I took this picture several years ago at Descanso Gardens in La Canada. I always liked the sense of wonder as he looks at the, well, I've never been sure what it was he was looking at. But wondering is good, considering the possibilities.
 Sometimes a chair is just a chair. This particular chair however tried to look its best, but, alas, someone abandoned it at the trash-dumpster. It was as if it was asking longing for a home, all yellow and bright as it was. I thought about rescuing it, but I didn't. That was a while ago. The image still haunts me.  At a sale in Pomona last year, I was fascinated by this box of billiard balls. I liked the colorful yet weathered look of the balls and thought it was a fun image. Upon closer examination, I noticed one of the most famous balls is missing! And so I had to look up the story of the missing ball and the answer appears below:  The idiomatic English phrase “behind the eight ball” is used to indicate that someone or some group is in a bad situation, or a challenging circumstance that is not easy to resolve. Mar 27 2019 Well, I have resisted long enough admitting it was August already. So no excuses. And this lovely bloom I believe is called a Naked Lady. It blooms every year about this time as the four-foot high greenery around it dies back. Quite dramatic...even for a Naked Lady.  Sometimes life feels like it is passing by too fast. And my garden such as it is reminds of the cycle of life. Bursts of spectacular blooms like this one demonstrate just how amazing life can be. This is a new addition to my collection of plumerias, a birthday gift from Kerry and Vintage Green Farms in Hawaii. It is called California Sunset. As July ends, and we are well into the second half of 2019, I am also reminded that the time is now. Life waits for no one.   There I am, in my father's arms, not long after my birth in 1951. My parents look so happy, so proud. My life a blank slate. It was good time I imagine. Obviously I don't remember much. I do know that when I found this picture the first time...and several times after that, it surprised me that I was being held by my dad. I don't recall a lot of affection from him. Yet I somehow knew he did care. There was never any doubt on my mother's love for me.
Anyway, on this the day after my birthday, I thought about this pic. It was my beginning. My mother smiling. My dad holding me. I do remember the aloha shirt. Wish I still had it. It was a different time to be sure. And sometimes I wonder if I had it to do over, would I? My only regret is that I didn't see this picture every day. It reminds me of what it is to loved and what it was probably like to begin to write on that clean slate. Fine china and porcelain speak of another day and age. I look at them and imagine a different time and place where gentility and manners mattered. These days these type of items are looked at as relics of the past. Paper plates and plastic utensils will do. Lovely to look at, delightful to hold. But destined for museums and curio cabinets. Not for real life as it exists today. 
 This is Surf, California, a small community west of Lompoc, on the northern boundary of Vandenberg Air Force Base. There a two stop a day Amtrak station here. Otherwise, it is pretty isolated. It is a perfect spot to contemplate the vastness of the Pacific, perhaps some universal truths and of course hear your own thoughts. Perfect when, as William Wordsworth once said, the world is too much with us. I do feel a bit better for having visited.
 During my stay in Berkley CA recently, I slept in the former playroom of the children of our hosts. One of the unusual things that hung on the wall was this paper mask of Medusa. So I slept with this and other delights watching over me. To be honest, I couldn't remember the actual myth which I include below. It appears that victims of sexual crimes were punished much like those today. Of course the curse of hair becoming snakes is reserved for the gods. Not much comfort though. In later myths (mainly in Ovid) Medusa was the only Gorgon to possess snake locks, because they were a punishment from Athena. Accordingly, Ovid relates that the once beautiful mortal was punished by Athena with a hideous appearance and loathsome snakes for hair for having been raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon.Aug 20, 2013Medusa - Ancient History Encyclopediahttps://www.ancient.eu/Medusa/
Walls can have such character. These walls were along a recent walk in Berkley California last week. Different types for different homes along the way. I always wonder if they are walling the world out or walling themselves in. Probably both. In any case, old walls speak volumes about the neighborhood's history and about those who built them. And if you tune in and listen, you can hear what they are saying.  |