Alcatraz - San Francisco - California

Alcatraz Island, California, USA   #alcatraz
Alcatraz Island is located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1934 until 1963. Today, the island's facilities are managed by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; it is open to tours.

São João - Goa India

São João

Incessantly the rains fell

Had all the wells so swell

Grandma said it was a miracle

Her prayers were answered

God had at last cast His spell!

"The lads would be happy now"

She uttered under her breath

After they had their jumps in the well

And as tradition would have it

She made a vow

To give the boys

A basketful of mangos and jack-fruit

On the day of the feast of San João.

Google Doodle - Indian Actor Amrish Puri

Google Doodle honours Indian Actor Amrish Puri.

https://www.news18.com/news/india/amrish-puri-google-doodle-actors-87th-birthday-mr-india-mogambo-bollywood-2198779.html

Walking in Mother's Footsteps

WALKING IN MOTHER’S FOOTSTEPS.

‘The child is the father of the man’

During my days in school we were given a problem. This was done after reading English text or Poetry in class. Certain lines had to be underlined as we read them. These would later be studied to find the meaning of subject phrases or idioms. 

One question that invariably appeared in all tests and examinations went typically like this:

Explain with reference to the context: ‘The child is the father of the man’.

This line from William Wordsworth’s poem ‘My heart leaps up when I behold’ had always intrigued and perplexed me as a child. It has been interpreted in so many ways by so many. But as I see it today this phrase means a lot to me. It applies a lot to my own life and my children, albeit in a slightly different way from my wife’s point of view as well. In this case, for convenience, we could re-phrase the line: ‘The child is the mother of the woman’.

My eldest daughter has worked her way up in her career, walking in her mother’s footsteps in the accounting department. And to sum it all up, it is with extreme pride that for some time my wife worked in the same firm as my daughter’s. The pinnacle of a mother’s joy is to see her daughter grow and become what she had always prayed and envisaged her to be, but the height of the crowning glory would be to watch her daughter command and conduct a seminar in the same company. 

Considering the fact that my wife’s major was accounting, then there must definitely be truth in the meaning of the above phrase, that what we are when young, in many ways, eventually gives shape to what we become when we grow up.

I am no accountant, but in all confidence and pride, I can surely say that my daughter has picked up many of my artistic traits. Hence there is so much truth in the phrase that we can safely surmise: ‘The child is the father of the man’. 

Tony Fernandes

Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine - Tonferns

Happy Father's Day.

As I now reminisce, it was during the summer months of May back in the early 1960's in Goa. My father had taken me everywhere, visiting new places to see and explore, to the beach, to the market place every day to buy fresh fish and groceries, to my favourite restaurant in town for ice-cream, to the hills for walks, to pluck 'canttam' and 'cashew apples', to the lakes and springs for picnics, and to nearby streams for a swim. All these things just before the raging monsoons would set in. He had made several things for me, one of them being my very own first mini 'robond' - a catapult. He had also taken me fishing to the salt-water river near our village, for football games in the nearby town, and to distant places visiting friends and relatives, by bus, taxi and ferry, all of which I had enjoyed immensely. If I could only set back and change the pages of time. Here's a dedication to the great father that he really was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTchaCDlnds&t=70s

St. Anthony & Child Jesus

There are many more legends that prevail about St. Anthony

in our beautiful land, Goa.

The most well known is one of Saint Anthony and Child Jesus playing on his prayer book, as portrayed both in statues and in holy pictures. The account of this legend is that Saint Anthony was once passing through the region of Limoges in France, and as night fell, a rich businessman in that area had offered hospitality, rest and silence to Saint Anthony in his country estate. He was given a separate room to meditate and pray in peace. But it is believed that during the night his host passed by his lighted window. There in a brilliant light he saw a little infant of great beauty playing on a prayer book that the Saint was reading. The witness trembled at the sight, and in the morning Saint Anthony, to whom it had been disclosed that his host had seen the visitation, called him and requested him not to disclose it to anyone as long as he lived. That little infant was Child Jesus. Appropriately so, there is a very touching hymn in our very own Konkani language that is sung and dedicated to him. Here is it below.

Sant Antoni ochoreanchea Santa,

Portugal tuzo onod vortouta,

Tujea livrar ballok khelta,

Menin Jezu Razancho Raza. 

(Miraculous St. Anthony,

Portugal is proud of your glory,

On your prayer book plays

Child Jesus King of Kings)

Music notation by Auggie Pereira, Founder & President, Ex-students Association of St. Anthony's High School, Monte de Guirim, Toronto Chapter, Ontario, Canada. 1994.

St. Anthony and the legend of the Lilies in his right hand.

In religious imagery, Saint Anthony of Padua is especially beloved; apart from the Holy Family, he is the probably the only saint depicted with the Christ Child and in a particularly tender way: he is often shown holding a book (presumably the Bible) in one hand and the Child Jesus in his other hand while stalks of white lilies (representing purity, innocence, integrity and his lifelong struggle against the devil) are present in the foreground. But what is noticeable in these depictions is the fact the Child Jesus tenderly puts his hand on the saint’s face, as if to simultaneously embrace him and bless him. It is a picture that evokes a child’s love toward his parent and the parent's love toward his child. As a matter of fact, statues have depicted this scene ever since the 17th century. But it is no mere pious representation: it really happened in the saint’s lifetime. One night the Divine Child visited Anthony, kissed him and told him that He loved him. Anthony, in that visitation, was entrusted with the Child Jesus and the lilies that are always depicted in religious art represents that trust and divine favor. It is no wonder that such a representation is so loved; it expresses the want of the human heart.

I was here first - Crab Mentality.

Jude & Juliana 25th Weddding Anniversary June 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LamPS3QatY

BACK IN TIME - STORM IN THE PARK

BACK IN TIME - STORM IN THE PARK - JUNE 2010.
(Please click on the picture below to read the 2010 episode).

In sharp similarity, on Saturday, June 1, 2019, at the Art in the Park Arts & Crafts Show in Windsor, Ontario, it was almost a repetition of that storm of June 2010. Suddenly, the skies started to darken frighteningly around mid-day. The park was under a canopy of dark grey clouds, and what seemed to be a sure sign of an approaching storm. And then soon it started raining. The organizing staff went about warning vendors about a possible storm. Then came the warning on cellphones about a tornado watch. And soon the booths were shut, and the vendors left the exhibition grounds only to return the next day to see bright and sunny skies, although there were some water-logged booths due to inevitable ground conditions. But none of the vendors gave up. They went about doing their tasks, and shortly the park was full of visitors. The show went on - true to the organizer's motto 'come rain or shine', and with the addition of 'mulch or no mulch' that did help a lot. The show continued wonderfully with quite a turn-out until closing with glorious sunshine. Thanks to the organizers and their staff with electric carts, helping out the vendors.

http://tonferns.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_06.html

Nossa Senhora de Graca - Our Lady of Grace - Margao, Goa, India

The Majestic Old Church of Nossa Senhora de Graça

(Our Lady of Grace) popularly known today as ‘Grace Church’
Margao, Salcete, Goa – India.

Water Colours 20 in x 16 in by Tony Fernandes 1990

From an old photograph taken during a visit to see a friend in Margao while on an annual vacation to Goa in the year 1973. (35mm Kodachrome Slide Film). A new church now stands in the same spot. However, the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is in the same location.

History: Originally a chapel, called the Capela de Batalhão (Port. Chapel of the Battalion). Its construction began on 6.1.1812 and the first Mass was offered there on 3.5.1812. It was detached from the Holy Spirit Parish, Margao, and erected into a full-fledged Parish in 1959. The beautiful old church was demolished and the present church was built in its place. Inaugurated on 1.1.1977. Feast: 5th February