National Pumpkin Day

Posted on October 26, 2019 by vanbraman

When I picked up my newspaper this morning I saw an article about pumpkins and found out that today is National Pumpkin Day.

National Pumpkin Day, Pumpkins, Gourds, Pumpkin Spice, San JoaquinPumpkins are a big crop in San Joaquin County where I live and it is the second largest pumpkin growing region in the country. Only Tazewell County, Illinois grows more pumpkins than San Joaquin county.

National Pumpkin Day, Pumpkins, Gourds, Pumpkin Spice, San JoaquinPumpkins are grown for both ornamental and food use. One nearby farm grows 45 different varieties of pumpkins.

Fall Decorations, Downtown Tracy, Harvest TimeHere you see a pumpkin used for decoration in our downtown.

Trina's Tea Kettle, Tea Shop, Tracy, CaliforniaImages of pumpkins are also very popular at this time of year as we get ready for the upcoming holidays.

I thought about posting some pictures of Pumpkin Spice items, but will refrain. This is a post about pumpkins.

Thanksgiving Pie - Pumpkin Pie - First ThanksgivingI will however post a picture of one of my favorite types of pies. I really like a good pumpkin pie and look forward to eating a slice or two at Thanksgiving.

Happy Pumpkin Day!

Steven

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A Long Ago Trip to India

Posted on October 25, 2019 by vanbraman

Yesterday I was going through some old pictures and found some interesting ones from a trip to India. I was thinking about them today as I wrote an e-mail to a colleague in India.

The Dominion, Bangalore, Trip to IndiaThis trip to Bangalore was back in January of 2000 and was part of a longer trip that also included courses in Singapore and Shanghai.

The training was held at The Dominion resort north of Bangalore. I still remember the landscaped grounds, including these shaped plants.

Bangalore, Students, classroom, India TrainingI had a large number of students in my course. I usually only have a course size of about six students as we do a lot of hands on activities. This course was a bit of a challenge.

Looking at the picture I see familiar faces as some of these engineers are still working for our company.

Cauvery Boat Ride, Mysore, India, KarnatakaOn the weekend we did a bit of sightseeing. One of the things that we did was visit a nature preserve. See: Boating on the Cauvery

Mysore, Bangalore, Hills, sunsetWe also visited Mysore and before heading back to Bangalore stopped at Chamundi Hills. There was a great view of the sunset over Mysore from the top of the hill.

Chamundi Hills, Mahishasura, Mysore, Sunset, DemonOn top of the hill are several temples and also a large statue of the demon Mahishasura.

I really like the way the trees and statue are silhouetted against the sunset.

A lot of good memories as I write this tonight.

Steven

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