“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The first week of August is motionless, and hot …” ~ Natalie Babbett, “Tuck Everlasting” The above is from a children’s classic is […]
“If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?” ~ Marie Dressler, 1930 Oscar winner, Depression era vaudeville trouper, stage and screen actor Do people really spread out a red-and-white checkered tablecloth for a picnic? Maybe that was back in the “good ole summertime.” A wicker basket […]
Drought? What Drought? What happened to the attractive, well-established native and drought-tolerant plantings along Honolulu Avenue in Montrose? I was shocked and concerned to see they had been replaced by grass. Allow me to explain the reason for my initial reaction and now my concern for the new landscape design. Wasn’t it only a […]
“If you should rear a duck in the heart of the Sahara, no doubt it would swim if you brought it to the Nile.” ~ Mark Twain As August approaches, it’s clear that this summer is a hot one. Last week I began writing about summer weather and swimming pools. The allotted column space was […]
“Oh fair enough are sky and plain, But I know fairer far: Those are as beautiful again That in the water are; The pools and rivers wash so clean The trees and clouds and air, The like on earth was never seen, And oh that I were there.” – A.E. Housman, English poet and scholar […]
“One who neglects or disregards the existence of earth, air, fire, water and vegetation disregards his own existence which is entwined with them.” ~ Mahavira, 600 B.C. Indian Prince & Philosopher In last week’s column I mentioned something about the temperatures going from hot to hotter. I hesitated to pass this information on as it […]
“One can follow the sun, of course, but I have always thought that it is best to know some winter, too, so that the summer, when it arrives, is the more gratefully received.” ~ Beatriz Williams, “Along the Infinite Sea” Summer has arrived, whether at the iconic monoliths of England’s Stonehenge or along the foothills […]
“Spring flew swiftly by and summer came; and if the village had been beautiful at first, it was now in the full glow and luxuriance of its richness.” ~ Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” The backdrop of our village – the San Gabriel Mountains – is green. The plentiful rainwater of winter and spring is […]
“Life is like Mother Nature, unpredictable. There are cloudy days and there are sunny days but you have the power to decide the weather of your life.” ~ Artyom Gross The first days of June arrived last weekend without the predicted fog and dismal gloom. These typical conditions had been forecast by the NWS; I […]
Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes And all the night’s magic seems to whisper … ~ “Moondance” lyrics by Van Morrison The evening was brilliant, even without a full moon. As I drove home Sunday morning – at 5:30 a.m. – the eastern sky […]