California Hospital Association
On Tuesday I spoke to the annual California Hospital Association Behavioral Health Conference about the suitcases. I can’t stress enough how wonderful (and unusual) it is for an organization such as the CHA to use the project to make a connection between art, and the people who work on the front lines of mental health issues. I set up 30 mounted photographs which were on display all day, and got the chance to talk to a lot of interesting folks about the project. California seems to be at the forefront of addressing behavioral health issues, which is very encouraging. A huge shout out and thank you to Sheree Kruckenberg and her amazing staff.
Dropped the rental car off this afternoon and on the walk back to Lynne’s saw a ton of these bird(s?) of paradise. Catching the red eye home tonight.
Pansy / Cyclamen
Even with the recent freezing nights, there are still some pansies in bloom outside.
This cyclamen lives outside in the warm months, and we bring it in before the first freeze. It always starts blooming as soon as it comes in the house.
To those of you who celebrate the day, have a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving.
California Bounty
I always feel a bit of an East Coast rube when I come to California. Even though I am here quite a lot, I’m always blown away by what grows out here. This lemon tree is in front of Lynne’s house. (I think I’ve posted about it before.) Last night I went out and picked about 30, came in and squeezed ’em and put the juice in 5 different ice cube trays. She now has lemon juice for the next few months. We’ll try to carry on as many as we can on the flight home.
This morning we went down to San Juan Capistrano for brunch at The Ramos House Cafe. Amazing.
The Jacaranda trees are at the tail end of blooming, and the flowers are all over the place.
And I think this comes from what is called a fried egg plant. The white part of the flower is so delicate. And huge!
Pink Lady’s Slipper
This springs’s batch of orchids is a bit smaller than in previous years. I haven’t done an extensive survey, but I am guessing that there are probably about 50 of them within 100 feet of our deck. It still amazes me that they return year after year. I am up in the woods quite a lot, and haven’t seen any other concentrations of them. For some reason the conditions near to the house are perfect.
2015 Smith College Bulb Show
The annual Smith College Spring Bulb Show always runs early in March, and Cris and I were able to go this morning.
It is always amazing.
After the winter we have had here in the Northeast, walking into a greenhouse and seeing these flowers is beyond description.
There are always tons of tulips.
As well as tiny little guys like these ↑.
Some of the tulips have these erose edges. So delicate.
I love how these little flowers are lined up in a row.
That’s a pretty tulip ↑.
Though I always gravitate more toward the greens and yellows.
And there are usually a few that are showing off the business parts of the flower. To me, it feels a bit like I’m seeing something that should be private.
I’ll close out with a couple of tulips.
Thinking of Hank, as I know he has a Smith College connection. Hi Hank, wish you were here.
Paperwhites, Again
This batch is just starting to blossom. Five bulbs for less than 5 bucks. It is simply the easiest and cheapest way to momentarily escape the winter. A glass bowl, some small stones, a few bulbs, a bit of water, et voila!
Flowering Plant
As you can tell from the title of this post, I am clueless about the names of plants that we have.
And our method for taking care of them is quite simple; inside in the winter with not too much watering, outside in the summer to let nature take its course.
At the end of last winter this plant was showing no signs of life. We put it outside anyway and it came back with a vengeance. It is now flowering like a champ.
The Regent’s Park / Wembley
I met Cris at Heathrow yesterday. She has an all-day meeting today and in order to keep her awake and adjust to the time change, we did a long walk to The Regent’s Park late in the afternoon. It is amazing that the roses in Queen Mary’s Garden are still blooming in a major way this late into the year.
Earlier in the day I realized that England were to play San Marino at Wembley in the evening, and I knew that Peter would be disappointed if I didn’t attempt to get a ticket.
I got to my seat near half-time just as Wayne Rooney was taking a penalty to make it 2 – nil.
As San Marino is considered the worst team in FIFA, the crowd was a bit sparse; announced attendance was just over 55,ooo. The final score was 5 – nil England.
I have been to lots of League matches, but never an international at Wembley, and I must say that the Brits have crowd control down to a science. Some of it has to do with the design of the stadium, some with the way that the police control things, but mostly it has to do with the fact that the English do nothing better that queueing.
It was a great evening; I thought of Peter the whole time. I really wish he was with me.
Another Walk and a Baby
Cris and I took the Olive up into the woods late this afternoon. Thanks to Sarah, Leonard, and SCJ (all readers of this blog) I think I can safely say that this is a ghost plant (aka Indian Pipe, monotropa uniflora, or monotropa hypopithys).
And there is no doubt this is a dirty yellow labrador retriever . It hasn’t rained much lately so the woods (is?) are full of lots of mud holes and very little running water. What is most amazing to me is that within an hour she is completely clean again.
And my lovely niece Heather just had another girl. On Sunday, we got to meet her while she was chillin’ with her big sister.
I am off to the UK on Thursday for some work and some fun. My great friend John Wilson just sent me this link to a wonderful article on lists. It is a great story. He’ll pick me up at Heathrow Friday morning and I can’t wait to see him.
Hydrangea
We have a bunch of different hydrangea(s?) growing around the house. I especially like the color of these ones.
I keep meaning to post a bunch of photographs covering what’s been going on in the past few weeks, but I don’t seem to get around to it. I have been trying to put up at least one new case on the Willard site each day for the past week. Check out Pearl B’s case, which I uploaded this evening.
Thanks for following, everyone. Wishing you all a great week.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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