The Blessing of Summer

Yesterday I (Julia) took Summer to be blessed by Amma. Amma is known in The West as the "The Hugging Saint." She tours to the U.S. twice a year from India and gives her blessing in the form of a hug. This blessing is called darshan in Hindi. Darshan roughly translates as "vision" and is used to describe meeting with a holy person. If you've never been blessed by Amma I highly recommend it. It is a truly unique and wonderful experience.

Of course, Summer was all smiles and seemed to enjoy the blessing as well as the visit at M.A. Center in San Ramon. It is a beautiful place with a pond of lillies and swans. As you can see she liked exploring the sticks. Luckily I snapped this picture just in time before stopping her from shoving a handful of sticks in her mouth. I'm sure that won't be the last time. Now that Summer is getting her top two teeth, she wants to chomp on everything. And by the way, she is a much better eater these days!!