Akke,
[Jasmin]: El holandès no es el alemán? Dutch isn’t German? Like Spanish isn’t Portuguese? And American hasn’t been English for how long, if ever?
Some humor is better in person, or with knowing a person a long time! With my mother’s relatives, there were “international relations” (a Norwegian married a Swede), and we could joke and tease with each other. To have dark, gallows, humor takes a particular knack, talent, and tact: During my university years, I knew this very sweet German fellow, who was that kind: As students of history, the darker humor, and his timing always helped me get through the rougher parts, just as emergency room doctors and nurses etcetera types of jobs utilize this humor to get through their days. I still think of him and his quiet commitment and courage to tend this difficult history. He and others like him, in Germany and other countries, is reason we can nurture better democracies, nations, and world. So your statement brought all sorts of good memories.
As for the cheating: I only dream in Spanish, German, or American anymore. To be honest, I really did not have time to borrow language CDs and movies in Dutch. It worked for me with other languages, such as French. French, because I skipped that class, just as I cheated myself of Latin. I was young and so excited about Existentialism (religious and not) and life: I was more interested in this artist in Paris (lived in a student studio) and taking these artist-given private tours of the museums than literature. I was convinced Sartre would approve. I was the honor student with memory who did great on tests and wasn’t too bright, I guess. I lived so many oxymorons. Somehow, I never did drinking, drugs, smoking, or sex. With my lungs, smoking was going to be the death of me. With my religious mother, I knew if I got into that kind of trouble, I was definitely going to get Hell from her—and not Hell, Norway either. Nowadays, it is common for women to be 30 or 40 when they have their first child, but when I was born [January 1967] that was rare. With such old parents, this age difference left us with challenges. As for the artist, we had a fight on Bastille Day in a World Cup year. There was so much yelling and shouting, no one noticed us. What an amazing, great life! I have really been blessed.
I really love the rocks for the moss garden. Suiseki is the traditional Japanese appreciation of certain rocks for their aesthetics. Plain rocks are incredibly beautiful. I am looking forward to seeing how your grouping transforms. The brick wall with the fern was super. I recognized the area of crocus where you photographed Eranthis earlier.
[Robert’s Comment]
Akke,
Thank you for all of the links to climatic information.
I thought you might like these photographs of Limnanthes alba taken several years ago in our region. In our area, populations of Limnanthes douglasii are declining rapidly due to encroaching development. This species is still abundant in other parts of California, but locally we are rapidly losing our native wildflowers.
Limnanthes species can respond well after a fire burns through an area. This season, it is possible that I might be in the right location at the right time to gather some seed of Limnanthes alba.
