Day Trip

This time to Fort Mason Community Garden. I've never been to Fort Mason, I've been around, but I played tag-a-long on Mr. C's trip to the Nautical Museum (can we say super cool Cartography!) and then the library that was closed, but conveniently located across the street from the Friends of the SF Library Bookstore...you should go. BUT, the community garden was definitely the highlight for me, Mr. C practiced his patience.

As you can tell, I am continuing my obsession with Dahlias and this Garden had an amazing assortment. There is definitely more to come from this excursion, including a fabulous collection of Garden Creatures. How can that not make you happy?

ps- I love the use of the old tree stump as a succulent planter!

Memory Highway

I'm sorry most of the posts of late have been the Plant Alphabet, it has been a busy few weeks. And even though it is an amazing collection of plants, I feel I should probably insert a little variety.

So my most recent busyness was a trip down to the Central Valley for my Grandfather's Big Birthday Party. We took Highway 99. For those unfamiliar with Eastern California, 99 runs to the East of the Central Valley where 5 runs to the West.  It is dry and oppressively hot in the Summer, chilly and blindingly foggy in the Winter. It is also a very familiar drive to me from my childhood. Before the advent of TVs and DVDs in cars (not that my mother would have allowed this anyway) and because I had no siblings to annoy, I would stare out the window for hours on car trips. To this day, I am content to sit as a passenger and watch the landscapes fly by.

The Landscape of Highway 99 is familiar to those who have travelled it and to those who have read Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Initially a small country road, it was promoted to the status of Federal Interstate before losing the distinction as the main North-South thoroughfare to I-5 in the 1950s. Today it is still busy, predominantly with Agricultural traffic. Local industry is obvious as one drives by vineyards and orchards, parched lands and remnants of rivers long dried.  The plant community, composed of Grasses, Valley Oak (Quercus lobata), Oleander (Nerium oleander) and Eucalyptus, is both native and naturalized. These are not lush plants, quite the opposite, there is a harshness to their colors and form, exacerbated by the intensity of heat and light. With this written, I must say I love this landscape. Those colors are soothing: a rich golden brown, dark muted greens, the bright blue sky all accented by many a magenta flower. 

The quaintness of the journey has diminished of late with the development of the suburbs but if you keep your eyes on the road (and if you're driving, you should be doing this anyway) you get a sense of a romanticized nostalgia for what was a slower time. 

El Camino Real

So awhile ago I wrote a paper on Cultural Landscapes (comparing the Biosphere Regions of the Southern Appalachians and the Spreewald in Germany) and it is a really cool topic. A cultural landscape is a landscape that has been shaped by many years, if not centuries, of human use. So when I was driving the 101 from LA to SF, poor Mr. C had to listen to me nerd out about this and the whole Mission topic and how I think they are really beautiful landscapes (not that I condone massacring a whole indigenous people) rooted deeply in California history.

The Bells came about as a way of recognizing the route that was Alta California's Camino Real. The Bells were hung on "Franciscan Walking Sticks" in recognition of the missionaries path up the states of California. Can you tell I really liked California State History and the Mission Project in 4th Grade?

Back to the idea of the Cultural Landscape, one huge issue is indicating to people the significance of the landscape in which they find themselves. Signage is well and good in certain circumstances but can become a bit dominant in the landscape while also being a little too reductive in the history of the place. I like these bells because they are discreet, a little glimpse of significance while not trying to communicate every little detail about this place but just enough information to peek one's interest. They are a nice gesture in the landscape and a successful form of signage, something important to all cultural landscapes to ensure they are understood and maintained.





Some of the more amusing attempts at getting a picture while going *65 mph.

Muir Woods

We went to Muir Woods yesterday, and luckily were safely inside Joe's Taco Lounge when the heavy rains started. The Redwoods were magical and make you feel so small. The Redwood Forest plant community is one of my favorites with these giants (the tallest living things on Earth, Sequoia sempervirens is known to reach 379') constructing a ceiling above and the primordial ferns creating a carpet below, the grove at Muir Woods definitely earns its Cathedral name.

Making Do

I guess if you don't have too much space, bonzai is always an option. Walking by this house I was so intrigued by their complete mini yard. The moss looked like a lawn and the standard shrub was almost like a grand old tree....that is until you look at the scale of it to the house. Yay for mini yards!

Swinging in the Redwoods

    

...my little brother might be a bit of a monkey and a very cute one at that. 

Spring in Sonoma

The wildflowers are out in force (thankfully my allergies stayed at bay) and the sun was out.  I had a perfect couple days hanging out at my stepmom's farm (and where I agreed to chicksit) with her and my brothers. The orchard was in bloom with apple blossoms and wildflowers and it was lovely.

Planting Sections

These are work samples from my Thesis Project. I have been looking at plant communities for work and had remembered some of the graphics I had produced for my project. I like this format because you can see the context of the situation while also having the individual plant communities pulled out and referenced. The graphics production definitely was the most enjoyable part of the project and helped me get through that last semester.  A word of advice for any potential or current graduate students, Love Thy Project. I did not and I suffered, finding solace in small things but it would have helped to feel passionate for the project.

This is definitely not intended to be a downer but a word of encouragement. I let my professor tell me the project I wanted to do was wrong. She was wrong and I left school with a bitter sense of resentment. Find a topic you like, you will be spending a lot of time with it, pursue it and fight for it.

Perfect Weekend for a Hike

I had a guest in from New York and his one request was to go hiking and get some fresh air. Thank goodness for very agreeable weather, we hiked up to the top of Sausalito and down the other side, through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to the beach, around Bonita and Kirby Coves, past some World War II bunkers, under the Bridge and to amazing Cheeseburgers at the Presidio Yacht Club. The nerd came out in me and I took far too many pictures of erosion control and water management schemes being employed throughout the landscape. 

The Plants are Winning

Pictures from my first trip to Alcatraz. One would have thought I would have been there before but at least I finally made it. With the exception of the cell room being super creepy, the island itself it absolutely gorgeous in a decayed kind of way and has amazing views of the city and Marin. Well worth the visit! These pictures were taken in January, on a lovely sunny and warm day with not a cloud in the sky.