Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Wednesday Vignette: Let’s drop by the Huntington

I'm all sorts of in love with this image from my December 2019 visit to the Huntington Gardens. It looks like I have a fancy camera with a fish-eye lens, right? But this was taken with my trusty old Sony Cyber-Shot point-and-shoot before it died, later, on this same vacation.

You guys the last week has been hard. We're all dealing with this strange new normal in our own way. For the most part I've been doing pretty well, and why wouldn't I? I'm lucky. I've got my garden, nurseries are open and pretty safe to visit. I've had lots of masked garden visitors, and most importantly I've not been sick, nor have my loved ones. My husband is still employed and my cobbled together freelance work is still rolling—nothing to complain about right? Right. Yet. I've been home for nearly six months straight now. I have never EVER been home for that long. Travel is so important to me. I miss my family, my friends, a change of scenery. I so want to get out on the road. But I also understand the importance of playing it safe. So home I stay. How are you doing?

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Weather Diary, Aug 25: Hi 82, Low 57/ Precip 0

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

15 comments:

  1. Boy, are our minds aligned... I too consider myself lucky. Every time I leave the house, and see the growing tent cities along the roads traveled, that point is reinforced. We still have a roof over our heads, food on our table, and a registered address - meaning we can still vote in 68 days. I do make small trips here and there. Today, I'm going to Mt Angel for a consult, and then stopping at Secret Garden Growers. Very much looking forward to that mental treat. Hang in there, even if it's unusually hard right now. <3

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    1. Thanks Anna. I did get out for an hour long drive up north last week, it was good for my head and I need to do it more often.

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  2. This fish-eye like shot is a beauty. Did you research new camera since yours gave up the ghost?
    Travel is a problem if overnight accommodation is necessary. It just doesn't sound safe enough. Most of us are probably to advanced in years to put up a tent in a family's back yard... I envy anyone who's family is a car ride away; an outdoor picnic seems like a dream right now.

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    1. Yes! I bought a Canon PowerShot SX740 HS last spring, I love it. It's a little heavier than my old Sony, so it's nice to have your camera too. Options! It is the idea of needing to find safe accommodations that's keeping me close to home. I do wish I were a camper!

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  3. Beautiful shot! I feel very much the same way. I remind myself daily how lucky I am, even when I can't see the hills through the now persistent haze, a legacy of wildfires. My family up north is fine, although my niece and her partner evacuated and are spending time with the partner's family in San Diego. I've made 2 trips to my local botanic garden but, for a variety of reasons, I haven't been comfortable enough to spend more than an hour at a time there. I've been very tempted to make a trip to Sherman Gardens roughly an hour away but haven't mustered the will to go ahead, even though I'm reasonably sure it'd be safe. The ugly political divide hangs over everything, even here in "notoriously" liberal SoCal, and the anti-mask rhetoric in the OC puts me off.

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    1. Oh go to Sherman Gardens! The trip will do you good and I'd love to see your photos. I am thankful your family is okay.

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  4. I certainly am feeling just as you so eloquently expressed! I hope our world will be back to us soon!

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    1. Soon...I question what that means anymore.

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  5. Hikes in mornings. Sister in law in Washington hikes every Thurs. with 4 friends. I volunteer in a thrift shop 2x a week. We wear masks when around people and work at our own tables or space. We only work days when customers aren't there and have no contact with them. I volunteer at Extension gardens 2x a week in a propagation garden. We all work far apart in our own area's.
    But I'm dying to go to coast! Walk on the beach will do us good.

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    1. The beach, yes indeed. It is calling. (nice agave!)

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  6. Like most who have commented, I thank my stars that I am so fortunate -- no one I know has contracted Covid and financially we are ok. But how I miss travelling and the prospect of travel. So many places are beckoning... which is why part of my remedy is to review photos of gardens I've visited and post them on Instagram. (Glen_Villa_Garden) In this 100th anniversary year of when American women got the vote, I'm also doing some research into women of the time who were landscape architects. Marian Coffin was the first I posted about... Beatrix Ferrand or Ellen Biddle Shipman may soon follow. But writing and remembering a garden isn't nearly as satisfying as seeing one.

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    1. For the first time in a very long time I am down to just two gardens that I've visited and not written about in my files. Of course the Huntington supplies a lot of material, but it's an odd feeling to not have a backlog.

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  7. Wonderful shot, Loree. I never tire of seeing the Huntington.
    Every time I think of going somewhere, the risks always seem more than I am willing to take on. Not much is worth risking my life! So like you, I stay put. Most of the time, I like the simpler life. I just wonder when I'll ever get to see my son in CA again. That is the hardest part for me. So FT or Zoom it will have to be for now.

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    1. Yes indeed, not seeing family (and friends who are like family) is the worst part.

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  8. When the heat eases a bit I need to go to the Huntington...it's been ages! This has been some marathon of misery for everyone. My own version has been watching my vibrant mom decline, getting her into a good board-and-care, and within a few weeks she loses the ability to speak and pandemic shutdown begins, so she's totally isolated. Then I have emergency surgery which in a weird way allowed me to not worry about anything else for a couple months and just heal. My mom just passed away this week, and I'm so relieved for her to be done with that illness. I was able to visit with her the past couple months and just read her cards and texts from friends and family. The fires! Disrespect for science! The high tolerance for flagrant political corruption -- I don't care what judges or tax cuts you like, we don't want to become Belarus! etc, etc. Hugs to you, Loree. And tell Andrew I picked up one of his 10 favs when I was at a nursery the other day -- tephrocactus!

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