The Garden of Rocks, IL is a colossal pinnacle of rock that tranquilizes the thought far beyond the horizon. As we watched the Shawnee National Forest, we can feel ourselves in the foothill of Himalayas in front of us, mesmerizing the wonderful high cliffs and rocks with aesthetic beauty of the nature. The multi-color of leaves with the leaves falling apart and the changes in the weather symbolizes the analogy of life cycle of all the living things in this beautiful nature. We realized that the first fall in America has already started to emancipate vividly in our gray matter and it would be resided forever in the spatio-temporal facet. As we climb the rock and see the spectacular colorful forest, we were struggling hard to capture the images, inherently trying to be more natural than we are, thanks to the development in digital photography that helped to portray it endlessly and seamlessly in our electronic memory sticks. We were tired of capturing those endless images and we were being inherently insatiable and demanding to feel the nature.
The Trip to garden of gods was not only memorable in terms of peculiar natural beauty and aesthetic rocks but was also a phenomenal in the sense that we were able to dance and sing Nepali folk songs with delicious Nepali food. It was analogy to the picnic organized and barbecued dozens of times in the foothills of Nagarkot, Nepal, one of the most popular tourist destinations of Nepal, the reminiscent of my past! That has become the milestone of my life
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Watching movie Hanger 2 was one of the fantastic moment in the auditorium of student center and the movie was not more than a typical Hollywood settings dominated by Bollywood story. It was fun to wash the residue of the long and hectic week with so much of laughter’s- the best medicine. Going to Pk’s bar is a typical Friday night schedule, intrigued with the rock bands and crowded environment has become the normal schedule.
The school looked inherently busy in the month of August. Students seem ubiquitously occupied with the books in their hand and the academic environment entices the learning and knowledge sharing environment in diverse society. I was so surprised and curious to see so many people in the school at this time of year that I never felt before watching the dynamics of peoples in front of the library and fanner hall simulating it with movie Matrix in the grids.
Riding the motorbike for the first time in US with Eric was not only fun but a subtle change that I was looking for even though I spend all my life riding a motorbike in Nepal. The fall was the most beautiful time of the year and the nature was giving a good company to enjoy the perennial beauty, both in vibes of physical beauty and spiritual feelings.
Nepalese Student Society (NSS) organized the barbecue and it was fun to feel the culinary skills of some of the Himalayan chef, the delicious food lasted inside us forever. The football game participation was not only fun but it was a co-incidence that we played a first game with India, our neighbor.
I was more confused, surprised, and amazed when I was unanimously nominated for the secretary of Nepalese Student Society that was something I never thought of. Ice-cream at Dairy queen in mid night was not a noble requirement to live a decent life in Carbondale but it was more memorable and something that we always enjoyed in the Carbondale main street. Dr. Schoof promotion party was not merely a formal place to talk much about our professional goals but it was a juxtaposition to share culture, ideas, perceptions all the way from east to west, north to south, and the 360 degrees of Geography and all through the spatial space. The Geog500 was typically a demanding course but it helped us to understand the diverse research paradigm that exists in the Geography Department and helped to know each other’s.
September eleven passed away leaving behind a decade long tragedy that reminded me how I was curiously watching the BBC in Nepal, one of the worst attack for the humanity and civilization that changed the political and economic dimension of the world.
Also, it was more interesting when I was proposed for the vice-president of GIS club. We visited the geospatial services department in the Morris library and get acquainted with activities over there. We were so surprised to see the different kinds of maps and satellite imagery that were backed up for so many decades. However, we were also bit disappointed as SIU’s GIS service has not been much emphasized and the need of digital maps and cartography infrastructure is the need of an hour. The other Saturday morning, we went to Marion for volunteering for the Crab Orchard, it was wonderful time cleaning the trash around the lake area and making the place beautiful and clean. The two antique beers we excavated were much more interesting and got surprised what peoples do when they got drunk!
It was so much fun in Cali’s, the Friday night passed in no-time leaving back the long weeks. Dashain Festival Celebration in Evergreen Terrace, and spending time with two boys of Chris was incredible experience to understand children’s psychology and temperament, taking me further away twenty years back in Katunje, Bhaktapur.
The change of the leaf is clear notion of the change that is inevitable, that we can feel and perceive and it’s the nature that will be driving us seamlessly, all we do is we follow the rut and trace it for our destiny. Good luck for the journey! And embrace the natural beauty of the fall in Carbondale.
