our mind with mental garbage originating from outside the mind all day long. To cultivate the mind is akin to keeping the house clean, and not taking the garbage inside the house. Cultivating the mind takes efforts, requiring our utmost efforts at resisting the urge to react to our environment, but to accept. Mindfulness is observing and letting go.

-- We all have Buddha seeds in us. And we need to water the seed everyday, little by little, with mind food, i.e., good and wholesome thought.

-- Happiness is in your heart.

The attendees then witnessed a series of Indian Devotional Music and dance, a variety of soulful prayer and dance performances that display the richness of the Indian culture. This was then followed by Chanting for World Peace by the Buddhist monks. Closing remarks were given by Dr. Sasidharan of the Mitreya Center, a center that is denomination-neutral, being focused on studying the commonalities among all religions in line with the Center’s aim of discovering unity in diversity.

The ceremony in the sanctuary concluded with the Bathing of Baby Buddha, commencing with the Buddhist monks and then the attendees taking turn to symbolically purify their mind of extraneous thought.

Clockwise from Top Left:
(1) The start of the procession at the labyrinth.
(2) The trailing attendees along the procession route.
(3) Bhante Dhammawansha delivering the Dharma talk.
(4) The Bathing of Baby Buddha on the way.

The attendees then adjourned to the vegetarian dinner, served up by the volunteers and enthusiastically partaken by the attendees.

The "Tampa" delegation assembling for a group picture.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida: A Thinking Travelogue, The Concluding Part 2

Other than watching the two IMAX movies as part of our visit to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on May 23, 2007, we also took the bus tour that brought us closer to where the action is. Starting at the Visitor Center, the bus first took us to the LC39 Observatory Gantry. On the way, we passed by the signature building within the launching facility, a block-shaped building termed the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB), with the reputedly largest US flag hung on its side. We could even see some empty spaces where some of the wall tiles have fallen off the façade, presumably a legacy from the last hurricane season.

Left: The young and the young-at-heart crashing the space party!
Right: A view of the imposing VAB from the bus.

The observatory is a steel structure, rising four levels high. At the top three levels, viewing binoculars are available to render a bird-eye view of the launching pads further afield, one of which already has the Atlantis space shuttle in place for the scheduled June 8 launch. It was a breezy afternoon, and the sky was clear for miles, making our vista panoramic and spectacular.

Top: At the top level of LC-39 (the bottom left inset shows Launching Pad with Atlantis attached).
Bottom: A closeup of a launch pad, albeit a replica in the exhibition hall.

Next up was the Apollo/Saturn V Center, which depicts the Apollo moon missions, both pictorially and through replicas and scaled models. We were held in awe by the human ingenuity, the rigorous training, and most of all, the tight quarters in the shuttle, and the desolation of the moonscape with one-sixth of earth’s gravity that the astronauts had to contend with. As rightly presented, the successes are the outcome of a team effort: the ground crew, the various teams of fabrication, towing/transport, assembly, and the astronauts: a case of believing in dreams and daring to succeed.

Top: At the entrance to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, a tired mom resting her head on the shoulder of one of her two sons.
Bottom: The bottom of the Full-sized Saturn V rocket, mom and son for size.

The final destination of the bus tour is the International Space Station, showcasing cooperation among nationals of different political regimes to strive for a common destiny.

Top: A replica of ISS hung in the exhibition hall.
Bottom: Mom in the ISS, to size

At the Visitor Center itself, we entered the Robot Scouts, and roamed the outdoor Rocket Garden. The former chronicles the role of robotics in facilitating and enabling the various exploration efforts, truly at the vanguard of discovery before mere mortals like humans could ever set foot on seemingly inhospitable terrain. Touted as the trailblazers for the human experiment, the various robotic probes talk about their interplanetary exploits.

At the Rocket Garden, sky-piercing historic rockets stand erect, testifying to their erstwhile brilliance in space conquest, evoking both a sense of adventure for the uncharted territory and injecting a dose of patriotism for a country where creativity roams unbridled and is valued intrinsically.

Top: Opposite the Rocket Garden where a Cantonese-speaking visitor offered to take our picture.
Bottom: Mom and son dwarfed by the erect rockets.

In contrast, while Malaysia has set up its own ANGKASA (Malaysian National Space Agency) in 2002, her fledgling efforts appear as minutiae at this stage. More important perhaps, the purported clamp on academic freedom may have put a damper on research that is so vital for this ambition of infinite spatial dimension to bear fruit. Would the following image remain a dream for Malaysia? And for how long, just to be positive about it? [Thanks to Jin Yeoh for forwarding the collection of space shuttle launch pictures to me, from which this image is taken.]


Since I started Part I of this thinking travelogue with a quote from JF Kennedy on choosing to land on the moon, it seems apt to end with a similar quote from another US president, the present one, on choice too, but in regard to the more encompassing space exploration, which is on display in KSC.

Celebrating Vesak (the Birth, Englightenment, and Nirvana of The Buddha)

May 26, 2007 is an august day for Buddhists, both practitioners and novices alike, from the Tampa/Clearwater/St. Pete area for they were able to partake of the Vesak Celebration organized/hosted by the Dhamma Wheel Meditation Center (DWMC)/the Unitarian Universalists (UU) of Clearwater, the 7th in the annual series. For the very first time, the Amitabha Buddhist Group (ABG), of which my wife is a member, was invited to present a condensed version of Chanting in praise of Amitabha. The Middle Way Buddhist Association, among others, assisted in organizing the event.

The performing members of the ABG first gathered in our home to refine the synchronization required for a well-orchestrated display of the chanting, complete with Buddhist sound accompaniment. Thus rehearsed, the group left for the venue at 4pm in our Minivan, and dutifully arrived at the destination with enough time for “site reconnaissance” and setting up seating position.

The venue is the premises of UU, a building with an octagonal timber roof and circular seating arrangements. The road entrance was adorned with Buddhist flags and lanterns, fluttering in the strong breeze. A white Buddha statue sat at the middle of the hall, with a banner proclaiming Paying Homage to Buddha By Serving Humanity hung further back. Two baby Buddhas were emplaced to the side, which are meant for bathing of the Buddha ceremony.

Clockwise from Top Left:
(1) Entrance road to the Octagonal roofed UU Building
(2) Electronic board display of Unity Church across the road
(3) Decorations adorning the hall entrance in the UU Building
(4) the centerpiece of Vesak Celebration in the hall.

The celebration commenced with the procession, led by the various Buddhist monk and nuns flanked by two Dharma wheel bearers and accompanied by a team of four drummers, making rhythmic, deep percussion beats. The march started from the premises of the Dhammawheel Meditation Center (DWMC) just across the road (Nursery), with Buddhist practitioners/attendees bringing up the rear.

While the attendees were filing into the hall and gradually filling up the available seats that slope upward and outward, the drum group continued its pulsating beats, alternating rising to a crescendo and subsiding, the acoustics seemingly enhanced by the high roof that extends downward in all directions.

Clockwise from Top Left:
(1) Start of the procession at the premises of DWMC across the road
(2) Marching across the carpark area of the adjoining Unity Church
(3) The attendees marching across the carpark of UU toward the building entrance
(4) the 4-man drum group beating away.

Rev. Abhi Janamanchi first welcomed all attendees to the celebration of the birth, enlightenment, and nirvana of the Buddha, noting that serving humanity as appeared on the overhead banner is to be construed as including all sentient beings. Seeing all the greed, anger, wars and destruction that have been engulfing humanity and environment, the Buddha would have pained; but at the same time the Buddha also would have had his work cut out for him, the Reverend added.

Bhante Dhammawansha then led in the veneration of the Buddha by chanting the homage to the Three Jewels: The Buddha, The Dharma, and the Sangha, first in Pali, then in English, emphasizing the need to practice well, rightly, correctly, and properly.

After an exquisitely executed classical Indian dance performed by Ms. Aishwarya Challa, Rev. Tashi, a Tibetan monk who has just moved to Bradenton about two months ago, delivered a heart-palpitating rendition of the Heart Sutra, in Sanskrit. The Heart Sutra encapsulates the essence of emptiness, and is at the heart of the Four Noble Seals in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

This was followed by Chanting of the Heart Sutra by the Clearwater Zen Center, in English, to the accompaniment of chiming sounds made by striking an urn and the thudding sound of hitting the wooden fish. Recognizing the interchangeability between form and emptiness, the constant waxing and waning, arising and disappearing of all things, the Heart Sutra enjoins:

Holding to nothing whatever But dwelling in Prajna wisdom, Is freed of delusive hindrance, Rid of the fear bred by it, And reaches clearest nirvana.

After a brief meditation session led by Bhante during which he admonished all to have happy and loving thoughts, the ABG took to the floor to demonstrate Chanting in praise of Amitabha, which is another name for the Buddha, meaning Infinite Light and Infinite Life.

In the words of Brother Brian, who preceded the group chanting with a brief expose of the practice, which he assembled from a host of online sources [texts in parentheses are mine]:

“In Sanskrit, he is Amitabha Buddha. In Chinese, he is known as Amituofo [some versions appear as Amitofo]… With his deeds, he creates the conditions for beings to accumulate merits. With his purity, he has created a perfect land: one that has no pollutants, no anger or intolerance. It is a land of peace and serenity. It is a world of equality and joy, wonder and beauty. In comparison, our [mundane, in the words of Bhante] world is one of delusion and suffering, filled with worry and anxiety. [This Western Pure Land, as it is called, is the somewhat analogous Heaven in western religions.] … When we chant, the sound of Amituofo arises in our minds. And as we utter “Amituofo”, our minds focus on and embrace the sound. While chanting, we do so whole-heartedly and continuously. … When, in our chanting, we reach the level of single-mindedness with the sole thought of Amituofo, we form a connection with him. In that moment we are in his land. As we breathe our last breadth in this world, we can form this connection. With Amituofo, we will attain our next rebirth in the Western Pure Land, and leave all our suffering behind.”

With that preamble, the whole hall then settled into silence, broken only by the repeated chanting of “Amituofo”, in rhythm with the sounding of the Buddhist acoustic paraphernalia. It was as if a drape of serenity had descended on the hall, shrouding the attendees in a peaceful mood.

In the ensuing dharma talk by Bhante, he likened our existence in this mundane world to a lotus pond of dirty, muddy waters. But we should emulate the lotus flowers that spring forth, unattached to the mud that abounds in the environment. And we do this by cultivating our minds in consonance with the Four Noble Truths. Bhante also advised that we should think twice, and do not rush headlong into Buddhism. It’s an individual decision, and no conversion is necessary.

The dharma talk was in turn followed by another dance performance by Ms. Aishwarya Challa, Love Offering to a drumming based on a Swahili song by Steve Turner, Blessing for World Peace, and Giving of Gifts to the Sangha.

The culmination of the Vesak Celebration is the bathing of the Buddha, with benediction from Dr. Frank Tedesco, who intoned that we are fundamentally enlightened. So by purifying ourselves through the Bathing of the baby Buddha, we are borne anew. The attendees then took turn, in pairs, to participate in the penultimate activity of the blessed program of Vesak Celebration, after which they migrated to the Social Hall for a sumptuous feast of the vegetarian dinner.

Clockwise from Top Left:
(1) Indian classical dance by Ms. Aishawarya Challa
(2) Chanting of the Heart Sutra by Clearwater Zen Group
(3) Chanting in praise of Amitabha by Amitabha Buddhist Group
(4) Bathing of the Buddha

And we left the venue shortly before 10pm, appetite satiated, body relaxed, mood appeased, and mind filled with bliss.

Clockwise from Top Left:
(1) Wify participating in the Bathing of the Buddha ceremony
(2) A pleasant surprise: a lotus flower in the UU Compound next to the Social Hall
(3) Attendees feasting themselves to the Vegetarian culinary offerings
(4) Wify receiving a gift in the lucky draw

Kennedy Space Center, Florida: A Thinking Travelogue, Part I

“We choose to go to the Moon, we choose to go to the moon …, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.” That impassioned entreaty from JF Kennedy, which he made on a day in 1962 from the campus of Rice University, continued to resonate in me after we left Kennedy Space Center (KSC), FL, last evening.

Nestled between Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean as shown in the image below, KSC occupies a sprawling marshland (used to be anyway and a sizeable of which is still preserved as a seashore and wildlife refuge) one fifth the size of the State of Rhodes Island. It’s operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aka NASA, to further US’s space exploration.


Leaving our Tampa home at around 7.30am, we arrived at the KSC Visitor Complex about 10 past nine, a journey equivalent to a trip to Gainesville, but via Orlando. It being a weekday, we were able to park at the first row just in front of the complex.

In addition to the various exhibit halls featuring different themes germane to space exploration, there are two IMAX theatres. But the highlight of the visit should belong to the KSC Bus tour that would take visitors to the LC-39 Observation Gantry, the Apollo/Saturn V Center, and the International Space Station (ISS).

But first the IMAX movie offering, to which we first gravitated. It was IMAX 2, featuring Space Station 3D, which we watched with a pair of orange goggles.

Narrated by Tom Cruise (yes, the Top Gun who only managed to skim the edge of our earthly atmosphere), it recounts a multi-national effort to explore the outer space. Specifically, it’s a 16 country effort comprising USA, Russia, Japan (the lone rep from Asia), Brazil (the lone rep from South America) and member countries of the European Space Agency (Italy, Germany, UK, Holland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.), constructing the International Space Station (ISS) modularly. For a time, the various astronauts/cosmonauts forget their national affiliations and coalesce together to sustain the international project. They work together, eat together, sleep together (but in separate sleeping bags), and yes, dream together that their efforts, 250 miles about us, would come to fruition for humanity.

Occupying an area about twice the size of a football field, Tom told us that it can be seen from earth as it passes over us. But the living/work space is, eh, claustrophobic to say the least. They sail effortlessly from one part of the ISS to another through conduits seemingly large enough for a person’s girth. They become Hercules, moving great weights with a casual push of the arm, a feat made possible by zero gravity that would otherwise be a physical impossibility back on earth.

Food is practically captured by the mouth, the consumer timing its course with the trajectory of the food traveling path. Water moves in near-spherical droplets, the most efficient shape in terms of energy minimization in the absence of gravity, which are gobbled up.

And they exercise by working out on stationary bicycles. They need to keep fit as each stint in space would last about half a year, doing what they are set out to do: researching every aspect of life/object response to a zero-gravity environment. The film shows a sprouting green onion plant kept in a plastic bag with soil and all, indicating that germination is possible.

Sometimes, they have to perform space walk, doing repairs to the external façade of the ISS, which invariably will experience damage. They have a body contraption controlled by a hand-held device that could kind of propel them back to the Mother ship if they become adrift.

As one astronaut noted, from space, it’s hard to see where USA ends and Mexico begins, a truly borderless world. It’s a perspective that would pale our earthly differences, and enable us to see the destiny of humanity as one, one that is linked intricately and inseparably to the environment as a whole. Perhaps those who wage wars and inflict hardship on others, driven by their parochial sense of “us versus them”, would benefit from a space trip, and become “unplugged” and work toward the inclusion of all, instead of the exclusion of some.

Since we started our visit with IMAX, it seems fitting to end with IMAX as well. That’s what we did, but reverse in order in the interest of time efficiency. For the sake of continuity, I would present the offering of IMAX 1: Magnificent Desolation first, and leave the bus tour and our interactions with the various exhibits to the next blog.

Narrated by Tom Hanks of the Apollo 13 movie fame, the film is about all the Apollo missions, and the US obsession with landing the first man on the Moon, a space race triggered by the two Russian firsts: Sputnik, the first satellite in space; and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. The montage below displays a mix of the old (the Eagle has landed) and the new (Mom and son posing in front of a scaled model of the Saturn V rocket, and a replica of the moon buggy).


From the film, I know that there are 17 Apollo missions in all, the first few ending in abortive efforts or outright disasters with fatality. As our selective memory for the good would have us, we tend to remember the successful missions, the most memorable of which is Apollo 11. Who can forget the famous words of Neil Armstrong, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” on July 21, 1969, as he first set foot on the lunar surface? The whole world was enthralled by that unprecedented achievement, though no unparalleled as we would learn from the subsequent lunar conquests.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that six more Apollo missions were launched, but only five were successful (yes, the Apollo 13 movie was based on actual events, highlighting the precarious nature of space travel where everything needs to be checked, and rechecked, and rechecked, and yet things can still go wrong).

So, on record, there have been 12 moonwalkers, minus Michael Jackson (sorry, I can resist taking a swipe at that), the last one being in December, 1972. So there has been a hiatus of 35 years, and perhaps more. As the last man on the Moon, Eugene Cernan said as he stepped back into the lunar module, "As we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. As I take these last steps from the surface for some time to come, I'd just like to record that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. Godspeed the crew of Apollo Seventeen."

Perhaps there is a chronological rationale to the order of the two IMAX movies, the Apollo mission having preceded the ISS. But there is also a more important consideration, from national aspirations to international cooperation, a logical departure from the race mentality. The next step is perhaps leveling the playing field, so that space pursuit is not seen as the exclusive domain of the advanced countries by dint of their technological superiority, nor is it the playground reserved solely for the rich, as the widely reported travelogues of the two space tourists would suggest, each trip costing more than $20 millions.

Dubbed the next ocean frontier, I’m confident that space travel, or even interstellar travel, would vacate the realm of fiction in time to come. What I’m not so confident, though, is the ocean within us, or rather understanding the infinite mindscape within us. While the former is beyond us, at least most of us for now, the latter is not. Let’s, then, begin a journey of space exploration in each of us, and may we all succeed in this inner conquest.

The 4th Meditation/Dharma Discussion of MWBA: Vesak in May and the Genealogy of Afflictions

The month of May is one of special significance to Buddhist practitioners. It’s in the Month of May, 25 centuries ago, that Buddha (then known as Siddhārtha Gautama) was born (the Vesak Day). It’s in the month of May, 35 years later, that Buddha became enlightened. So too it’s in the month of May that Buddha first taught us to become awakened. [According to Wikipedia, "On Vesak Day, Buddhists all over the world commemorate events of significance to Buddhists of all traditions: The birth, enlightenment and the passing away of Gautama."]

The above were the opening statements from Bhante Dhammawansha at the Fourth meditation session organized by Middle Way Buddhist Association (MWBA) on May 19, 2007 at the Clearwater venue. In likening meditation to medication, Bhante explained that while the latter is healing of the body, meditation is healing of the mind.

Through fighting the enemies within us which erupt like burning fires (metaphorically representing the negative emotions that we are wont to falling prey to such as anger, greed, jealousy, etc.) and engulf us ever so often, we can begin to tame the mind. By focusing on compassionate, calm, loving, and happy thoughts, we can begin to become peaceful. And by looking deep into us and practicing letting go and detachment, we can begin to experience inner peace, balance, equanimity, and tranquility. The attendees were then told to relax, close their eyes, and settle into meditation.

After a short break, the wisdom talk series ensued, comprising an English speaking class conducted by Bhante, and a Chinese speaking one conducted by Brother Shieh. There was also a children class conducted by my wife.

It was an especially fulfilling day for me because for the first time in more than three years, all my children were with me, in the same room, listening to Brother Shieh’s exposition on the great teaching of Buddha. In my mind, it’s important that we provide access and facilitate the exposure of all people to the teaching of Buddha in the form of attending dharma talks, in the language the attendees are familiar with, and at a level that is not way over their heads.

Especially for beginners, it’s ambitious, if not unrealistic to think that they will pore over sutras and other interpretative texts on their own. Thus, the tri-step learning process of listening, understanding/thinking (which to me should include further reading on one’s own), and practicing logically starts with listening, but subsequently, the sequence will become less important as the three steps intermesh into a coherent learning expedition dictated by individual circumstances and conditions.

There being two other attendees for the class (Sister Connie and Brother Zhang, a first-timer), Brother Shieh decided to open the topic of the day to the younger generation among us and settled on addressing the two related questions, from the Buddhist perspective:

a) How to be peaceful?
b) How to be happy?

These are age-old questions that have confounded us. The solution seems straightforward enough at first glance: No Worry (as encapsulated in the now-famous mantra from the Lion King movie, Hakuna Matata).

Of course the simplicity of the solution does not translate directly into ease of application. Because that would entail understanding the mind, and how it works, and how it’s influenced by the myriad relationships in the human network, Brother Shieh added.

In a nutshell, we need to steer away from unhappiness and to attain happiness in the process. Conventional happiness is temporary, is transient, and changes with the environment. For example, the euphoria of a promotion can transit into the depression brought about by a layoff, the change precipitated by the changing demands of the volatile employment market beyond the control of individual employees.

In Buddhism, happiness denotes the ultimate truth, one that is unchanging, irrespective of the environment. And that only comes with the purity and stillness of mind, without the emotional roller coaster ride that we seem to be unable, or unwilling, to forego/disembark from. But lest this be misconstrued as perfect stillness, one where nothing ever moves, Brother Shieh cited the example of a tree, or a rock that would have fitted that bill to the letter, if that were the intent.

Instead, a better analogy would be transplanting us from a sea of waves into a placid lake of ripples, symbolizing the presence of responses, and yet small enough as not to lead to upheavals.

In practice, this departure from emotional peaks and troughs can be facilitated by electing to target the matter at hand, and not the people, as often trivialized by the mantra, Nothing Personal.

Next, we need to refrain from attachment. However, no attachment does not equate to the “don’t care” attitude, but rather one of not denying the existence of anything. In the same vein, we ought to recognize that all matters are not permanent, but we continue to cherish, and to enjoy the good times together.

Then we need to believe the cause and effect relationship, and the associated conditions, or the lack thereof. This wisdom is manifest in the following statements:

When conditions are there, things happen.
Likewise when conditions are not there, things disappear.

After expounding the underlying goals we need to embrace on the road to peace and happiness, no doubt in simplistic terms commensurate with the call of the occasion, Brother Shieh continued to enumerating the following ways:

1) In Chinese character, it’s the character of a knife/dagger over a heart, and it means forbearance, and perhaps more narrowly, tolerance, enduring a dire condition of peril. The very first way is to exercise forbearance toward all beings. A more accurate translation of a synonymous term used in Buddhist texts is “to reside in peace”.

2) The second forbearance is toward the environment, recognizing that it’s in a state of flux, hence subjected to a process of change. It cannot be prescribed, each of us has to feel it him/herself.

3) The third forbearance is at a higher plane and is the natural outcome from the first two, featuring no occurrence, nor ending.

While we sentient beings are still weighed down by a combination of illusions and wisdom in various shades, we also focus on the effect while we ought to focus on the cause, as Bodhisattvas do. To do that, we need to be familiar with the domain of afflictions, and their various categories, a fertile learning ground for psychologists-to-be.

At the primary/basic levels, there are six such roots:

P1) Greed (the urge to possess, defying the bounds of sufficiency)
P2) Anger (a supposedly natural response when things do not go our way)
P3) Illusion/Ignorance (the absence of wisdom)
P4) Arrogance (beyond being prideful)
P5) Doubt (unhealthy/excessive skepticism/suspicion)
P6) Bad views/understanding.

On P4: Arrogance, there are seven further sub-classifications characterized by a range of prideful feelings, from faked pride engendered by either superiority or inferiority complex, to just bloated ego, self-denial and one that may be best approximated as “for no apparent reason bordering on psychopathy”. Since it’s difficult at my level of understanding to differentiate the nuances inherent in each, I feel it’s best that I reproduce the list in Chinese for those who wish to delve further into the phenomenon.


On P6: Bad View, there are five sub-groups:

P6A: Self view: one based on bigotry
P6B: Side view: one that is off the mainstream, so to speak, comprising two contrasting viewpoints: permanence and ephemeralness, the former regarding all things as immutale while the latter, we live only for today, so carpe diem, or seize the day mentality.
P6C: further views that arise from personal views
P6D: views spawned by following unreasonable rules (usually ones that were invoked at a different epoch necessitated by a different circumstance)
P6E: Evil views such as those without regard to the concept of cause and effect.

Then items P1 to P5 and P6A to P6E are named the Ten Primary Afflictions where items P6A to P6E are termed as the Five Sharp Messengers, implying that we can work with them readily to accomplish right understanding. On the other hand, items P1 to P5 are termed as the Five Blunt Messengers that require much more efforts on our part for elimination, i.e., thinking.

Then there are the afflictions that arise following the basic afflictions, or secondary afflictions if you will. There are twenty of them, comprising ten in the minor category, 2 in the middle, and eight in the major categories.

Here are the entries in the minor league:
i) anger, feeling of upset
ii) hate/dislike
iii) covering up one’s shortcomings
iv) irritations
v) deception/exaggeration
vi) flattery
vii) conceit
viii) hurt (slandering, derogatory remarks)
ix) miserliness
x) envy

The Middle League:
a) shameless/guiltless
b) no compunction

And last but not the least, the Minor League, which also constitutes the generic set of afflictions:
1) distrust
2) sloth
3) indulgence
4) lethargy
5) without fortitude/easily perturbed
6) non-discriminatory/loss of discernment
7) deviationist view
8) lack of focus

Given the time constraints, Brother Shieh was only able to enumerate the various groupings that form a coherent framework of afflictions with brief explanations of what each connotes. Similarly, my attempts at translation are also to be viewed as a first cut, a broad brush stroke that should be further refined to bring them into congruence with the Chinese text. Therefore, your feedback is most welcome so that we could arrive at a unified English lexicon that best exemplifies the teaching of Buddha for English-speaking people.

As Brother concluded, we can become carefree through learning. We should not worry about thought arising, but rather be concerned with knowing that takes time.

During the vegetarian lunch that ensued, Brother Shieh demonstrated the traditional greeting among Buddhist practitioners: Both hands raised to the heart level, palms joined, and uttering “Amitofo”. This greeting can be used for various occasions: hello, thankful, and goodbye.

Sister Lily then announced the Buddhist Lecture by Venerable Jian Hu on July 9 and 10 as well as reminded the attendees of the Florida 2007 Buddhist Summer Camp to be held on July 5 – 9 at Ramada Inn, Orlando. Pleases refer to the website of MWBA for details. And hope to see you all there.

The Ups (mostly) and Downs in Florida These Days

While yesterday’s rain has doused some of the haze hovering over the Sunshine State for the past few days, other issues loom large on the horizon. One pertains to the seemingly inexorable rise in the price of gasoline (or commonly called petrol in Malaysia).

I remember when I first arrived here three years ago, the cost of gasoline (regular) was about $1.70 a gallon. Now is close to $3.00, and summer, traditionally a period for a spike in the price of gasoline, is just around the corner.

Inevitably, people start talking about price gouging, perpetrated by individual operators, and racketeering and profiteering, by oil companies whose profits continue to soar beyond comprehension.

Without state intervention, it’s a far-fetched proposition that a business operator will rein in on his/her take when profit maximization is the sine qua non in a marketplace that preaches laissez-faire. That leaves the consumers themselves to adjust, to accommodate, and to innovate. Time-tested strategies include opting for fuel efficient cars, car pooling, human-powered locomotion (bicycles, roller-skates, and the number 11 bus ride), public transport, planning trips, and avoiding traffic jams. Then there are the options for tele-working, home office, Internet shopping, even at-home entertainment.

Another item in the rising basket is property tax, which has put a damper on home ownership, especially in high-valued areas, at the same time becoming a strain on existing home owners. The matter has seen some debate in the State Legislature but so far nothing is certain though some kind of percentage reduction in the rates has been bandied about. As usual, there are entrenched constituents (city and county governments?) who clamor that the revenue is needed for boosting the various services that they provide.

Yet another item under examination is the university tuition fees. At just over $3,000/= a pop (meaning an academic year), Florida ranks among the lowest, if not the lowest, in terms of tuition costs borne by Florida residents. The mantra from the university administrations is that places a premium on attracting top-notched faculties, hampering their ascension to the rank of elite universities.

On the other hand, the State Governor is known for his reluctance to accede to the demands of the state universities in this regard, citing affordable college education as the over-riding concern.

A compromise has come to the fore, in the form of a tier system with some better equipped universities (such as UF and FSU) be given the nod to charge higher tuitions. This differentiated system has received supports from some of the student leaders, rationalizing it as a means to reduce class size and provide better access to academic advising.

About the only thing that is bucking the rising trend is house prices. The housing market is undergoing a lean period, to say the least. And the doldrums may yet persist for a while. Yet mortgage loans are now harder to get, no thanks to the sub-prime loans transacted during the good old days of yore when borrowers with poor and even no credits were treated as valued customers. Now the adjustable rates have ballooned sky-high, forcing borrowers to default on their repayment and the lenders to go under.

In a way, we bought our new (but pre-owned) home at an opportune time when house prices were at an ebb and yet the mortgage market has not yet tightened as yet. Talk about good timing.

P.S. Did you notice something new on the side bar to the right?

Mother's Day Greetings and Dispensation

One of the Chinese songs that we used to sing in school, elementary school that is, goes something like this when translated: In this world the only good thing is Mom. A child that has a Mom is like a treasure …

Yes, the virtue of Mom. The selfless sacrifice, the ever protective Mom, who nurtures us single-mindedly, who takes care of our well-being unconditionally, and who showers us with love and affection unquestionably.

Today’s Mother’s Day. A special dedication to a special person, whose womb encapsulates us, whose hands cradle us, whose unflinching devotion envelopes us, and whose memories we dearly cherish when she has departed.

So don't take Mom for granted. Her words (aka nagging to most, and unsolicited advice to some) are not meant to pique you, nor are her actions (aka control to most, meddling to some) meant to frustrate you. She might seem like a resident cook at times, and a gratuitous help around the house at some other times. Yet other times, she may behave like a despot, imposing the most draconian rules and regulations (curfews come to mind) a teenager could possibly cope with, from your perspective.

Most of us realize the folly of our warped sence of justice, of betrayal, of interference until we have our own family. But Mom continues to do what she does best, leapfrogging the generation hiatus and caring for her grand children, sometimes reliving the same cold shoulder treatment meted out by her own children. So repay Mom when she is still with us, when she is still able to enjoy what we shower on her in return, and then we cherish our memories of Mom in our every living minutes.

So today’s blog is about my late Mom, wify, and all the great Moms and Moms-to-be in the world, and their mutual interactions. A week ago, our D’s mother-in-law sent wify a Mother’s Day greeting card from the Pacific seaboard as shown below, with a capital M surrounded by a tapestry of roses and an intricate embossed floral design.



Then our D, from the same Pacific Coast city of Portland, sent us a self-made Mother’s Day greeting card, with the patented stamp of a cat face, that of Bacon. Treasure, Cherish, Nurture (in red), Love, Laugh, Learn (in yellow), Honest, Pure, Simple (in green), and Peace, Tranquility, Serenity (in blue), the four clusters in a square formation representing the four pillars of values epitomized by Mom.

Then her friend, Lily, emailed her a e-greeting card on this auspicious occasion: a butterfly fluttering around a blooming flower. Simple elegance.


Not to be undone, wify also gave a bouquet of pink roses to Mrs. Kim, our erstwhile Korean neighbor who has taken care of our D for the past one-and-a-half months since we moved from South Tampa (but our D still has to go to school there until next week and she has been lodging there every school day after school until I could pick her up on my way home after work at 4.30pm). The brilliance of the flowers was only matched by her radiant smile and sincere thanks, from one Mom to another.


And to top it all, we had a late dinner at the nearby Perkins Restaurant. Wify ordered grilled salmon and I had crispy atlantic cod, with herb rice and brocolli, and carrot. I did not remember what the kids and my Bro had, but everyone reached home satiated.