Author: Juliana Lightle

My First Published Poem

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April is National Poetry Month. While emptying one of the boxes still stacked in the garage after the move, I found the book in which Missouri high school student’s poems were published. The following includes a photo of the book and my first published poem included in it.

Afternoon at the California Botanical Garden

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Unlike The Huntington where you can find plants from all over the world, this garden focuses on plants native to California.

Near the entrance.

Not sure you can see here, but the mountain top has a tiny bit of snow left even though in the 80s in the garden.

Many of the plants are labeled. This one was not.


This is the sycamore mentioned in the previous photo.
These large trees are everywhere. I did not see a label.
Channel Islands Bush Poppies. I have not made it to Channel Islands National Park yet.
In this photo the snow on the mountain is evident. Much of this garden is forested and cool.
California Iris
Poppies and Firecracker Penstemon.
Wild Iris blooming everywhere.
A small Coastal Redwood forest. Redwood trees grow better if more than one so they can join roots and communicate. I have one in my yard and no space to plant another to keep it company.
One of the mountains often referred to as sisters.
At my house all the squirrels are brown. Here I saw both grey and brown.
California Buckeye. The flowers emit an intense heavenly perfume.
The flowers. If I had space in my yard, I would plant one.
Wild strawberries.
The edge of a sculpture garden with some interesting sculptures.
Poppies and Iris.
More Iris .
Many flowers, many colors growing together.

Blackwater Draw

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I walk the mile long trail down into the depths,

caliche, gravel, larger rocks strewn by millennia.

The ancients–Clovis, Folsom, Portales

Man–hunted here at the shores of a lake

nearly 12,000 years ago. In 1929, an amateur

archeologist discovered a spear point lodged in bone.

Scattered cottonwoods whisper in the wind,

timeless voices call me, beckoning.

Who were these people? What did they

look like? Where did they come

from? In whose gods, goddesses, did

they believe? Doubtless hunger

drove them to this place of water

and plenty. Columbia mammoths, giant

sloths, dire wolves, saber toothed cats.

I walk this long path, read signs

that tell what diggers found at specific

spots along the trail: bison horns

spanning seven feet, mammoths twice

the size of elephants. I stand in the shade

of the cottonwoods. They whisper to me.

They tell me ancient tales of hunger, strife,

beauty, love, endurance, woe, war, weaponry,

courage and community. How did they overcome

danger, fear? My skin tingles strangely

in the summer heat. Now this land is dry,

desert, the water that sustained teeming life

evaporated in the crystalline air.

Twelve thousand years from now who will stand here?

Will this place exist? Will someone wonder the meaning

of our bones, who we were, what we believed?

Hot Pink Toenails

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Since this is National Poetry Month, I have decided to post a few of my poems from my book “On the Rim of Wonder” which can be found on Amazon. This particular poem has been one of the more popular poems.

The day I met Tom

my toenails were pink.

A big mistake!

He called me the lady with the hot

pink toenails.

I am not a hot

pink person.

They should have been red

or orange.

I am orange person–

mixed with lot of red.

It took me two weeks

of looking at those hot

pink toe nails

to paint them red.

Am I happier now?

Not really

but I know

it is the real me,

my own toes when I

look down.

When she painted them pink

the woman said,

“Old ladies want red toenails.”

Will I be able to look

at my toenails and not

think “old lady”?

Will I have to find

a new color?

Probably.

Maybe orange marmalade or cinnamon spice or burnt sienna.

The Huntington Library

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After several trips to the gardens, about which I have already blogged, and one to the two art galleries, earlier this week I went with Faith Mowoe to The Huntington Library. The photos are somewhat self explanatory.

It is possible for scholars to see some of the many documents not on display.
The second floor is full of books and documents, but regular visitors are only allowed on the first floor.
Chaucer.
Cicero works copied in the mid 1400s see above.
Sir Isaac Newton
Newton was interested in astrology–this surprised me.
I learned that Newton was quite interested in astrology. Hence the photo previous to this one.
More on Newton’s interest in astrology.

The Gutenberg Bible.
A little known play by Shakespeare as it was published during his lifetime.
The above two photos are original copies and drafts of Joyce’s most famous work.
This book is extremely large and contains original Audubon pictures.
Octavia Butler was a California native. I am a big fan of her work and am currently in the middle of her Patternist series. Last year I taught one of her short stories about a pandemic.

The library is also full of old maps from all over the world. They compare maps to novels and how the plot of a novel is a map in words. Here is an example of a map from Don Quixote. Many modern fantasy novels have maps of the locations of places in the novel.

A Letter for International Women’s Day

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Dear Fellow Females:

Celebrate yourselves today,

tomorrow, every day!

Stand strong, be brave, promote persistence, purpose.

Without you, your will, your abilities, your strength

humanity cannot continue to exist.

I salute you!

The Huntington Gardens–Part Two

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In the last six weeks I have travelled to these gardens five times, two alone and three with house guests. Amid all the turmoil in the world today this is a place where nature continues its grand display, instilling a sense of peace and quiet.

My son headed to the Chinese and Japanese gardens.
Earlier photos were the walk to arrive here at the Japanese Gardens.

Depending on how you walk through the gardens, you walk to Japanese first, then Chinese, then back to the Japanese Gardens. This and the following few photos are the Chinese Gardens.

The Chinese Garden is filled with various sizes of limestone that looks like sculptures but is natural. The next time I go, I am going to learn what is written on many of the pieces of limestone.

In many places you can see the San Gabriel Mountains which are not far away.
The pond is filled with fish.
My son enjoying the waterfall.
I sat on a bench and stared at this for a long time, wondering how they do this without messing any of it up. There are doze
Looking back as we are on the way out.
And finally something European as we headed toward the parking area.

After five times, I have seen most of the gardens–next post will be some photos of the Australian area–and the two art galleries. Never made it to the library yet.

The Huntington–Gardens, Part One

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Where have I been? Entertaining my son whom I had not seen in more than two years. One of the things he wanted to do was visit The Huntington in Pasadena after seeing some photos I took on a visit in January. Unless you get there as soon as they open and stay all day, it is impossible to see everything in one day. I have been there four times and only seen the gardens. The library and art gallery await for another time. Here are the photos from the first excursion with my son, Erik.

Erik took a lot of photos. This set is mostly in the desert garden section filled with cactus and succulents.
Yes, those are thorns sticking out of the trunk.

In many place in the gardens you can see the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

I found the colors and texture of the trunk of this tree quite a contrast to many in the desert area. This photo and several that follow were taken in the Australian section.
Some of these trees are too huge to get all the tree in a photo.
On the way out. The rest had to wait for another day.