lana banana

(AUF WIEDERSEHEN PART I)ONADARKDESERTHIGHWAY,COOLWINDINMYHAIR,WARMSMELLOFCOLITASRISINGUPTHROUGHTHEAIR

yesterday, gigi, her husband, her mom, and i took twaddle and tweedle to the huntington before heading out to griffith observatory.

it was their last big day in el lay before heading back to norden, germany . . . they were visiting for a month as a part of a german exchange program at our school. and though i'm not part of the german program, nor do i speak german . . . though, i admit, i do like sauerkraut quite a bit . . . i was made honorary member of the program just by the fact that my classroom is next door to gigi's.

if you've never been to the huntington, you MUST go!

hope y'all enjoy the tour . . .

(all photos: 2008: san marino, ca.)

(left to right: gigi, mr. gigi, g-mom, twaddle, tweedle.)

(the state flower of california: the poppy (at least i think this is a poppy . . .)

(and another . . .)

(gigi in front of some seriously spikey cacti . . .)

(wow, umm, glad i ain't lost in that forrest.)

(cactus 1: "what do you want for dinner?" cactus 2: "i don't know. what do you want for dinner?" cactus 1: "you know, for once i would like for you to make the decisions!")

("mooooooom, how much longer do we have to pose for these people? my neck is killing me!")

("yeah, you just wait until YOU get old . . .")

(pssssst, twaddle, tweedle, look this way!)

(TWEEDLE!)

(you know, if god exists, he's got a delicious sense of humor.)

(this flower was the size of my pinky and yet look how beautiful . . . it's amazing, isn't it, life?)

(i half expected tinker bell, herself, to crawl out of this gorgeous thing.)

(bushy, bright, brilliant ball of beauty.)

(this plant is called "crown of thorns" . . . so, not only does this god have a great sense of humor, but apparently an equally wonderful sense of irony. what a remarkable dichtomy, don't you think? that something can be forbidding and inviting all at once . . .)

(cool, huh?)

(it's a good thing that the cacti garden wasn't any larger or else twaddle might have lost his vision altogether . . .)

(AUF WIEDERSEHEN PART II)UPAHEADINTHEDISTANCEISAWASHIMMERINGLIGHT. . .

all fingers and toes still intact, we moved into my favorite section of the huntington: the japanese garden . . .

(all photos: 2008: san marino, ca.)

(mr. gigi and gigi. mr. gigi is from germany. he and gigi met in germany when she went there to get her MA in german. don't let their cute little faces fool you, they're texas hold 'em sharks those two.)

(when i saw this on the way to the japanese gardens, it reminded me of the children's book "the secret garden" by frances hodgson burnett, which i read and reread and reread as a kid . . .)

(here we go! my favorite spot!)

(the trail up to the main part of the garden is lined with gorgeous bushes that were blushing in a variety of pinks . . . like this . . .)

(and this . . .)

(then, as though being born again, you come out of the dark trail into the luminous loveliness of the huntington's japanese garden . . )

(so maybe not everything about those robber barons was bad . . .)

(if i ever get married, i want wedding photos here.)

(a taisho sanshoku koi . . . just means it's a white-skinned koi with red and black patches.)

(a yellow ogon koi. he was saying something to me, but my japanese is very poor.)

(i think he was saying something about going to france on holiday this summer . . .)

(unfortunately, my japanese wasn't good enough to reply . . . not that i could've been of much help anyway; i've never been to france.)

(i adore cherry blossoms.)

(mmm, i could take a permanent nap beneath these branches . . .)

(even the trunk is exquisite.)

(clearly, ruskin was wrong; beauty and the sublime are obviously one.)

(gives you a sense of calm, huh?)

(i learned that "bonsai" is not a tree, but rather an art . . . and that any tree can be bonsai . . . i didn't know that. did you?)

(wow.)

(double wow.)

(well, now that we've perused the wonders of the japanese garden, where are we off to next?)

(twaddle's easy; he'll go anywhere . . . but what about tweedle? she looks very serious, indeed.)

(maybe we ought to ask buddha?)

(AUF WIEDERSEHEN PART III)PLENTYOFROOMATTHEHOTELCALIFORNIAANYTIMEOFYEAR,YOUCANFINDITHERE

(all photos: 2008: san marino, ca.)

(the shakespeare rose garden, which, unfortunately, was not in bloom. don't you think it's ironic that it's the shakespeare ROSE garden? ha!)

(rrrrrrrrrr . . .)

(a white rose. prj said these were his favorite. this one, barely blossoming, reminded me of the potential that was there . . .)

(lovely.)

(eye in the sky.)

(the next 6 photos, including this one, were in the huntington's tropical garden, which felt so much like costa rica that i got a little homesick . . .)