Awake thou wintry earth

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

We, in Minnesota, are yet to see Spring in full green. I think it is just a few more days of wait, after all no winter stays for ever and no spring forgets its turn.

I will sue you for the heck of it

One of the few things that amused me when I first came to US was the nature of lawsuits filed in this country. People here mockingly use the words "I will sue you". But, I understood the gravity behind these words only after I heard the story behind the caution on the paper cups in which coffee is served in the American coffee shops. I was having my first cup of Starbucks coffee in the US, and could not help noticing the warning "Careful, the beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot". Of course it has to be, it's a cup of coffee. Who guessed, accidentally spilling coffee could lead to product liability litigation and fetch 640,000 dollars. In a country where warning signs on hair dryers read "Do not use in shower" for the fear of getting sued, it is totally sensible to have a caution on coffee cups reminding people that it's content is hot.

According to studies by the Economic Journal, Americans spend a lot more on civil litigation compared to others. In year 2002 alone, there were about 16 million civil cases filed in the courts. The fear of lawsuits has changed the way people do even the simplest of things. No longer can lives of people be the same when frivolous lawsuits are filed on a family owned restaurant for serving not so hot soup, or on a weather channel for not predicting rain, or on a school management when a kid gets hurt while playing.

Bizarre and funny lawsuits is a common case. One such instance happened in the 90s after a Michigan man watched advertisements by Budweiser beer company. In the advertisement, beautiful girls came across a man's way while he  was drinking the beer, but unfortunately for him it didn't work out. He went ahead and sued the beer company and the court dismissed the case. I wonder how the courts tolerate such junk and useless cases and waste their valuable time. There is no bound to creativity when a prisoner filed a legal litigation on himself for a few millions for the crimes he committed. Had he won the case, the government must pay him since he is in jail and not earning and could not pay himself for the legal lawsuit filed by himself. I don't really understand what exactly happens to common sense?

The sue-for-everything mantra became popular in America, when the legislators  in 1960s decided to give the people of this country a right to demand monetary compensation for any ill treatment meted out by them. Sadly, this "right" is very rarely put to use in the right way. Doctors suffer the most in this country, because a significant number of medical cases which lead to failures end up into a lawsuit - doctor getting sued, or the equipment manufacturers, medicines or even the hospital as such. This leads to a huge increase in cost of healthcare and hence costs of medical insurance.

Glad we did not have such a suing culture in India, else it would have been another source of free money people will be looking for, like lottery!

Badlands

The good place that has got a bad name.

Badlands National Park in South Dakota provides a picturesque view with the colorful ridges, sharp spires, steep canyons and deep gorges formed out of volcanic ashes. These volcanic ashes are carved ans sculptured into breathtaking forms by erosion caused due to rainfall and winds over the years. The name These lands made the lives of our ancestor dwellers very difficult to cross them during their exploration, and hence the name Badlands. For more information on Badlands, follow the link here.

P.S. Watch for Rattle snakes when you go there.

Posted for Thursday Photo Contest (Theme: "Brown").

Crazy Horse

The mountain carving on the background of the picture is supposed to assume the shape of the miniature version with a warrior on a horse in the foreground after completion. Crazy Horse is the name of the warrior in this carving, a Native American who fought and died for the freedom of Native Americans in the history of USA. When completed, this mountain sculpture will be 641 ft wide and 563 ft high (source: wiki). Due to funding constraints and lack of proper support, the construction of the memorial which was started in 1960s is going on at snail pace and now looks what it is in the picture.

After being defeated in war the Native Americans waged against the encroachment of US government into their territories and their living, when a white man asked him "Where are your lands now?". To that Crazy Horse responded "My lands are where my dead lie buried". Crazy Horse Memorial with this warrior pointing at their lands was started to honor his quote and to make history remember the truth untold. The truth about their glorious past and their unfulfilled future.

Knowing about what they went through is definitely one of best experience that happened to me when I went on a trip to South Dakota.

Posted for Thursday Photo Contest

Itasca State Park

This week's Photo Theme for Thursday is Outdoors. Here it is, a photo shot in the 8 mile bike trail in woods at Itasca State Park, Wisconsin last summer. This is shot using a regular point and shoot camera. Go green!

~Vee...

BLUE

Living in Minnesota gives me a very good opportunity to go to beaches with scenic beauty of Lake Superior. When I came across the theme "Blue" I thought it should be cake walk for me to submit an entry as I have tons of pictures lying around clicked on various occasions. This one clicked using a normal point and shoot camera is one of the best clicked in Duluth, Minnesota last summer.

~Vee...

Trip to Apostle Islands

I never thought I would get back to blogging again. I was frustrated for a variety of reasons and gave up completely. But then, it was while planning our trip to Apostle Islands along with friends for the July 4th long weekend in the US I realized the importance of blogging. Earlier, I used to keep track of all my travel details in my blog so that it would help others. I still see people stopping by my blog while looking for travel details to Devarayanaradurga, Nandi Hills and other places around Bangalore. That is some inspiration, isn't it? Now, here I'm with all of you back in the blogosphere.

Enough said about my come back story, Apostle Islands are a group of Islands in Lake Superior in Wisconsin. Some of the islands are named after 12 Apostles (no great story behind the islands being named after Apostles, it was done by Jesuits who drew the first maps), and hence the name Apostle Islands. More here  and wiki.

A glimpse of what we experienced from the lens of my dear friend.

In the picture above, the land in the far end is Madeline Island, the largest island of the group.

View of some of the islands on our way to Raspberry Island from the shore in a cruise.

We were supposed to start on Saturday morning, but out of all excitement we hit the roads by 2:00 in the night. After a brief halt for Sunrise view in Duluth and a plethora of kodak moments clicked, we headed to Washburn - a small town near the coast despite our GPS directing us into woods. 

I will not further bore you by overloading with teeny weeny details of the trip, but a few highlights here:

• Frisbee in the ice cold waters of Lake Superior
• Savoring freshly picked juicy strawberries for breakfast
• Enjoying chilled beer sitting on the shore
• The nonstop July 4th fireworks extravaganza at Bayfield
• Cruise to Raspberry Island from Bayfield shore is one helluva experience
• Delicious food on Madeline island and in the bay
• Miss. Rosy (?) who paid our check at lunch for no reason
• And, all the chitter-chatter and arguments over little nothings

 The pictures above are from another good friend and photographer in the making! :)

All right guys.. Now you know where you are going, so put on your travel hat!!

 ~Vee

P.S.: I've been procrastinating posting this stuff since past three weeks. I'm glad I did it now!