Category Archives: All Posts

Matilija Poppy

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My son has the greenest thumb EVER. I lovelove the Matilija poppy but have never been able to keep a single plant alive, and this beauty is more than six feet tall in its first year. He told me that everyone who walks by stops to take pics and a selfie in front of this incredible specimen.

This morning a fried egg appeared in the backyard,
a startling yellow ball floating
on a white round of wide petals.
Officially: Matilija Poppy.
It hovers,
this hint of perfection,
above mostly unadorned foliage. — Kari Wergeland’

Romneya coulteri: A shrubby perennial that grows to eight feet, found on dry slopes and sandy washes in coastal sage scrub and chaparral, generally away from the coast (mountain foothills and Santa Ana Mountains). 

Like many others in this family this species is a fire follower. While it’s on the California Native Plant Society List 4.2, a watch list for species with limited distribution in California, it’s thriving in Washington state.

I guess I’ll keep trying until I achieve success.

Random Photos From Around the Neighborhood

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This is a friend’s land tortoise who likes to make himself at home in their living room. They’ve had him for a couple of decades and he follows me around when I wear pink or red. He must think I look like a hibiscus flower, his favorite snack.

Don’t know who did this, but it’s a cute fire hydrant, all dressed up.

I tried to get closer to this white egret, but he flew away…

OPINION | Ban Fireworks #July4th #IndependenceDay

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There’s nothing to celebrate on the #July4th when traditional fireworks cause environmental pollution, scare wildlife, pets, and veterans.

Instead, let’s be smart and kind and use laser light shows. It’s virtually the same experience with zero #cruelty. #BanFireworks#IndependenceDay

Fortunately, a growing number of cities and counties are opting to prohibit fireworks, including recently adopted bans in Portland, Oregon; San Jose, California; Detroit, Michigan; and King County, Washington (home to Seattle).

The Animal Legal Defense Fund advocates in favor of such bans to protect animals and the ecosystems in which they live.

Companion Animals at Risk

Every July like clockwork, news articles and social media posts are published sharing advice for animal guardians about how to keep their companions as safe and calm as possible on the Fourth of July.

And, every July like clockwork, municipal animal shelters fill to the brim with dogs and cats who’ve escaped their homes and yards, becoming lost as they try to flee the sounds, smells, and vibrations of fireworks.

Wildlife Suffer for Fireworks

As for animals in the wild, they face perils of their own as a result of fireworks. “We know what to expect, but wildlife don’t,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes, adding that “[t]he abrupt lights and sounds are often seen as a threat by nesting bald eagles and easily startle great blue herons and other colonial nesting birds.”

Additional Problems for Humans and the Environment

Fireworks have environmental and public health impacts that are rarely considered or fully appreciated. They release particulate matter and toxins, adversely affecting air quality. They also pose a serious risk of igniting wildfires, particularly in areas facing dry conditions.

Many humans are also bothered by fireworks, including people with post-traumatic stress disorder, those on the autism spectrum, and others with sensory processing challenges.

https://aldf.org/article/animals-suffer-for-fireworks-more-localities-are-implementing-bans/

Gardening for Mental Health

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Just a joke, but maybe also partly truthful, especially with all of these planetary energies creating havoc!

What do you think?

Feel the Full Moon Energy

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Keep your eyes on the sky!

The moon begins her stately ride
Across the summer sky;
The happy wavelets lash the shore,
The tide is rising high. (From Evening Moon Paul Laurence Dunbar)

July’s full Buck Moon orbits closer to Earth than many of the other full moons this year, making it one of the four super moons of 2023.

This full moon in Capricorn is ruled by Chronos (Saturn) and Poseidon (Neptune), both powerful gods.

I’m not exactly sure what all that means, but in general, full moons can serve to illuminate our belief systems and define our overall intentions to live in joy and integrity.

Don’t forget to set out a jar of water along with your crystals to be cleansed and charged by the moon’s powerful energy.

(Art curated from Pinterest)

A Joy Forever

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“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” — John Keats.

I used to love to walk through the downtown of my little city, until elected officials decided to call it a “village” but instead ruin it by filling it with boxes of ugly square buildings and a lot more places for people to get nasty drunk.

There’s no longer any charm; the atmosphere is entirely UNvillage-like, actually about as far away from being a “village” as you could possibly get.

I usually stay away but yesterday I found myself in the area and stopped at a little consignment shop, not the same one where I once scored AUTHENTIC Louis Vuitton and Dior scarves in the same day, but one with housewares and touristy stuff.

That’s where i fell in love with this beautiful work of art in the form of a pitcher and HAD to bring it home with me.

She needed a special photo shoot to properly reveal the iridescent green and gold, so I brought her out to the garden to soak up a few rays.

Have you ever seen anything more charming and ENCHANTED? I think not.

There’s no maker mark so it’s not valuable to anyone but me, but I love pretty things and this pitcher will definitely be on display in all of her glory. I’m burying the lede here, but in case you’re wondering, it cost $8.00.That’s it. EIGHT DOLLARS.

A thing of beauty is absolutely a joy forever.

Inner Child ⭐ Love

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“It doesn’t matter how old you are, there is a little child within who needs love and acceptance.”- Louise Hay

Do you still wish upon a star? I do, because my own inner child is blissfully naive and unsophisticated.

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have this wish I wish tonight.⭐

I wrote a letter
To my inner child
And, I told her
How loved she was by me
And, if no one else
Ever told her so
She knew
How loved she was, by me

⭐

And when
We grow up
We must never forget
That hidden, down deep
Within us
Is our forever inner child
Resting, silently within us
Forever waiting
Forever hoping
That one day
We shall
Remember it

⭐

And, if a star shall fall
Down upon the ground
Why, I shall pick her up
For she longed to be found
I shall hold her forever
Forever in my heart
Knowing that we shall never
Ever again, be apart

By Athey Thompson from A little Pocket Book of Poems

Hearts and Gardens

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The last week has been heavy with sad and tragic events from around the world. As we leave June and enter another month, let’s lighten the energy with a beautiful quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about planting kindness wherever we can.

“Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine, Kind words, and Kind deeds.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

BREAKING NEWS: Rest in Peace, Julian Sands

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Here’s confirmation.from San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department:

Coroner Identifies Remains Located in the Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area on June 24, 2023

DATE/TIME: June 24, 2023 / 10:00 a.m.
INCIDENT: Human Remains Located
LOCATION: Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area
DECEASED PARTY: Julian Sands, 65-year-old resident of North Hollywood, CA

UPDATE- June 27, 2023: The identification process for the body located on Mt. Baldy on June 24, 2023, has been completed and was positively identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood. The manner of death is still under investigation, pending further test results.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly to locate Mr. Sands.

Hopefully, this information will offer some kind of solace to family and loved ones.

Rest in peace.

Word of the Day: Latibulate

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Latibulate is a word we definitely need to bring back into daily circulation!

It’s the the action of hiding oneself in a corner: verb, 17th century English.

To be in our latibule (noun) means a cozy, safe place, special to you, hidden away from everyone, in an attempt to escape reality; also to lie dormant.

A place to meditate? A she-shed? A man cave? A blanket fort?

I always thought it’d be so cool to have one of those hidden rooms, to be accessed only by those who knew which secret panel to press in a bookcase.

Or if you’re mom to a toddler, it could even be the bathroom, where we can hide for a few minutes of privacy and silence. Maybe. Maybe not.

“Mom/Grandma, are you in there? Whatcha doing? Can I come in? The door won’t open!”

Angel Boy 2.0 no longer joins me in the bathroom. That was a tradition we agreed to stop when he was four and he kept his word. Now that he’s seven, he likes his own private time and we all respect that, too.

Angel Girl, not yet four, is more fluid in her boundaries. She’s in that in between stage; not quite a big girl but no longer a baby. Sometimes she likes company and a chat, sometimes she likes to brush her teeth with me, mirroring all of my actions. Yes, it’s as adorable as you could picture it.

Especially now, we all need a place to latibulate away from civilization, far away from the madding crowd.

“Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learned to stray;
Along the cool sequestered vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.”
– Thomas Gray