Rosh Hashanah

L'shana tova, y'all.

Descanso Gardens

Saturday we went to DescansoGardens.org with Kitty, Luba and Ivan, and we all had a lovely day.

Descanso Gardens is famous for its camellias. This time of year most camellias are not in season, so we will have to make a return trip. There were plenty of flowers, though, numbers of modest, not showy, flowers, worth looking for. Ivan took the pictures you are seeing here.

I truly love blue flowers.

Here I am just happy to be there:

And here is Kitty, pausing on a bridge to the Japanese tea garden to eat the honey stick given to her by one of a group of "fairies" performing in the park. A honey stick seems a highly appropriate snack in a garden.

The developer of Descanso Gardens was Manchester Boddy. As I understand it, before he began his spacious gardens he built a nice home for his family, which is now open for tours and weddings and parties.

Not a bad little manse.

We all went inside to check it out. Here we are in a mirror in the downstairs bathroom. The wallpaper is actually cloth, and that pattern is quilted in.

We all rode the tiny train around the park, too. Unfortunately, because we were all ON the train, there are no pictures to share.

I hope your weekend was everything you wanted.

Equinox Festival

Lately I've found myself calling my shirt "O12". Shorter than "Obama2012", rolls more trippingly off the tongue. What do you think?

We had the most marvelous day Sunday. Yep, the big Nine Eleven, of which more later. And also, and especially, as I think of it, Hymie's birthday. Happy Birthday, Hymie!

We (Obama2012andJenny) spent the entire day volunteering at the California Traditional Music Society's Equinox Festival. My job was waste management. That entailed touring the grounds every 90 minutes or so  to make sure paper towels and toilet paper were stocked, and trash hauled. The planners had done their work so well that facilities were sufficient for the day and my work was nil until we tore down for the night. I toured faithfully every hour and a half, though, and even checked the toilets at first. But my third toilet was unfortunately not latched when I tugged at the door and   there  was  a   lady,almost as embarrassed as I was.  After that I let the toilets go.

Ross Altman led a tribute to 9/11. Neil Young's song Let's Roll. And there was talk about the human need for songs and stories to remember and understand.

And then!

There was so much joyous activity all around. Fiddlers were fiddling up a storm, dancers were stomping and twirling, singers were singing. There were old people, lots of old ladies in gauzy skirts and hats, kids, girls in cowboy boots and guys in cargo kilts. Lots of men young enough to know better were wearing really bad plain combinations, but one old(er) man outdid them: He had a little clipped mustache like my grandpa had, very respectable, and wore a shirt and shorts in bad and clashing plaids, a half dozen bracelets on each wrist, and a half dozen more chains and amulets around his neck. 

I love to watch the people.

The LA Scottish Fiddlers performed. One man was tall, handsome, high forehead and long hair, kilt and knee socks, and Japanese. And there were two more Japanese pipers. LA is a strange and wonderful place.

Here are four performers who were especially terrific:

Susie Glaze and the HiLonesome Band   (Suzieglaze.com)  Bluegrassy country mountain music. She had a great fiddler with her, Mark Indictor, I think. Wow.

Thomas Maupin    He is a buck dancer and smooth. He gets a good rhythm going.

 Daniel Rothwell (banjodanielmusic.com) This guy is 18 years old and he is a natural. A real natural, it turns out Thomas Maupin is his grandfather. Daniel tells really bad jokes that I love, and he sings up a storm and plays like a born mountain man. 

Lissa Schneckenburger  (lissafiddle.com)   She and her band come from New York and New England and played Gaelic music from the British Isles and New Breton or New Brunswick or somewhere else new. You Boys in Boston should look for them!

Only three people commented on O12, all favorably. Whew!

(The fonts and margins above just jumped in and out and are entirely responsible for the appearance of this post.)

Los Angeles Marathon

Obama2012andJenny are in for it now.

Registration Confirmation for:

2012 Honda LA Marathon/LA 5K/LA Roadrunners

Dear Jennifer,

Congratulations! You are now registered for 2012 Honda LA Marathon/LA 5K/LA Roadrunners. Please check the event's official website for updates:http://www.lamarathon.com

Dear Athlete:

Thank you for registering for the Honda LA Marathon to be held on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

You're now on your way to 26.2 MILES TO STARDOM! 

Why am I doing this? 

Well, I like to walk. It's easy, it's relatively safe, and you get to scope out neighborhoods. And for the last few months I've been following Jen of jenontheedge.com as she started Running, of all things. Running multiples of miles. And like a Power Point slide, I got a vision of  Obama2012 together with a long walk in front of thousands of friendly people. 

This is a purely personal goal and my interest is in getting a good picture for my blog. 

Perspective

How do we describe this?

Hung out to dry? Oh, no. All washed up? Hardly.

It's all in how you look at it.

It's a given that I'm occasionally head over heels in my enthusiasms.

 

Pleasant errands in Glendale

Hey there,
Back to Glendale to see the Girls. I would imagine Glendale is a relatively Republican area, more or less, so it can't hurt to be a frequent face/shirt in the community. And, the Girls are there.
Luba and I explored and ran a few errands Saturday. She lives near bookstores, banks, bars, businesses, and restaurant after restaurant, all of which I plan to sample.

First we picked up a few necessities at Goodwill, quite a nice one. I found a couple cereal bowls to replace the ones we break, and an old fashioned glass juicer.

Sharp eyes will spot the plastic shopping bag. My fault, I went shopping unprepared. I hate when that happens.

We checked out a couple bookstores.

You cannot beat a good bookstore.

We stopped for lunch but it was much too dark inside for Luba to get a good picture, so we will have to return. 

I like a place where I can walk my errands. 

Glendale, CA

Here are Obama2012andJenny in Glendale. I'm in front of the new home of Luba and her daughter Kitty. They live in the rear apartment with their kittens GeorgeandMartha (you've met GeorgeandMartha). Luba very kindly took this photograph on her camera.

Luba and Kitty live just off a downtown area chockablock with restaurants, book stores, theatres. A block in the other direction are houses and other areas I've yet to explore. They are City women, for sure.