Imagine a world full of roses.
Imagine–1
Imagine a world full of roses.
flowers
Sunday Poem
This morning snow capped mountains
brought me joy.
In afternoon I
strolled through gardens,
lunched with daughter near gurgling streams.
Flowers smiled at me,
A bamboo forest beckoned.
Nature’s beauty overcame negativity, despair.
We will
Endure
Overcome.
Fall Colors
vibrant fall colors
bring joy
in a troubled world
El Barrio Bonito
Every week I go to Mendez High School in Boyle Hts., CA. Between meetings with my students, I take a walk in one of my favorite neighborhoods. Frequently when a person mentions low income housing, a negative image comes to their minds. Wrong. The neighborhood where I walk is beautiful, lovely places full of flowers. In one area the buildings are painted in joyous colors that make me smile every time I walk there. Here are photos for you to see for yourself.
Downtown LA in the background.
A Poem for National Poetry Month
roses
rainbow colors
joy
Perfect Spring Day
They tell writers, “Never ever use cliches.”
Sometimes I question that. When you
word a cliche, nearly everyone knows
exactly what you mean. For example:
This is a perfect spring day:
-birdsong wafting here and there,
mostly mockingbirds except for those
irredescent, orange-throated
hummingbirds at their feeder
-wind singing through the pines
-open windows for a change; it’s
75 degrees and sunny
-magenta and scarlet bougainvillea
climbing the garden wall
-white and lavender lantana
outdoing themselves with
spread and bloom
-geraniums in full flower
-mint growing so fast and tall
I already need to trim it.
I lounge on the patio reading
another novel, drinking rosewater
lassi, munching mixed nuts.
I feel gratitude for this
perfect spring day.
Nostalgia
Today is the first day of National Poetry Month. I am committing myself to write a poem a day. Here is the first one for the month.
Easter yesterday made me sad,
remembering children, grandson,
egg dying, egg hunting, family
together, laughter, joy.
Found photos of my family,
I, a child, dressed in Easter finery,
a family tradition. Dad bought us
corsages to wear every Easter,
pretty dresses in spring colors–
my favorite a pink dress trimmed
in scarlet, a unique combination
explained why I liked it so much,
felt special wearing it.
Today I wear pink and orange
together, admire the deep purple
and red bougainvillea, scarlet rosebuds,
snowy freeway daisies,
shining in the sun and wonder
will I live long enough to teach
a great grandchild to color
Easter eggs.
September Snow
rain suprises
snow bursts. blooms
hints of autumn air
An Afternoon Stroll at The Huntington
Friday, I decided to look around at parts of The Huntington since I had not been there in a while. For one thing, I knew the roses would be in full bloom, and even though I had been there a number of times, I had never looked around the rose garden. They did not disappoint.
Find the bird among the roses.
The building is the newly reopened Tea Room.
This rose has perfume as part of its name and smells divine.
I left the rose area and strolled in the herb garden seen above. Then I found a new kind of artichoke, Opera Artichoke. See below.
Facing away from the rose garden I could see all the way to downtown Los Angeles.
This tree is labeled Naked Coral.
Then I strolled through the tropical garden area.
Fig trees.
After leaving the tropical area, I wandered around cactus and succulent gardens.
Baja Trip-7: Tres Mujeres Winery
Originally started by three women–see the name, this woman is the only one of the three left as owner. She said she has been doing this for 20 years. The vineyards keep healthy without the use of toxic herbicides or pesticides. She says the breezes from the ocean help with keeping the vines healthy. She also has olive trees and gardens and a small restaurant–outside. The vegetables, flowers, etc. used in the restaurant are grown there. Below is the salad we had for lunch.
Lunch under the trees.
Wine tasting underground. What you notice when you drink all natural wines is that at the bottom of the bottle there is usually a residue.
The path in and out of the tasting room.
Buildings and fences made of local stone and flowers everywhere.
Stones, some quite large, show up everywhere in this part of Valle de Guadalupe. Some buildings, restaurants, other wineries, houses are build around the rocks with rocks as part of the architecture. I took the following photos from Tres Mujeres.
A lot of Valle de Guadalupe reminded me of parts of New Mexico and also the rocky hills around Temecula, California.
Not only are there over 100 vineyards in this valley but also endless olive groves. Locally pressed olive oil can also be purchased at many of the wineries. The other specialty is cheese. We stopped at one shop, the Cremeria Los Globos where they specialized in many cheeses filled with chipotle, black pepper, you name it. Honey is also produced locally and for sale at many wineries. For the most part, everything is all natural.
writingontherim 