Tuscon IV ~ La Paloma ~ GWA Symposium

 I'm a lawn lover. Maybe the last of my kind in Southern California. One of my goals this autumn is to return my rabbit-ravaged turf to emerald green, like this shot across the La Paloma Course.  

The  Garden Writer's Association Board of the directors met with first timers and mentors at the clubhouse for an introduction.  

Thank you to Espoma Company  for sponsoring this ice breaker where CL Fornari loosened us up with her rendition of garden-centric news 

Photo from Brent and Becky's Bulbs Catalog

The crowd broke into small groups to talk about their wish lists for our profession. My group included Becky (of Brent and Becky's Bulbs). She  dreams of magazines advancing anticipation of products when they are on the shelves, rather than waiting until the shelves are depleted- discouraging the consumer. 

Venelin Dimitrov spoke passionately about how seeds are "the last great bargain on earth"  and Burpee's  commitment to bringing beauty and hope to military families through their  Welcome Home Garden Program.   Note to self: find out if this program is in California, and if it isn't- how do we hook-up our military personnel and their loved ones. 

Very big on everyone's minds are children's gardens- particularly raised beds filled with basil and sweet-smelling herbs. 

Over at the  Vendor Exhibit, John Schoustra and his wife surround the ever-smiling Joan Bolton. John has two passions in life. To bring ever improved varieties of daylilies to market and to breed the best plants for our moderate California climate. Insider secret: If you see his name associated with a plant, you know it is good. His clientele includes the perfectionists who  send their landscapers to  his Greenwood Gardens match their flower palette to the colors in their patio Persian rugs. 

This is just so sweet a logo, I had to include it. 

Requiem for the Space Shuttle ~

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

~ Confucius 

 

Tthe last flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavor  deserved all the pomp and circumstance of a State Funeral.

My respects come not with my presence at its landing, but in reprinting words that were brought to life in one of my first assignments as a professional writer. It was the summer of 1995. 

Our young sons once discovered the disc slots were a nifty place to park match box cars.

A few years prior, writing a program to track vital signs for a doctor at the City of Hope, my husband purchased one of the first 100 Apple II e's off the line, promising me "It is all I'll ever need."

It was until his wife learned to type...Excerpted from an article Real Tool of  Politics is Vision.

"When President Kennedy set the goal of reaching the moon in less tan a decade, he unleashed the power of the entire nation. It was a call to action. It created sciences and jobs that did not exist before. It caused scientific  advances because of the inherent need to conserve space, save energy and support human life.

Without the primary goal of putting an American on the moon, the quality of our lives would be very different. There would be no freeze dried foods, solar cell calculators or microprocessors."

The first person article became personal with outlining how we owed our oldest son's life, which officially started 2 months before he was expected, not just to God and fine medical care, but to the life-monitoring and support technology the space scientists developed.

When you wonder what an engineer does- engineers solve problems. Sometimes it is the technology that is new. Sometimes it is the use which is new.

Full disclosure: my husband worked on the Space Shuttle atmospheric analysis system. In our home, the demise of the miracle of the United States Space Program is felt like the loss of a monumental figure. 
 
"Real Tool of Politics is Vision" first published by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, 1995
Space Shuttle photo taken in Torrance. Forwarded by John Forbing.
Apple IIe photo from Wikipedia courtesy of http://allaboutapple.com

Change of Perspective ~ Loveland to Denver

"Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective,
 and maybe objectivity."

~ Robert Morgan

American Poet

In my life as a writer, it is not enough to stare at the typeface on the screen.  The words must be printed out. Taken to another room to edit and proof.  The change of screen to paper, paper to the light coming in from a different perspective, brings a new perspective, changes the words, what I think of them and what deeper feelings can be rendered from ink on paper.

The road-trip, a solitary female driving through Denver to Estes Park to Loveland back through to Denver had a similar effect on me.  The change of light from the west coast winding up the Rocky Mountain Roads and back through the farmland exposed me to fresh perspective of all that is wonderful about this great nation.

Such as our diversity. The scenic is obvious. The intellectual spark. Rediscovering this without any pressure to commit was a new kind of fun. Switching back and forth between the progressive and conservative stations which seemed to fill the air like stars on a clear country night. The same facts rendered through different perspectives. To totally believe both would be like reckoning Mars and Saturn are the same planets. Glad my computer was back in Diamond Bar or I might have been tempted to pull over for one of my infamous fact-check missions. There was only one fact on which all agreed. Paul Ryan has climbed lots of Colorado mountains. Another factoid to file away. 

Denver was no problem finding. But I was getting concerned about finding the Botanic Gardens when I happened upon this lovely city park golf course.  My heart stopped at the words inscribed on the entrance to an inner city sanctuary where children learn what the game offers the world- people who spend the day in

Honesty Integrity Sportsmanship

Respect Confidence Responsibility

Perseverance Courtesy Judgment

 I said a silent prayer of gratitude that everyone who crosses this threshold are strengthened by the power of these words. I bought a visor to support their influence, relieved (in all sense of the word when on travel) that just blocks further was my Mecca. The Denver Botanic Gardens.

A sprinkling of  images to help you feel the wetness on my cheeks which was not just because Southern California girls don't generally don't have a clue why people need  umbrellas.   

We don't always take copious notes to recall the exact varieties of dahlias and - is it gomphrena poking their floral buttons up through the star of the show?

What we do always travel with is our hearts. As much as it would have liked to stay, it is back with me in Southern California. The rest of this series would not be possible without it.

Or the generous support of my husband, Gerry. Thank you, honey.

09/11 Thoughts ~Loveland, Colorado~The Benson Sculpture Garden~ Part III

Patriotic American mini flag by Toland

 

September 11, 2001 was like so many other days. Yet like no other. Not in my lifetime. Such a beautiful day. A clear sky day turned somber. In the weeks which followed, in my hometown we met at the corner of Diamond Bar and Grand.

We marched clockwise around the intersection, waving flags. Many lit candles.  The crowd grew.  Probably in the hundreds. The patrol cars pulled up, the officers wanting to know who was the organizer.

No one. We were just citizens united in our grief. Offering comfort to each other.

We promised never to forget. We fly flags to promise this.

Today, on the 11th Anniversary, came a sobering reminder of what we have lost between now and then. Commitment and Clarity. Why else the American Embassy wall breached, an American killed at the US Consulate in Libya. Our President too busy for our steadfast ally in that dangerous neighborhood, Israel.

God bless Jordan for harboring the refugees from Syria. May the missing relatives of people I know turn up safely there. 

I cannot make the world safer. All I hope, is to spread a bit of beauty to those I am honored to visit this site.  

 

I have been remiss in not sharing more of the setting of the Benson Sculpture garden, which rims the lake. Cattails. Pine. Aspen. Beautiful apart, gathered together, they elevate each other's beauty.

 

Where there is water, there shall be geese.  What is evocative about this park is how God and man have worked together.

SWAMP DONKEY, Bronze by TD Kelsey

 

  Sited at the edge of the bog, the majesty of  large game,  realistic and rightly romantic.

 

Our oldest son confirmed, swamp donkey is Canadian for moose. It is also slang for many other things which I am going to forget I found on the blogosphere.

 

If today was emotional for you- click on Baby Moose in Sprinkler  to get back in touch with the emotion of  innocent joy.

Memories of Mass Murder ~ Fleeting Nature of Life

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

~ James :14 

Aurora, Colorado is a bathroom stop on the drive between here and Wyoming. But with the weekend full of news from the shooting there, I wasn't thinking so much about road trips as of a certain event n 1988.


My husband was on quick business trip to the heart of Silicon Valley- Sunnyvale. He might be home that night: or he might be home the next day. Checking in with his secretary late that afternoon to figure out if I should clean up whatever project I was working on or take our sons out to dinner, Lolly was very clear "Go out to dinner. Take your time. In fact, make sure you have a glass of wine." 


That hit me as kind of odd comment at the end, about the wine. But not as odd as what Gerry said when he called just after we got home from filling up at The Whole Enchilada "It's not as bad as they say it is on the news."

???????  

I turned on the TV to see the only story running featured a parking lot full of TV vans, crews and satellite dishes at the ESL plant where Gerry was. A fired employee who was stalking a co-worker there decided he was going to make a very big statement on the eve of her restraining order hearing against him, later made into a movie  The Stalking of Laura Black True Story. 


Gerry was first in the upstairs conference room to notice the SWAT officers duck through the hallway. More fully outfitted officers crawled with their weapons through the courtyard. The doors were shut. Before it was over 7 people were dead. 4 were injured. 


Odd what I remember being told. Like one of the men in the group disclosing that years before he had been on a plane hijacked to Cuba. Hijacked and now this? That's not the best Karma for a travelling companion, in my opinion. 


Not something I think of directly, that day is likely why when such evil appears on the news, I turn the channel on news reports repeating the evil- doers name into our collective conscience. 


This isn't at all what I planned on writing. It just seemed right. To slow down.Think about the fleeting nature of life and what I will do for the next 30 days; just in case they are the last 30 days of my life. One never knows- we should always be prepared to exit without leaving unnecessary regrets or hardships for our loved ones.




God bless the people of Colorado in your time of grief. We will not forget you and promise to learn something from your pain. 

Thoughts On Independence Day

United States Flag, Gene Sasse photographer

"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God."
~ George Washington

California Capitol. Gene Sasse photographer

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South."  
~ Abraham Lincoln

Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods 

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” 
― Theodore Roosevelt, Strenuous Life

Native Colorado scrub brush

Some of the greatest serenity I have known has been on horseback. As a young girl, my Uncle Frank would lift us nieces up onto his horse to watch the fireworks go off at nearby Disneyland. The 4th of July- it is the one day in the calendar I don't think my father ever drank to excess on.  The date bordered on sacred in our family. 

 With the devastation in Colorado Springs, I am glad I have these memories recorded from a ride through The Garden of The Gods Park. Due to the wildfires, it is currently closed. 

Pikes Peak- the inspiration for Katharine Lee Bates "America the Beautiful"

My husband was assigned to Colorado Springs for 30 days, which turned into 13 months. It was in the Holiday Inn there that he learned to inlay wood- it gave him something to do more interesting than just get up, go to work, dinner and TV. Towards the end of his stay, rather than have him bring his laundry home for 4 days, the company authorized my visiting him there. 

What I remember most about Colorado is clean unspoiled air. I think it is safe to say that this nation is united in praying for the environment the state is rightly renowned for quickly heals. 

Whatever our differences politically, in the contentious months that bare down prior to every election like the sun on the Mojave Desert, it is my prayer that our collective nation   comes to again remember  that people are more than their politics. 

Part II Sherman Gardens and Library Private Gardens Tour ~Dog Jerky

"An enchanted life has many moments when the heart is overwhelmed with beauty and the imagination is electrified by some haunting quality in the world or by a spirit or voice speaking from deep within a thing, a place, or a person. Enchantment may be a state of rapture and ecstasy in which the soul comes to the foreground, and the literal concerns of survival and daily preoccupation at least momentarily fade into the background."

Thomas Moore

The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life

This house is love- at- first- sight enchanting. This melange of materials- the tree overhanging the arched front door- this is first rate craftsmanship. Architecture as art of the first order.

Part of how this look is pulled off is the complex building materials are counterbalanced by simple plantings. Two ivy geraniums stationed in a terra Cotta pot hang over the pillar with the body language a curious cat might.

Generous corbels, covered in the creamiest white add depth and introduce smooth texture, brilliantly setting off the abundance of matte and rough finishes.

Pots and crisply espaliered plantings prevent the hardscape from over-baking the scene. The flagstone inserts are a genius touch, leading the eye as an arrow.

Nikkipolani spotted this ocean-like driveway. It initiated the first of many u-turns as my navigator kept her eye out for photographic opportunities along our intended route. Notice the horizontal grid doors on garage- a graphic detail that is very popular at beach-side communities.

I'm not quite sure how the crunch beneath the wheels would be going up and down daily. Maybe some maintenance as the loose stones give way beneath the wheels. Like I should talk negatively about maintenance issues given what I have going here...

This little vignette was on the side of a seriously detailed modern garden. This little bit of light-hearted humor humanized a very formal garden. It reminds me to share  with you a recipe our forever puppies adore. Chicken jerky. Simply slice very thinly organic chicken breasts sans skin and bones. Lay out reasonable length slices on the dehydrator. Turn on the heat until dry. 

You can buy the spice-less chicken breast jerky for around  $25/ bag or you can make it for less than $10. From our dogs reaction- homemade definitely beats store bought. 

Again- shiny black reflective garage door panels framed in horizontal matte cast iron-like grid. Somehow- I just can't imagine the kitchen in anything but similar material mix. Very resort like.

This home was very near the home at top that enchanted me required a completely different set of craftsmen to complete. The first required working with wide tolerances in oddly shaped materials. This facade requires craftsmen trained to  exactitude in degree.  The round leaded glass window hints at admiration of  sea-worthiness.

Real wood doors, the grain showing, framed in timbers.  This is handsome elegance. Until you've seen this color wood on a yacht- you have something to live for.

The side gate- to my eye- seaweed.

I meant to call the number on this sign to get the official detailing descriptive on this home. This week was too short. 

This horizontal grid pattern- it isn't just for garages. Here it is on deeply tinted widows. The cellist kindly allowed the photograph, which was carefully angled so not to invade the owner's privacy.  Live music played on the breezy bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean: enchantment defined. The only thing missing was champagne. Probably omitted so that I and all the other visitors would go back to our own homes):- 

This ends the tour- for tonight. The enchantment of gardening in coastal California continues just as soon as I can sneak back to post more pictures. 

The Rock is Rolling

Some argue the weather was most spectacular today.Others will argue it is "The Rock" that the Los Angeles County Art Museum (LACMA) is moving through side streets from the Stone Valley Rock Quarry in Jurupa to the mid-Wilshire art museum.

With my new Adele CD timing my freeway drive to the beach at 1 side +3 songs- I decided to return home on lower grade arterial. At the corner of Harbor and Grand, the traffic signals were coming down. I was on my way to meet the rock. Like many movie stars, it didn't feel as big in person. But the transport certainly was.

There is something about a 294' transporter equipped with more tires than I will ever own in my lifetime that is disconcerting. This isn't a major port. This is a suburban thoroughfare. The sight challenges one's notion of  appropriate setting.

If the rock itself didn't garner lookie-loos- the channel 4 NBC news van could. Wherever there was a long lens- kids ran to see if they could get close enough to get on camera.

The transport crew meticulously added more wheels beneath the actual boulder. When they travel over Colima Road later tonight- it wouldn't do to drag high center.

Wouldn't you love to know where they buy their shrink wrap? I have a hard time just getting rolls wide enough for Easter baskets.

The men who do this sort of work deserve our respect. One miscalculation- a chain snaps- its an HBO movie.

Just what size rock can a girl get for a reported 10 million dollars? A 340-ton, 21&1/2-foot-tall granite boulder. Kind of ironic that the title of art exhibit it will go in is titled "Levitated Mass. " 

One more look at the behemoth transport needed to spread the weight of streets not designed to roll a rock over.

This operation is complicated. As a  former Planning Commissioner- I note the logistics are worthy of a 4 star General.  The coordination of agencies- I have read over 100 were involved- Herculean. The command of the vehicle -awe inspiring how the trucks will push and pull around corners. (Hey- My husband wants to pull the bumpers off his boat to put them on the side of his Chevy Avalanche when I drive it.)

As art- I think the museum would do better at managing expectations for the actual display. The rock is not Stonehenge. It is not the pyramids. Not even close. It is the journey that is interesting more than what I expect the end result to be.

In the end, I hope the mini mountain arrives safely. The weekend is over- when last seen the rock had 14 miles to travel to La Mirada- and only time enough expected to go 10. When it reaches LA- If commuters there don't like being inconvenienced by Presidential Motorcades- I don't expect any geologic formation interfering with traffic will be viewed as any more considerate.

Flying over Loud and Low~ Advice on Friendship

It came in loud and low over my shoulder. So low, I wondered if it would miss the ridge line- just out of sight. Shooting images for a tutorial on plant posture in the garden, I turned the camera towards the roar of a jet engine. Understand. We don't live under a flight path. The flight wasn't in the direction between logical airports.

A commercial airliner- maybe a Boeing- it had no business in the airspace. Or maybe it did and it just wasn't obvious.

 

 Guess what flew over the following morning while I was downloading images from the day before? The pair of helicopters collectively known as a single name: Marine One. Same flight path, same altitude as yesterday's flying interloper.  A coincidence? I don't know. But I am glad LA Traffic didn't bare the brunt of a presidential visit.  

Life has been very full since I last opened the garden gates to company. We even got a nice drenching of rain. When it was all over, it was nice to see most of the early bloom on the tabebuia still poised on branch tips.

Let me bid you adieu with a bit of wisdom by the African-American novelist and educator, Gloria Naylor

"Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it’s all over."