It has been the longest time to be in love (or the notion of it), but I am finally free! It takes just one fateful fraction of a second to fall hopelessly in love. I never believed that it takes equally (or lesser) time or the simplest of the actions/event to wipe the slate clean! I am at long last.... free!

A chapter which never got started is closed, and I can finally move on to the next chapter.

Finally caught up to see Harry Potter 5!

My impressions:

• I saw the movie in the IMAX 3D at Jordans. I was impressed with the IMAX (I am usually with a great sound system! and fantastic screen). The last 30 minutes of the movie was in 3D. I don't think I was too impressed with that whole 3D effect. It was rather weird, cartoonish, jarring and down right not needed. My 2 cents, don't make 3D just for the sake of making it. I think it would have been cleaner without the 3D.
• We sat too close? Couple of rows from the back would have brought the eye level to center of the screen, rather than looking up. Plus, I don't think the movie was shot with such a large screen in mind. I say that because, I had to keep moving my head from right to left as the camera moved from one angle to another.
• The sound was okay, but too damned loud! Somehow some of the conversations were muffled by the soundtrack! Does IMAX play them separately or was it the speakers? Or wait, was it me! I may be gettin too old!
• Anyways, I think I am bashing up some of the more technical aspects of the movie and the IMAX combination. So, the plan is to see the movie again in a good digital theater.
• On to the impressions of the movie itself; I loved the fact that it focused intensely on the characters! Loved it! I was happy and did not miss the sections that they left off from the book. I read the book (again) just before seeing the movie and it did make a difference. I knew what to expect, but just not how it was presented. It was wonderful to see the movie treatment. Kudos to the director and screenplay writers.
• I loved the soundtrack, it just did not sound like John Williams and of course it wasn't (original sound composition by: Nicholas Hooper). This is the first time I have heard about him, and I think I like what he composes. I cannot wait for the next Harry Potter (in pre-production, right now)
• One major difference while watching this versus the other HP movies, was that, I know now how it all ends (read the HP 7! that topic for another day!), so it kind of took away the feel of dread when you don't know who, what, where is going to die! Well, it is kind of silly perhaps, after all I did read the HP 5 _before_ seeing the movie, so really did know what was happening. 

So, in summary:
- I am going to see the movie again (will not be for the first time) on a Digital theater and see if the movie impressions carry over. :)
- Needless to say, of course the DVD is on my 'Must Buy' list. Probably going to pre-order that one.

I hate being sick! The worst part of being sick is that number of things to get done multiples exponentially!

Friday evening, as I left work, I did what I usually do on the bus ride home.... prioritize the tasks to complete over the next few days. Most weekends/evenings, I know what I am going to tackle (Yep! Doing nothing and lounging in front of the TV counts towards my things-to-do. I have become a compulsive-doer-of-something, even if something is sleeping! Weird! I know, but that is the only way I seem to get some free time).

This past weekend was not any different from the others, the task list included: Read Harry Potter, Watch movie: Shooter, Clean and reorganize whole kitchen (something was not correct and it kept bothering me), Rip staircase carpeting, Wine Tasting, Trip to Home Depot (list ready), Trip to Jordan’s Furniture (Reading), Meet Lee (Starbucks) and of course the normal other weekend stuff of laundry, ironing, kitty time blah blah blah. By the time I reached home, though, my throat was scratchy, nose was running, and eyes were watering. Oh! Crap! I popped some medicines and flopped on the couch. My kitties kept me company!
Weekend, I did make the trip to Jordan’s, to meet Lee and check out some furniture. But Lee was not there, so spent more time in Jordan’s looking at office desks and curio cabinets. This is where my head hurt like crazy and I started to feel dizzy. Maybe I should eat! I did, but it simply went from bad to worse. I trooped to Home Depot, (thank goodness this was easy, I had a list and knew exactly what I wanted to get). By the time I got home. I knew I was doomed! It was going to be a bad migraine. I don’t suffer very often, but prolonged exposure to heat at 85+ deg is a sure trigger for me.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were spent curled up in bed, with all curtains closed, and kitties sitting at the foot of my bed, going “meow” every time I twitched or turned. Poor things! I think they knew I was sick! I am finally back at work this morning and it is a struggle! I am headed home today and curling up and my task to do is _NOT_ to think about the tasks to do!

I love lilies, especially if they are growing in my yard.

July 14th: Berry Picking.

Last year, I picked strawberries (20lbs) and blueberries (20.9lbs). For both the pickings, I had one more person with me and that helped in the poundage that we picked. Once they were brought home, these lovely berries were packaged into small serving bags and frozen. I am very pleased to report that this was indeed a very successful experiment. After a year, I am still enjoying gorgeous frozen strawberries and them blueberries. YUM!

This year, with all the travel in June, I missed the strawberry season altogether! There was one weekend I could have gone picking, but I was told that the thunderstorms had not been kind to the strawberries. No strawberries, this year. I am bummed out. :( I still have about 3lbs from last year's freezing going pretty strong.

I moved on to watching out for blueberry and raspberry picking. Last year's blueberry picking at Turkey Hill Farm, Haverhill, MA was incredible. See pictures from last year. This year the crop is predicted to meet, if not beat, last years produce. Instead of waiting till early August, I thought I will go a little early for couple of reasons. They were:
a) I wanted to see what early season picking looked like
b) The farm was offering excellent raspberry (red and yellow) picking, and last year I missed that in August.
c) Early August I really want to go to Ipswich (Russell Orchards) for Peach Festival. Good Lord! This is turning out to be a full fledged project plan with deadlines, milestones and timing it all just right, neither too early nor too late for peak picking.

In a nut-shell the plans are:
1. July 14th: (Turkey Hill Farm, Haverhill, MA) blueberry early picking. Check raspberries and pick if possible.
2. August 11: (Russell Orchards, Ipswich, MA) Peach Festival and Farm Stand
3. August (third week....): peach picking? Can that be rolled into the Peach Festival? Perhaps not.
4. Sept: apple picking... been there.... done that.... now I am bored with it! Maybe some late raspberry.....
5...... Whew! I need a freezer!

Check off the item 1!

7AM on July 14th, I found my self armed with sunscreen, straw hat, comfortable clothes, shoes, water and most important a coffee, and driving to Haverhill, MA. The temperature was already reading 69 deg and promises to be gorgeous day with temperatures around 75 deg and cool breezes. My kind of day; not too hot, and not too cold, and just right with the cool breeze. The previous two days, the weather has been very kind, with sunny clear warm days and cool evenings. The kind weather has led to ripe and plump berries. I can hardly wait to see, smell, and taste them.

By 8AM, I have parked and ready to pick raspberries. On the recommendation of the farm stand girl, I start with raspberries, because you have to be infinitely more patient with these little red ones, to plop them from the center core without crushing the berry. If the berry is ripe it yields easily. If it is not ripe enough then the berry breaks off at the stem. If it is too ripe, then you are left holding a tablespoon of juice instead of a berry. So, picking is slow and careful. Did I mention that these berry bushes are about couple feet wide and couple feet in height and to get to the great large ripe berries, you have to bend in odd angles to avoid breaking tender stems and yet diving into these bushes. Bending at odd angles, stretching is all fine, but these little shrubs come armed with soft thorns on the stems. Those thorns are soft, but they are still thorns! My arms are a mess! Actually a MESS!

By 10AM, I have 8 pints of red raspberries! They are gorgeous! They are red, juicy, tart and by god, they are yummy! I must have had 4-5 berries while picking. (NOTE: It is considered stealing to eat more than just a few)

By 10:15AM I am ready to pick blueberries. The sun is climbing and so is the temperature. So, with more sunscreen and water, I am back at picking. My back, is starting to grumble, but the warmth is keeping it happy. blueberry are infinitely easier to pick. For one, they are taller plants about 4-5 feet and each branch is loaded with blue/black-bombshells. So, pretty much standing, or squating, or crawling under the little tree gets the job done. By this time, there are fellow veteran pickers who have joined me in picking. Or rather I have joined them as they are well underway in their picking from 8AM. Dave, the owner and farmer has joined us. So, once again I am amongst blueberry pickers and chatting about blueberries, joking and enjoying the weather.

By 11:30AM: I have 13.6lbs of blueberries! What can I say, they are yummy! I need a break now. My back is gone stiff and besides I needed a restroom break. So, the farm stand is hold my pickings, while I take a much needed break. Refreshed and ready for some yellow raspberries! I knew I had about an hour more before the heat would get to me and back would freeze up on me. So, I attacked the yellow raspberries. They are sweeter than the reds. Two pints is all I could get. These are harder to get and lesser in production.

By 12:30PM: My back has called it a day about 10 mins ago! All that bending, stretching, holding, crawling for extended period of time, has frozen my back. I am done. 13.6lbs blueberries, 10 pints of raspberries (8 red and 2 yellow). I call it a great day for picking! On to eating them, sharing them, freezing them (if any is left over :)) and ah.. well! resting my back.

Now for some mouth-watering pictures:

Wandering around 35 acres of woodlands, lawns on a hot day with temperature climbing into mid 90 degrees, is a perfect afternoon. Thanks to my cousin's wife, who researched and pulled out the details for the same, we (the family) clambered into two cars, and drove over.

We spent sometime in the Museum, which in itself houses some really cool artistic works, from painting to photography of decayed flowers and from basket woven monstrosity to adventures of Spudnik, it was a fantastic display of art and science in creative harmony.

After a quick bite at the museum cafe, we headed out to wander in the woodlands. The sculptures were fantastic. Here are some that I really loved.

Gates to where?	35 acres and a pond too!
I don't think this was a sculpture, but looked to me like one.	Somebody forget their top hat?
Dead-men walking... (my favorite, love the pine cones)	Oh! Tunes!

The plan was to take trip downtown Nashville. I had tickets to the shuttle from the hotel to downtown and also the trolley tours that would take me around downtown Nashville. But I was in no shape to do that. With the heat exposure of the previous day, I was too sick to move out of my bed, forget going into sightseeing or hobnobbing with people.

So, I stayed put in the hotel room, ordering room service (expensive, but nice!) and watching movies (very nice) and sleeping (great!).

Besides I was suffering from a sensory overload with all the planning, traveling, and blah blah.... So, it was great to relax, do nothing and we are done.