A Rotating Ride in the Sky

We took a trip up to the top of the San Jacinto mountain on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.

I loved that some windows were open to let in the breezes as we ascended to cooler temperatures. I appreciated that the tram innards slowly rotated, so everyone got to see the surrounding views without moving about. I wanted to hold on to my window, but it moved.

Photo by Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

The rotation and dips at the towers took some getting used to. I did not take photos during the ride. I was busy staying vertical.

The views from the top were spectacular.

Palm Springs Wind Farm

I was more relaxed on the trip down due to prior exerience. While my friends hiked down this trail and back up again my sis and I watched a short movie about the biodiversity of the mountain wildlife and the wind conditions between the two mountains, thus the wind farm.

Here they come!
FLOW

Stay tuned for Sunnylands. I am stoked.

FLOW on the move.

Red Yucca Blooms and Seedpods

I love the structure of the red yuccas.

A spiky sea urchin- like base with a slender stalk rising high above the plant body to offer its blooms to hummingbirds.

The real name is Hesperaloe parviflora. May be called Hummingbird Yucca or Red False Yucca. I have seen the term false yucca several times here.

Red Yucca blooms and pods

I was happy to see it will grow in Zones 5-11.  I would love to add a drought tolerant plant as I purge my needy plants in the future.

Rock mulch xeriscaping

There are many examples of xeriscaping here. It is necessary to have plants that are drought tolerant here in Palm Springs California.

Functional and lovely

FLOW  liking low water land-scaping

The Rhombicosidodecahedron

This amazing piece is near the entrance of the Palm Springs Art Museum. It was designed by Anthony James in 2020.

Rhombicosidodecahedron by Anthony James

The rhombicosidodecahedron is made of steel, specialized glass and LED lights.

My hypothesis is that the glass is one-way glass with mirrors on the inside surfaces. The reflected shapes inside repeat to infinity.

Mesmerizing!

The name was too hard for me to say, so I called it the Buckyball Mirror Ball.

FLOW

Bougainvillea Bracts

I have loved bougainvillea since one grew on my balcony in Santa Monica when I lived there as a child.

Bougainvillea

The true flowers are small and white. The colored bracts are what attracts the pollinators.

Flowers are tiny and white.


There is a bouganvilla spilling over the fence here. Its bracts perfectly match the deep pink theme color of the house’s door and decor.

Bract on a float


The match is too perfect to be coincidental. This is how design finds inspiration.

FLOWER among flowers and palms

Time Circles Take Their Time

I have been in a writer’s funk since I put away the book about the Pearson Women. There has been some guilt about it. Now that I am my own Mama Bear, I am better about doing what is best for me even when guilt is involved. I am working on getting strong again after my three hip replacements in two years. I am proud of the results so far.

On Sunday, my bookclub discussed Kristin Hannah’s book THE WOMEN. We had enlightening discussions about the many events involving the main character, a Vietnam surgical nurse, and her two best friends, her parents and several love interests. Reading this book involving a controversial war was an emotional rollercoaster, but we were all glad we had pushed through and read it.

At the end of our discussion, I mentioned what I call ‘time circles.’  There a few were examples of this phenomena in the book.

This got me thinking about a strange event that occurred while I was cleaning out my mom’s house on Enwood.

I noticed two books in the office trash can. I wondered why my sister had thrown them away.  There were stacks of books everwhere. Why these two?

When I asked her about it, she did not know anything about the books. We pulled them out of the waste basket. Neither of us recalled having ever seen these two old  books.

Of course I thought it was a sign from Daddy. I pulled them out of the trash and read them both. One was a book about Vietnam, the other was a book about marriage.

I was disappointed. They seemed like old- fashioned propaganda from the 1960’s. The mystery of those books has stuck with me. I had no clue what either had to do with me…

UNTIL TODAY

You will have to wait for the circle’s completion.  Sometimes you find the end of a circle and sometimes you find a beginning. I call the beginning sign a ‘ heads up.’ The two books I found two years ago were a ‘heads up’ for events happening now. WOW!

I am going on a trip. I may blog, but this circle must wait. It will need my full attention when I return. Rest assured that I will hitting this ‘time circle’ hard when I get back.

There it is. That researcher’s excitement that I have been missing. Hooray!

Thanks Daddy

FLOW

The Brightest Iris

This bearded iris is named BANANA FRAPPE’. It’s blooms glow in the afternoon sun.

Banana Frappe’

It is alone in a bed because it is a bully. That means it grows quickly and hogs all the space.

Bully Banana Frappe”

My slow-growers must be isolated from the aggressive bullies like Banana Frappe’.

FLOWER

Left Unsaid, Left Unseen

I am back home for a weekend. I am back to purge the un-needed and fix the broken and play PIBWIB. (put it back where it belongs). I have run out of clean clothes in less than 48 hours. So I had to decend the steps into the dark belly of the house.

I have never liked the narrow laundry room. The adjoining darkest corner room houses boxes from Rose’s college apartment. Kitchen supplies, linens and furniture for a future on-hold. I won’t share a photo of that mess.

I went to my shop which still has the big plants I could not move out on my last visit. I needed a short piece of chain to repair a hanging solar light beside the entrance to the pebble patio with no furniture and a few weeds. No photo.

I save scraps of anything that might be useful later,  thus there are many junk drawers and boxes of craft supplies. I knew just where to find scrap chain and wire. I will not share photos of that untidy chaos either.

I have done hours of trimming in the gardens. I left piles for Mr. Flower to haul to the gully. The beds look neater…for now. No before photos will make the blog. Only staged after pictures. The whole truth never makes the cut. Only the successes. Is this misleading?

I will share only the lovely scenes. You will see only the bright blooms and thriving plants. No one cares to see the weeds and debris in piles. No one wants to witness the ugly part of gardening…and life.

Is leaving out the whole truth a lie? Is omission really a sin?

That’s where my head is right now, after abandoning my writing project. The research I spent months doing uncovered the reality of squabbles and sadness and elopements and a suicide that were never shared.

The unpretty pasts of folks I never met. The  keeping of their secrets is a bit haunting. That’s what I was thinking about as I preened my gardens to make them pristine and picture-worthy. Only share what is presentable and hide the rest.

We all want our best selves to be seen and remembered. It’s only natural. What would be gained by exposing the ugly? They took things to their graves for their own reasons.

Tidying up their lives to make them presentable was like me cleaning up a flower bed for a photo shoot.  Somethings are best left unsaid and unseen…and yet.

FLOW

Lovey Dovey Relocated

My dove nest got relocated due to poop and peskiness. Rose’s car was being pooped on and Mr. Flower did not enjoy the company of dive-bombing doves. He startled them leaving for work in the dark. No eggs were involved.

The nest was removed. The plastic sleds were put on top of the old wooden sled to discourage future nesting. I am not happy that my friends were made to feel unwelcome.

I was sitting in the carport lamenting my loss, when I spied a pile of sticks on a frame with hardware cloth attached to it in the front corner of the carport. It is a bit too close to Mr. Flower’s precious truck.

New nest

I climbed up on the trusty ladder again to get a better view. There was that familiar little eye looking back at me.

Up on a ladder again!

I hope Lovey Dovey can roost here unpestered.

Howdy Lovey Dovey

Fingers crossed,

FLOW