Another Sunday in Vapi

If it's Sunday, we're walking through Vapi -- monsoon or not.

Now that it's monsoon, dogs are no longer spending the day resting in any shade they can find (usually under a vehicle). This dog decided to take a bath in one of Vapi's open sewers. (Yuck!)

This fenced enclosure is on Gunjan market road. It seems it's there just to feed pigeons. This makes the surrounding area very unpleasant to walk through!

The ubiquitous building-under-construction. Even the migrant construction workers (who live in the unfinished building while it is being built) have satellite TV.

Powai (Mumbai)

I spent two days in Powai last week, while Lon had meetings at the WestRock (formerly MWV, formerly Ruby Macons) offices that recently relocated there. Powai is an up-scale, modern neighborhood in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. It is among the most "western" of the places I've been in Mumbai.

Powai has lots of small green spaces and gardens. I liked this sculpture -- temporarily turned two-tone by the monsoon rains.

It seems like all of India is under construction. This waterfall is created by pumping out a construction site. While the pump did not run continuously, it did run most of the day.

Some "ruins" in India aren't very old. It doesn't take long for "jungle" (Hindi for "forest") to start reclaiming abandoned construction sites.

Just before sunset I was treated to a rainbow visible from our hotel room.

Monsoon Buffalo

After about a three week hiatus, monsoon has been catching up the last two days with very heavy rain. The buffalo have enjoyed the extra puddles and ponds.

The sidewalk is about a foot above the street, but the far side is about 2 feet lower. In it's deepest parts, this piece of land is covered with 3 to 4 feet of water.

What you don't see is that the rest of the herd is in the road doing a great job of blocking traffic.

Back in Vapi

I got back to Vapi yesterday. It's monsoon and the air is thick with humidity. Perfect weather for mold:

I bought green beans yesterday, but didn't get around to cooking them because I got too freaked out by a writhing mass of cockroaches in the kitchen sink. This morning I had to toss them in the trash. Mold is truly an "overnight sensation"!

"And now for something completely different … "

Lon was able to get a better view of a knife-wallah's bicycle than my photo in Mumbai (scroll down to near the end of the post). The front rack looks like it's loaded with sticks of dynamite, but it's really knives for sale. The sharpening stone is driven by a pulley on the rear wheel.

Bear Sighting

Just one more post from Virginia before I return to Vapi.

I heard a large crash in the woods behind our water tanks, then followed the waving vegetation to see the bear eating blackberries.

Dance of the Planets - Continued

This month the evening sky has held plenty of planets and other heavenly bodies. When the clouds have parted (which has not been all that often), there have been some spectacular sights.

July 18. The crescent moon (3 days past new) near Venus.

But, of course, the ("dwarf") planet making all the news right now is Pluto, as the New Horizons spacecraft is sending back photos and data captured during its fly-by earlier this week.

Dance of the Planets

When it's not been too cloudy or rainy (i.e. not very often!), I've been watching Jupiter overtake Venus in the western evening sky. This is what it looked like tonight.

Meanwhile, in the east, the smoke left over from the Fourth of July fireworks bathes Clifton Forge.

Two nights ago, the just-past-full moon glowed red through the haze.

And here's the reason why I haven't been able to see many stars since I've been back in the U.S.

Lightning illuminates clouds to the east.