Can someone tell me the name of these trees? We see them all over Southern California. They’ll be an entry in our 100 Species Challenge after one of you IDs them for me.
Here’s another entry waiting in the wings: morning glories. These are everywhere around here as lush groundcover and picturesque fencecover. I know they can be invasive, but I love them, love them, love them.
This next shot is almost one of the best pictures I ever took. If only I hadn’t cut off its head. Drat it. I was snapping quickly, not even sure I was in focus, certain my small subject was about to fly away.
You know, I think that one of probably many differences in our kids is that – not one of my boys ever “just fell asleep” on a couch or at the table or on the floor. O! How I wished for it! But the tireder they got, the more wound up they got and the more wide open they went. No one ever crawled off in a corner and napped of his own accord. The only exception to this was falling asleep in the car – that they did do. But all other sleeping only occurred with mommiful intent – and most of my kids gave up daytime sleeping far before *I* was ready for them to do so. No one ever curled up with a book and drifted off; no one ever snoozed after lying down next to Legoes. There were no unintended naps – EVER. I remember with my youngest, discouraging him from kicking his leg rhythmically in bed when he was about three – before I realized that this movement was actually a necessary part of his final battle with staying awake. He literally kicked himself to sleep as I was reading to him or telling him a story – no matter what the bedtime routine or preparation or how tired he was. He’s 10 now, and his energy level is phenomenonally high – and he still never takes an “accidental” nap.
Those are Cypress trees. They are kind of okay at first, and grow very quickly to become shaggy beasts that are not pretty at all. Most often in So Cal, I have seen them planted in a row as a border between homes or buildings or to line a walk – but I just don’t like them.
Dear Melissa – what a surprise I have from you today :)
Thank you sooooo much for your kindness and for showing links to my website – this is such an honor for me, honestly
I’m happy that you and Children like my “God’s Creatures” on the web.
The little birdie you showing it might be a female Lesser Goldfinch – I have hundreds of them around my apricot tree, and I love them (but they drive my cat crazy! ) They are smart and frisky little creatures.
Please check here: http://www.hmrprint.com/helensphotos/PAN_BIRDS.html
Their male birds are vibrant yellow and black – but “ladies” are much more humble.
I’m not 100% sure – but you can check here: http://www.birdphotography.com/
Thank you again – many hugs to You & all your Gang -
Helen
[...] just found some nice comments from friends (Jennifer, Helen, Explore Academy) in my spam folder. Sometimes good comments get marked spam because they contain [...]
(A roundup post with links to my notes and reviews)
Hey, what happened to all those booklists you used to have in your sidebars at the old blog?
They're still accessible at melissawiley.typepad.com, where this blog lived from January 2005-March 2008. You can also find all my Lilting House posts there, or try the search bar here. All my previous Bonny Glen and Lilting House posts have been imported to this site.
Every day is complicated, messy, and full of friction. And every day has glorious or cozy moments worth celebrating. I seldom bother to chronicle the friction and the mess because writing time is fleeting and precious—and childhood even more so. I’d rather capture the small joys that I might forget—or take for granted—if I don’t take time to set them down in words.
(Excerpt from this post about Real Life, quoted here because I don't want anyone to be under the impression that things are always perfect around here! Heaven knows we are anything but. Perfect, frictionless, orderly? Nope. Happy? Most of the time!)
Be like the bird
Who, pausing in flight
On limb too slight,
Feels it give way beneath her,
Yet sings,
Knowing she has wings.
—Victor Hugo
“Exploration,” says John Stilgoe, author of Outside Lies Magic, “is a liberal art, because it is an art that liberates, that frees, that opens away from narrowness. And it is fun.”
Yes: it is so, so much fun, and that is why I write these posts all chattery with excitement over this or that connection the kids made today. (Or that I made myself!) I know I get carried away, but that’s the point, isn’t it, that way leading on to way has carried me away?
And yet—and yet—I think we are at once ‘carried away’ and made more fully present in the now, more rooted, by these relationships between ideas about things past and future. The joy of connection makes me want to celebrate this moment, this brief encounter with wild-haired child and broad-trunked tree, bus going by, sign on church wall, Scottish warlord creeping over the tower wall and startling the English soldier’s wife who has just put her babe in arms to sleep by crooning that the Black Douglas won’t get him. Child, laughing, shouting “Dinna ye be sae sure aboot that!” across the courtyard outside the library. How can I not celebrate this freedom?
You know, I think that one of probably many differences in our kids is that – not one of my boys ever “just fell asleep” on a couch or at the table or on the floor. O! How I wished for it! But the tireder they got, the more wound up they got and the more wide open they went. No one ever crawled off in a corner and napped of his own accord. The only exception to this was falling asleep in the car – that they did do. But all other sleeping only occurred with mommiful intent – and most of my kids gave up daytime sleeping far before *I* was ready for them to do so. No one ever curled up with a book and drifted off; no one ever snoozed after lying down next to Legoes. There were no unintended naps – EVER. I remember with my youngest, discouraging him from kicking his leg rhythmically in bed when he was about three – before I realized that this movement was actually a necessary part of his final battle with staying awake. He literally kicked himself to sleep as I was reading to him or telling him a story – no matter what the bedtime routine or preparation or how tired he was. He’s 10 now, and his energy level is phenomenonally high – and he still never takes an “accidental” nap.
Sigh.
But sometimes I do.
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 9:05 amThose are Cypress trees. They are kind of okay at first, and grow very quickly to become shaggy beasts that are not pretty at all. Most often in So Cal, I have seen them planted in a row as a border between homes or buildings or to line a walk – but I just don’t like them.
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 9:32 amI was going to guess Juniper, I’ll have to look up the Cypress
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 9:53 amItalian Cypress, I think. We have them here, but only in small numbers. They are crazy tall for most landscapes.
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 9:54 amI mean tall for most landscapes *here* – they stand out a bit because nothing is that tall in Texas. I’m sure they look lovely in your neighborhood.
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 9:55 amAt first glance I thought cypress but then I remembered something about Cook pines — pine trees that Captain Cook allegedly brought to the states from Australia. Check out the picture that is two or three down from the top here: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:q4ywiD9G3pcJ:waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph27.htm+captain+cook+hawaii+cypress+trees&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
I’m going with cypress though.
We saw them when we visited
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 11:42 amDear Melissa – what a surprise I have from you today
:)
Thank you sooooo much for your kindness and for showing links to my website – this is such an honor for me, honestly
I’m happy that you and Children like my “God’s Creatures” on the web.
The little birdie you showing it might be a female Lesser Goldfinch – I have hundreds of them around my apricot tree, and I love them (but they drive my cat crazy! ) They are smart and frisky little creatures.
Please check here:
http://www.hmrprint.com/helensphotos/PAN_BIRDS.html
Their male birds are vibrant yellow and black – but “ladies” are much more humble.
I’m not 100% sure – but you can check here:
http://www.birdphotography.com/
Thank you again – many hugs to You & all your Gang -
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 12:49 pmHelen
The trees are Mediterranean Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). I live in Northern California, and they are all over the place.
They are also called Italian Cypress, like Jennifer said.
Posted on October 6th, 2008 at 4:41 pmComment Rescue — Here in the Bonny Glen says:
[...] just found some nice comments from friends (Jennifer, Helen, Explore Academy) in my spam folder. Sometimes good comments get marked spam because they contain [...]
Posted on October 12th, 2008 at 7:04 am2008 in Posts — Here in the Bonny Glen says:
[...] celebrated the San Diego autumn and small happinesses. And more autumn, and more happinesses. (About that sourdough starter, [...]
Posted on January 1st, 2009 at 9:24 am