Swimming And Driving.

There are two things Californians don't understand.

1. What do you mean you don't know how to swim? How is that possible? What kind of parents do you have? Then.. I'm reminded that a lot of the country is not near water. Well, even so. Don't you think you should know how to swim? It could save your life!

2. What do you mean you don't know how to drive? You expect everybody to just drive you? Now, admitably I live in LA, and WE LEARN TO DRIVE AT 15! We have to. The public transit here is just plain silly. Then I realized some of you grew up in New York. Yeah. Why would you ever drive? But.. just to have the option to rent a car and get out of the city? So. I don't understand why everyone doesn't learn to drive.

Enough. Just some thoughts. Advice from Mary: Learn to swim!

I took a few pictures with my trusty old phone. I was looking for curiosities and new discoveries. This is all very local, and all about surprises.

Wild Sunflowers

The one that made me stop.

Yikes! Trapped Flowers!

What are these flowers? They bloom all over my mountains.

Look! A Berry! (Oh! I see two!)

I am SO taken with the rose bush producing different colors.

A Surprise over the fence.

woodland

I never saw this before. Breathtaking!

Tequila Doesn't Count.

Whenever I walk, I experience random thoughts... some make me laugh, some make me consider further, but always I'm distracted by the walk and forget. Yesterday I decided I needed to take a notebook and pen with me so I could record these random thoughts and maybe use them in my blog. Yeah. Didn't use the notebook. My deepest thought was, "Oo, pretty tree!"

My hematologist thinks I should meditate. You know, clear my mind. Think I do that already! I have no problem with empty thoughts.

My husband asks me, "What are you thinking?" I answer honestly, "Maybe we should get one of those bug vacs" just advertised on t.v.  I have very present thoughts. I watch and react. In those moments I'm not thinking or worrying about even the next second.

Be that as it may, I will still carry the notebook. Maybe I'll remember to use it!

White wine makes me angry. This is a new discovery. Red wine is pleasant now and again. Tequila doesn't count and vodka makes me happy, yet given a choice I will always drink gin. Hmm.

(I don't know why tequila doesn't count, it just doesn't. Ask my dad.)

I showed you all a picture a long time ago of a cactus that I called "Penis Cactus." I'd found it in San Diego. The other day, I found it again! It is just blocks from my house.

Rabid Penis

A Row!

These are the discoveries that I find so funny. Does anyone know the real name of this growth?
I'd be indebted.

Next, a surprising color from an oleander. In my yard I have white, pink and red. The pink and red were a mistake. I was trying to grow all white, but they are a nice change. (I later added a beautiful peach colored oleander). But the other day I found this and it was so delicate I had to share.

Not My Pink, Not My Peach.
New to me and so very pretty.

My mother loved a flower called plumbago. My dad planted it at the entrance to their property and in special places around the house. It is a very lovely blue.

Plumbago

My dad asked me to take the picture below. It is on his property and part of a drive we take each time we have dinner together. Serene and comforting. He built this road. All by himself.

Dad's Road.

Sometimes I come across flowers that have been bleached by the sun. Especially in Sunland where the sun is so intense, the flowers produce unique colors.

Bleached Roses

I went to an art installation today at Barnsdall Park in Los Angeles. It was GREAT. My friend Heather Carson was one of the featured artists. I have some really lousy pictures but I'll share them with you anyhow. I so enjoyed seeing the amazing work of these artists. I must go to museums more often. 

The First Thing I Saw

Approaching Heather's Work

Side Trip, Not Heather's, But Weird Cut Out and Cool

You Can't See It, but the Sea is in the background.

This spoke to me.

oddly, so did this.

A Photograph. Looks like Andrew Wyeth to me.

Sometimes the people are more interesting.

The older child was telling the younger child, "Those are Black Window Spider Eggs under there!"

The Reception.

The Back. I think this was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Front. I Parked at the bottom of 3 staircases!

One part of three of Heather's Installation. 

Titled: Sunset

View from Barnsdall Park

Joy.

I went to see my dermatologist last week because my skin was itching all over and there was no rash, no hives that I could see. She looked closely, said my skin was dry and asked, "What soap do you use?" Hmm. "Zest." (I like the smell.) She said, "You are NOT a greasy teenage boy. You are too old for Zest! Use Dove and go to Trader Joe's and buy either Vitamin E oil or Lavender oil and use it!" I don't think my insurance will pay for any of this and I know the IRS won't recognize the cost as a medical expense but I bought it all, used it, and 5 days later my skin no longer itches and I smell good!

I show the spots on my hand to my dermatologist and she says, "Yeah! Look at the spots on my hand!" She cracks me up. She is also married to my second cousin. She told me the birthmark I have on my upper thigh is exactly the same as a birthmark on her daughter. Imfeld blood. (Our Swiss family name.)
Oo! We are like the Purple Pimpernel!

I saw my hematologist today (yes, I have a hematologist) and she gave me permission to eat vegetarian again if I only did it for a few months, and "Don't forget the protein!"  (I'm not a vegetarian, I just eat that way sometimes...) I love her. I can talk to her about everything! Some doctors are grand! I've been lucky.

I've been saving some pictures for you. One is particularly curious to me:

Unexplained Golf Balls

Look! It is a cache of golf balls right next to the wash I call my river. Okay, yes, there is a golf course near by but it is down river! How did these golf balls accumulate? I don't get it. I stared at this a long time, pondering.

Here is the river (okay, "Wash") and it is clearly flowing downstream toward the golf course. Curiouser and Curiouser.

The Wash... Again.

This is my path to the "Wash". A beautiful walk.

My Path.

I see these gladiolas nearly every year. The owner of the property just lets them be... gladiolas. 

The Blooming.

A Surprise
Orchid

Jasmine. Night Blooming or Star?
I can never tell.

Remember when my husband and I took that trip to the beach? Well, I found the photo of the pelicans I took through the windshield of the car. It was a much more amazing sight than this picture shows. I was stunned at how well the California Brown Pelican has come back! They were once endangered. They are back! What a joy!

California Brown Pelican in Flight

After Midnight Scattered Thoughts.

Free Counters don't work very well. I speak from experience.

The poppy is the State Flower of California. Did you know that?

California Poppy

It is disturbing to me that I can't type what I will later see. Even the "preview" lies. So.. I present this piece as I typed it. I'm done spending time making it look perfect. (I need an editor.)

Perception is nearly everything. In Theater it is everything.

I have a really good feeling that everything is about to turn around. Am I an optimist or a fool?

My peace plant blooms at least twice a year. That is a really good sign.

I'm doing so well with my basil that I've decided to grow thyme.

I hate when aol interrupts my thoughts.

When one forgets the night light one is blind.

We cut down a Japanese Elm 11 years ago.  Yesterday I found a volunteer growing behind the oleander.  11 years later! It is easily 8 feet tall. I feel I should let it be.

My walk revealed an exotic poppy.

I love this wild and garish flower. It seems to overgrow everything in its path. How wondrous!

Math still calls to me. I'm thinking about taking another calculus class.

My crippled husband is fixing the brakes on his car. He still changes the oil in both cars. HE IS A MUSICIAN! He should be surrounded by screaming fans and pursued at each appearance. Instead, he helps the homestead. His persistence battling his chronic condition is inspiring. Stunning.

I spend Friday early evenings with my dad. We chat and go to dinner. He gets to finally drink all he wants because I will drive him home. (He loves margaritas, especially at this little place in the valley.)
He is 86. My siblings are all over him. I figure, What the hell. Let him do what he wants to be happy. He has a girlfriend (she is nearly 80) yet he misses my mother every day... I don't know what else I want to say about that.

If you were sitting with me right now, I would divert the conversation back to the poppies.

You know, in California we have a poppy preserve. It is a huge expanse north of Los Angeles where poppies grow. I haven't been there since I was quite small, but my dear husband and I will visit it soon.

I'll send you pictures and wish you were there.

xo.

Perfect.

I wonder what Geronimo would have thought about the way his name is used today.

I dreamed last night that I was yelling at someone who'd crashed a t.v. character's classic car. The t.v. character said to me, "You know, your hair looks great when you are mad."

What did people use for diapers before diapers? I can only imagine.

Hellboy (You know, Vincent?) gave me flowers.

My sisters and I raised a quail chick (from an egg) and named her "Eagle." She followed us around for a few months til Dad set her "free." Then she followed the gardener.

I once worked with an actor who bought me coffee every day during tech. He is still my friend... 5 years later.

Remember when I told you my cell phone takes her own pictures? Just sees something and flashes the camera? Well, here is some photoshop my cell phone did completely without my permission and on her own. It just showed up. (Weird, huh?)

My Cell Phone's Artistry.

We discovered a new (to us) lake today! Lake Piru. Not far. What a revelation.

Serenity

Beautiful!

And finally, we made it back to the beach...

A Pelican overhead, one of many...

What could be better than where land meets water?

Point Mugu

A brief and very satisfying respite. 

We came home to steak quesadillas and pinto beans and zuccini squash with cheese, and watermelon - creations from leftovers. (And streaming Netflix and strawberry ice cream.)

Perfect.