THE CALIFORNIA WEEKEND

I've got to show you, Viewer Dear, a few more photos of the fantastic flora, bit of fauna,  and the many other lovely things we saw in Pasadena at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.

We actually saw only a tiny portion of the gardens, as we wanted to allow time to see the Huntington Library, which houses such impressive artifacts as:

Originals by John James Audubon,

 Seven-hundred-year-old manuscripts on vellum,

 and The original Gutenberg Bible!
 ......

We also took time to visit the Huntington's (West Coast) dwelling place, located on this property (maintained beautifully, allowing folks like myself to marvel mightily over the furnishings*).

 *But, truth be told,
Reader Dear, I had done so much marveling over the current weather pattern there in Pasadena, that the hand-patterned, hand-knotted rugs (in spite of their 5,600,000 hand-tied knots) had to take a back seat!

...................................................
Oh, yes, Dear Reader.
More to come, as, after all, a weekend does include
late Saturday afternoon, and almost always Sunday!

IT'S PARADISE!

Er,
 I mean Pasadena!

The Yard Man and I are at the home of our warm and gracious hosts, Erich and Irmgard.  From their back deck, one looks out at a snow-capped mountain. 

Hallelujah for the foreground!
And, then, the same sentiment for the Huntington Library, Botanical Gardens, and Art Collections, which is our place-to-visit on this Saturday morning.
(As for the eighty-two

degree temperature, Reader Dear, you may, yes, correctly assume that I'm giddy)

.........

...to be continued*

*...as this is only the beginning,

Viewer Dear. 

WINTER FADED WITH THE LIFTING

OF WINGS.

Yes, indeed.  The Yard Man woke me at 3:30 a.m.  

There was a full moon in the sky, but the temperature was seven degrees, and the snow was seven inches deep.  

By the time we got to the first airport, the sun had lit up the sky.

By the time we reached the second airport, I figured it wasn't just a dream.









I was California bound!
...........................

SATURDAY March forth!

WINTER IS WEARING ON MY

nerves, Reader Dear!

It seems just as soon as we finish with one bout of snow and/or ice and/or freezing rain, and we have a day that is more than half sunny and in which the temperatures are a balmy not-quite-freezing, then Father Nature strikes again!

Today, for example, we had nearly eight hours of white and/or freezing precipitation.  I drove nearly twenty-five miles in the slippery stuff, which set my teeth on edge and caused my whole body to tense up like a high-school English lesson. (Verbs: creep, brake, slide, gasp, clutch, pound.)  Past tense was such a relief!

Here, Viewer Dear, is my entire Winter Collection of photos. I am done with them!
 


I am so ready to pitch the whole eclectic mix into a snowbank,

and fly off to Southern California with the guy who clears snow off the driveway where I park my car.*
..............


*Soon to follow: news of
warm and sunny** California, Dear Reader!
**(please, please)