An Aerial View...

Carl Jung, the famous swiss psychiatrist once said “Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.” As I sat on a long flight this week which gave me time for ruminations, I realized that things were not as grave or as flighty as we made it…it was all a matter of perspective and this perspective changed– influenced by people, my own thoughts, actions and time.

The rainy weather continued in Sunny California but I missed it, instead I was treated to deep troughs of snow (6 feet deep)…the biting chilly winds of the south easterlies, yet with this weather came a calm and stillness that was oddly comforting. The work week was extremely busy interspersed with some fabulous dinners. We had dinner on the 2nd night at a place called The Loft in Helsinki. The company was entertaining and the food was exquisite. It was a 4-course meal, started off with a salmon croquette followed by a pumpkin soup (very smooth with hints of Muenster cheese) and the main course was Artic Char with a cauliflower panna cotta and fennel sauce and the dessert was Cranberry Panna Cotta and Praline. I ended my meal with an Austrian Dessert wine. The next day’s dinner was a favorite place – The Fish Market revisited. I had a simple grilled Tuna served with wild mushrooms and some delicious Rye Bread.

It was wonderful being back home, listening to the cheerful chatter of K2 about the bugs, elephants and dinosaurs…making up stories on the fly for him about Santa Claus and the toys he would bring for him if he is a good boy…coming to think of it even the mundane task of going out to the grocery store to pick up cereal with Ma is wonderful…it is when I travel that I realize how much I miss home. The weather today is wonderfully warm…a stroll in the farmer’s market to pick up a half a dozen organic brown eggs, a bottle of syrah, a bag of baby arugula, a bunch of baby beets…a trip to the library and just sitting outside getting some of the wonderful sun…my idea of heaven.

The picture was one I took on one of my flights…do you see the plane in the distant horizon…beautiful isn’t it?