I enjoyed two weeks in Maui, Hawaii, attending the Maui Writers Conference (MWC) and retreat. I received helpful advice from instructor H.W. Brands, a professor, historian, and writer of more than 20 books. He's written mostly biographies on American Presidents and books on foreign policy.
While in Hawaii, I made sure to spend an extra few days seeing some of the island and enjoying activities. I snorkeled in Molokini crater, learned to sea kayak, hiked at Iao Valley State Park, and toured an interactive nature center, the Maui Ocean Center, Bailey House Museum. I sailed on America's Cup II, a vessel which won a yachting race.
My favorite time was snorkeling and seeing the exotic tropical fishes. Their colors astound me-- fins with purple, orange, yellow. I spotted a brown, mottled eel slithering in the rocks. Trumpet fish (or are they called needle fish?) clustered together, eight of them. A porcupine fish swam on the sea bottom, snuffling at the sand, about 15 feet down.
I feel healthier in Hawaii, must be the sun, fresh air, and spirit there.
Hugs, Susan
dolphindancer
A LOVELY SPRINGLIKE DAY AT DESCANSO GARDENS
flowers
A LOVELY SPRINGLIKE DAY AT DESCANSO GARDENS c. 2007 Susan Friesen
My daughters and I wanted enjoyed the Springlike weather recently in Southern California. For a long time I've wanted to take the children to a botanical garden I much enjoyed as a child, Descanso Gardens. http://www.descansogardens.org/site/
The gardens were first an estate owned by Los Angeles Daily News publisher, E. Manchester Boddy. He named his estate, "Rancho del Descanso," which, in Spanish, means "Ranch of Rest."
The 160 acres of gardens, forest, and chaparral are truly are restful and relaxing. As a child, I loved running through the camellias, such regal plants. Descanso Gardens hosts a forest of many species of camellias. You can learn more about them here: http://www.descansogardens.org/site/camfest.cfm I love the white ones especially. They're so pristine. My girls and I enjoyed picking petals off some fallen camellias and throwing them onto the top of a little stream filled with koi. The koi must love flower petals, as they hungrily gulped them down. We saw many large mouths coming to the surface, downing the pretty petals. Whole camellia blossoms looked beautiful floating atop the water, almost like a Japanese painting.
My favorite part of the day was seeing a ruby-throated hummingbird forming a nest on a camellia branch. My oldest daughter spotted the hummer and nest first. We stood under the camellia tree, amazed at the bird flitting to the tiny nest, sitting there, then fluffing feathers. Later, I went back to the car to get my larger zoom lens so I could capture the hummingbird up-close. Seeing through that lens, I saw how precious that hummer mommy was: she searched for the softest down feathers, took them to the nest, then tamped them down with her body, so her future young would have a soft feather bed, It was simply an amazing sight and I only wish I had a digicam with me to capture the movement. I'm looking forward to seeing the photos when they're developed and hope they turned out well.
We stayed awhile and watched the Disney corporation filming a commercial for Disney Channel. The movie company took a whole grove for their project. We didn't recognize the star, but she looked like a gal from one of the shows meant for preschoolers. She was tiny, about 4 feet, and pretended to play a guitar while little kids ran behind her as if she were Peter Pan. We want to see if the commercial airs, as we saw it made.
On the way out of the gardens, I took time to photograph some lovely tulips, narcissus, and ranuncula flowers. I ran out of film, so didn't capture the shot of a lovely sundial. The arms pointed to 1 p.m., which was the correct time.
Have you ever visited a botanical garden? What did you like best?
Hummingbirds are nature's helicopters..... amazing birds!
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STAINED GLASS, copyright Susan L. Friesen, July 26, 2006
1Cr 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
How often do we look through smudged or dirty glass in many aspects of life? I ask this both symbolically and literally.
To see, or not to see……. How often we go through life either unable to see, or unwilling to see, or seeing “through a glass darkly.”
I wear glasses and often need Kleenex to clean water spots and specks. I don’t know how it happened, but one lens has a long scratch, which can’t be buffed-away. Trying to peer past the scratch is a constant distraction. I may have to replace the lens, get a new pair of glasses—an extra expense. I could purchase disposable contact lenses, but they’re more expensive than traditional specs. Last year, I purchased contacts, though, to be able to see the tropical fish when in Hawaii last year. It revealed a whole new world once hidden from sight. My contacts prescription is now expired.
In front of the home are three full-grown Washingtonian (or Mexican fan) palm trees. Crows nest in the trees and, as birds do, leave droppings. Where do they land? On the car I use. Regularly, I need to hose and scrub-off the windshield. Where are the birds? Our family looks up (yikes!) and don’t see the crows most of the time, but they must be there nesting at night, or something, to leave such a mess each morning.
I look through many windows in the course of my life and the windows need tending, even replacing. We’re renovating our home and one important change is taking down the old single-pane windows, replacing them with more modern thermal, double-paned ones, which will keep out heat and help regulate the inside temperature more. Right now, even as I blog, this room is menacingly hot, even with fans spinning. When the new windows are placed, it should feel 100% better in this room.
Stained glass windows are so lovely. To think--- broken glass rearranged into pleasing shapes can make a room feel like a flower garden, from sere and lifeless to passionately beautiful. I believe that some people choose to attend churches with stained glass windows for that very reason—as it’s beautiful, even lends a worshipful feeling to see through such rainbow-hued, patterned glass.
I took this photograph last year of clear, patterned glass on the Ms Oosterdam, a Holland America Lines cruise ship. To stand in front of such elegant glass and look out to sea between the etchings made the experience feel like rich, even what Scandinavian royalty might experience. I felt like a patron of fine art to enjoy such a textured view. Life should be like that—rich, royal, pleasant.
Of course, the reality is that we often see through the darkened glass. It reminds me of our family’s trip to California. We drove the Alaska-Canadian (Al-Can) Highway from Fairbanks to California. Most of the road was constructed by then, except about a 50 mile stretch known as “The Mudhole.” Ruts, dips, even gigantic potholes filled this stretch of dirt road. We had a 40 foot fifth wheel trailer towed behind our dually Chevy truck. Truckers up ahead talked on the CB radio, warning that the famous “Mud-hole” was up ahead—and to gun-it when we got there. Sure enough, we saw some Caterpillars off to the side, readying to tow vehicles, if need be.
My husband put pedal to the metal and we all hung on for dear life as he charged through the mud, crud, holes, pits, the trailer grinding and bumping behind us. The windshield was totally thick with black gumbo by the time we got through that stretch. We had some water and towels and cleared-off a space enough for my husband to see through, until we got to the next gas station. The mud was that thick, slick, and sick.
Symbolically, that’s what life can be sometimes. It’s called disappointment, despair, depression, unfulfilled expectations, a highway of broken dreams. Stark reality says to keep on keeping on and look for the brightness through the murk—to be grateful for that light to see through when times are dark. One statement by famous poet and essayist, Henry David Thoreau, from Walden rings through my mind: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
How many face the onslaughts of life, the quagmire, quietly, but desperately, with an air of resignation? I was reminded of this when seeing a video recently of an Israeli pop star. He sang about not looking for the Messiah, as the Messiah wasn’t coming. All the younger adults in the crowd bore a look of despair, as if they had no hope, that their glass was dark and hopeless, unredeemable. It was a scary thing to watch such 20-something adults--their whole lives before them—bearing such a sense of hopelessness, that even a hope of God is absent.
I’ve been more reflective, the glass reflecting areas of my life I wish to see brighter, more rainbow-like. At times, seeing the dark reality, I wonder if such spots, smears, and mud can wipe clear in this lifetime, or do I need to wait until the face-to-face encounter with God before such clarity exists? Many of my expectations in life have been cracked, bespattered— the conception of a happy childhood, marriage, faith. One is to continue seeing the best in one’s situation to maintain a sense of happiness, and that I do, but face much criticism, neglect, find some prayers go unanswered, fleeting friendship. Many I talk to say the same exists in their lives, so statistically, anyway, it seems to be a universal problem. On the other hand, I've had many answers to prayer, even miraculous answers-such as two daughters receiving heart transplants, which goes against the odds; saving up to purchase a home before prices of California real estate went out-of-sight; finishing college, at least a B.A. degree when I had to do it with no financial help, other than work two jobs. The windows of my life are varied--clear glass, tinted, stained, muddied. I know this life is not to have ever-clear glass. That's reality. I do look forward to the day when I no longer wipe-away tears and see through any darkened glass.....
The Good Book (I Corin. 13:11-13) puts it this way, about seeing clearly:
"When I was a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part, then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, love and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."
So what kind of glass do you see through?
STEM CELL YOURSELF. YOUR COMMENTS?
PRESIDENT BUSH'S FIRST VETO: BOO, HISS, SOB! c. Susan Friesen, July 19, 2006
What is your take on the stem cell controversy?
We came close to losing two of our daughters when they awaited a heart transplant. Without the research and dedication of all the medical pioneers and researchers, the girls wouldn’t be with us today.
In the photograph, our girls with transplants are shown on the far right and middle. Thankfully, the girls are doing fairly well today, due to the anti-rejection drugs they’re taking. Hard-working American researchers were allowed to do their job without so many restrictions, unlike today. I’m so glad that the drug, prograf (tacrolimus), was discovered, as it is keeping our girls alive.
I just submitted a letter to the editor to the online edition of The Washington Post.
Perhaps you heard that today President Bush cast the first veto of his Presidency against federally-funding stem cell research. I thought I’d share an edited copy of my letter with you all. I was surprised to see that already eight pages of comments are posted to the Washington Post’s commentary board on this issue.
I’m a mother of two young daughters with heart transplants, a very rare situation. I feel it’s morally wrong to stop progress toward saving lives in the future, as stem cell research may pave the way for cures for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s, among other chronic diseases. Embryos that would normally be destroyed post-abortion, and embryos usually destroyed at fertility clinics should be used to benefit humanity.
I disagree with President Bush on this issue, as it does hit close to home. Not only my children could benefit by embryonic stem cell research, but so many others awaiting a cure for their disease. I am just thankful that other countries are making progress in this area.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
--stanza from the poem “Birches” by Robert Frost
Happy is the man ... his delights is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a
tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in
its season, and its leaf does not wither. - Psalms 1: 1-3
I love trees and leaves. When I was a kid and teenager, I used to collect leaves from various trees and tape them into my “Leaf Book.” I became known for this in high school and students would even save leaves for me from their national and international travels, so I could add their leaves in special book. Sadly, no one taught me the proper way to affix and preserve leaves, so, in time, many turned discolored, brittle, or disfigured.
By the time I got to college, I put away “childish things” and didn’t take my leaf books with me. My parents must’ve dumped the collection, as I never saw the books again.
When I attended my 30-year high school reunion, a couple people asked me if I still had my leaf collection. I’d forgotten all about that hobby. It brought back a wave of nostalgia of all the fun I had finding the various leaves. I didn’t just collect tree leaves, but leaves from herbs, bushes, and weeds.
One memory, though, wasn’t so happy. I found some skunkweed and proceeded to tape a clump of it in my book, not knowing what it was, but realizing many leaves I found were quite pungent. Our family was vacationing at my grandma’s place by a lake. She started asking, “What’s the stinky smell?” I told her about finding the strong-smelling plant, but didn’t know what it was. She found my book, told me to get rid of the page with the stinky skunkweed.
I still study leaves when I head to a new place. I love botanical gardens, so I can discover the names of unfamiliar trees and plants. Huntington Library and Gardens is good about posting labels, so I’ve learned about many new trees. You can see the various gardens like Japanese Garden, Palm Garden, Jungle Garden at this website.
One of my favorite trees is the giant redwood -- Sequoiadendron giganteum, Giant Sequoia, or Sierra Redwood. I’m amazed that the world’s largest tree has some of the smallest pinecones. Its girth is humongous.
We are part-owners in a resort called R-Ranch in the Sequoias. Not far from this ranch is one of the southernmost stands of giant sequoias at “Trail of 100 Giants.” President Clinton even traveled to this grove during his term, walking the ½ mile loop trail. Info:
Trail of a Hundred Giants is located within the Long Meadow Giant Sequoia Grove, the second most southern grove where giant sequoias are found. The Grove contains 125 giant sequoias over 10 feet in diameter and 143 sequoias under10 feet in diameter. The largest tree in the grove has a diameter of 20 feet and is 220 feet in height. The grove encompasses 355 acres. It is estimated the age of the trees in the grove are between 500 to 1,500 years old.
I like this quote:
How many times, really, can you wander through a patch of redwoods and be silenced by the sheer beauty of these 2,500-year-old things? How many times does staring at a tree that was around when the Romans ruled the world make your life seem irrelevant? How many times can you be flat-out amazed by the sheer tenacity of redwoods to survive for 25 centuries?
For your info, the redwood is not the oldest tree in the world. Another tree in California holds that distinction, the bristlecone pine. I would like to see that tree someday. It’s lived a millennia longer than any other tree. It’s gauged by tree ring analysis these trees are about 5,000 years old.
I’ve been a passenger in a car that went through the middle of a redwood tree. See this website to see what I experienced. And here's another good photograph of a drive-through redwood.
Other interesting tidbits about trees—quotes, poems, miscellania:
Tree lover extraordinaire, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862):
I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow
to keep an appointment with a beech-tree,
or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.
America’s National Tree: the oak
Quote from the proclamation making the oak the national tree of the U.S.:
The United States is blessed with a wealth of tree species--more than twice as many as all of Europe--and trees have played a key role in our nation’s history. Naming a national tree is a cause for celebration for us all.
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. Frost received four Pulitzer Prizes among other honors.
I shared an excerpt of “Birches.” Here’s the rest of the poem.
I also like Frost's poem, “Tree at My Window”
One of my favorite poets, William Blake
(November 28, 1757 – August 21, 1827. Read the poem “A Poison Tree”
Look at these beautiful photos of Redwood National Park
What is your favorite tree and a memory associated with it?
Hugs, Susan
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