Enola Holmes 2 was enjoyable but was maybe trying a bit too hard to live up to the qualities of the first film. Hpefully they can better balance that in the third film.

In the last week of our recent trip to India, Jenni and I went on an overnight trip from New Delhi to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.

We arrived at the site a couple hours before sunset so the Sun was about halfway down which meant that as we walked around the campus, and the light changed color, we could see it all on play out the Taj. This was especially delightful. The primary stone in the construction is Makrana marble, which is famous for being strong and translucent.

The center of the main gate’s arch is perfectly aligned with the center of the main arch of the Taj Mahal, and both are perfectly aligned due North. Our guide, Tarun, made us aware of this and challenged us to check using the phone’s compass, which I did!

We walked the charbagh garden pathways, and made our way as Tarun took some photos of us all the while sharing the story of the Taj.

The work to cut stones and inlay them is very intricate and labor intensive and there’s a large industry that continues to do this work, the knowledge of which has been passed down for generations since the time of the Taj’s construction.

Inside the mausoleum, photography is prohibited, and the outer rooms are cordoned off. The replica of the graves of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan lie in the center, and one can walk around that in a designated path. The actual graves are in the basement underneath but that is inaccessible to the public. This is the original design.

A man with a small flashlight demonstrated how the stones in the inlaid flowers glow when light is applied on them. It is really a wonderful effect, and one that I don’t recall seeing on previous trips. This same man asked for our names by turn and said it out loud as he looked upwards, to sound an echo.

After walking around the inside, we made our way to the outside on the provided path. As we did so, the light of the setting sun made lovely patterns as it made its way in through the carved and perforated marble walls.

Even a Tuesday afternoon brought a lot of visitors.

As we made our way back to the exit by the main gate, the Sun set completely and so the Taj appeared a cool white, which was very different from the vibrant yellow and orange it had been in the hours before. I’m pretty sure that previously I had only visited in mid-day so hadn’t seen this effect. Experiencing these changing colors on the Taj was my favorite thing about this visit, which was my third or fourth.

Maybe someday I’ll even see the famous full-moon-lit shade of Taj.

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Home office humidity is down to 18%. Going to get the humidifier going even though it was spitting water the last time I used it #pdxtst

Early AM today was I think the first time ever that the heat pump was unable to warm up to set temperature. #pdxtst #ArcticBlast

We’re expecting some extreme cold weather tomorrow but Apple’s Weather app is not showing the alerts that have been issued. It’s really weird and many people are going to get caught off-guard. Every other weather app is showing the alerts.

RIP InSight

That was the best game of football. Congratulations Argentina! 🎉

Frosty dawn in the yard yesterday.

I’ve just returned from a three week trip to India which was full of spending time with family, events, some sightseeing. It was a whirlwind, but thankfully everything went smoothly 🥰. Been decompressing at home with jet lag, while catching up on work.

Sunset Taj