I like the pink ones.
Posted by Catharina
Sunday, June 3, 2007
blue throat
today i discovered the tupelo tree, also known as a water tupelo which grows in the southern swamplands. much like the evergreen camphor in my yard, it grows tall and full, but lacks the droppings of yellow flowers. according to an arborist at uc davis, it's an ideal tree for an area that needs privacy because of its dense canopy.
heartache is a terrible thing. i think heartache is not worth the risk of being in love. even if, ultimately, you are the source of your own heartache. the question is...what is your ideal dystopia? or should i say anti-utopia? fine, fine. an oxymoron..but not a conundrum by any means. my anti-utopia is easy to answer, but difficult to exercise. if only i controlled both halves of the chess board, but not like a dictator, more like a "catharina gets her cake and eats it too". i see all parties benefiting here. but like i said, heartache is such a terrible terrible feeling. it's the kind of thing that makes your throat knot up in the afternoons and evenings and makes you wake up thinking it'll be okay if you can just make it through the day without thinking about it all too much. maybe i need some kind of emotional cleansing apparatus like a hemodialysis machine, but for heartache and not kidney failure. not to forget the past, but just to remove the waste that old love leaves in the body. that would be good for both of us.
i love my porch. a solid porch bench is an absolute must have for an old bungalow. and best of all, i have a new friend out here whose name is Brown Thrasher. hes a singer in his own right. he probably knows at least 1,000 songs by heart, and none of them contain the word "georgia" or "loverboy"...which is alright with me.
the trash collectors are nice out here. they wave to people. my neighbor calls them her "good friends". she grew up in vegas. i learned that today after a brief two week hiatus of not talking because of an argument over the camphor. i hugged her and told her i was sorry we argued. i didn't know trees could cause heartache, but they can too.
today i ate a coconut cupcake. thanks to keith, i ate salad and a coconut cupcake, because i might have stayed in bed for another 24 hours if it wasn't for being dragged out for mixed greens with balsamic vinegar dressing and for coconut. food didn't make me feel better inside, it never does, but the coconut flakes were pretty to look at before i ate them. a visit to philips bakery has a way of making me want to embrace my inner cake decorator. i know its in there. if my heart (and my brain) were kinds of cakes, they would be multilayered, with deep blue oceans along the sides, and bright flowers along the edges, with cut outs of paper people with big eyes and blue throats and edible confetti hearts scattered on top.
that's depressing.
i give the one tupelo i saw an A.
Posted by Catharina
supreme beings, defense mechanisms, and the role of the other mother
spent the morning identifying trees again. discovered that the process of figuring out what a tree is has many parallels to making a medical diagnosis, and furthermore, that we are likely creating new neuronal pathways of tree information in our brains. so, it is essentially, an exercise of our minds in critical deductive reasoning.... which could potentially help us as we advance in practice into the roles of nurse practitioners. yes...very good thinking kate.
ahh, note to self....the valley oak is creepy and grows large apple looking knots to keep wasps away...and it sounds like a soccer team. C-
after the sf symphony we headed north along 101. i had forgotten how perfect the ocean could be in california. i think when i had moved out to massachusetts i had expected to find the coastline to be similar, but really, both coasts are not comparable. the pacific is very blue. i love it. on this trip i came across the most beautiful, fully matured crepe myrtle with a large round trunk..and of course all the coastal redwoods, ponderosa pines, eucalyptus, and cypress, etc etc. oh, and i even saw a baby bear. i give baby bear a B- because it scared the shit out of me, in a thrilling/exciting sort of way..but also because baby bears usually have mama bears close by and i'm not cool with the stories i've heard about mama bears.
mountain lions D-...they eat children, but their slightly attractive.
baby chipmunks A+...hell yeah
on the trip i read on intelligence in nature...NOT intelligent design. i learned all sorts of things about western science as it compares to beliefs in amazonian shaman culture. books are great things for life.
i am thinking of making this recipe i have for a lentil-bulgur salad this afternoon, with some kind of fruit dessert. this seems like a nice compliment to the heatwave.
Posted by Catharina
my (brief) tree report card:
american gum tree- appropriately named, much like the hotdog weiner, it is classic tree icon. at some point or another everyone has come into contact with it's "gumball". it grows tall and widespread, with filtered light... leaves in the form of stars. I'd give this this tree a B+ for it's form and color, but I'm not incredibly impressed with it's rough looking trunk.
bottle brush tree or shrub-well, this is a toss up...i can see why people would like the bottle brush because it attracts bees and squirrels and can look moderately nice, with a low spreading trunk when it has been made into a tree. my major drawback about it is that it makes an unattractive shrub. it's the kind of shrub i feel like i would see off an LA freeway. no thanks. i give the tree a C+ and the shrub a D.
sycamore tree- these can be found all over the place, and they have a distinct leaf pattern:sharp spikes followed by quick slopes...they remind me of some electrophysiology experiments i did as an undergraduate. They have a very pretty white and brown peeling looking trunk and the most lush red fall color. I'd give this tree an A+.
saucer magnolia-i like this tree. it reminds me of something that indiana jones would have eaten off of back when he was eating monkey brains. I think the most elegant quality about this tree is that it branches into these broad finger-like leaves and it produces these small pink flowers. I'd give it an A+.
chilean wine palm- yeah, i don't like palm trees. their roots can be invasive (the arborist told me about these people who planted palm trees all around their new pool and thought it was great until a few years later the pool cracked) and they just don't look that impressive as a whole. despite the initial displeasure all palm trees create for me, i was slightly impressed by a number of fallen yellow flowers and what appeared to be tiny brown pods around its base. I'd give it a B.
japenese maple- oh the japanese maple! i give that a B+ because they are pretty and always welcome, but everywhere i look i see them. i've seen them get super tall and i'd be willing to give the tall ones an A-.
guadalupe italian cypress- I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cypress! it has the most beauuuuuutiful brown and white smooth trunk and the most lovely leafy green strands. there just isn't enough cypress trees in the world. A+!
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....i still have to get to the strawberry tree, the china fir, the various eucalyptus, and so many more!... but i'll have to get back to it later. i'm taking my books and headed north to find more trees.
Posted by Catharina
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