Headed Home

 Now that we're at LAX waiting for our 7:20 pm non-stop back to Anchorage, we had the most beautiful day since we got here. Thanks to my mom's neighbor who drove us to the airport!   I did get in a bike-ride to the beach (stopping to duplicate some keys on the way).  

Not only was it warmer than it's been (low 70s) but clear too.  Though to the south you could see fog/clouds/haze.  This is looking north toward the Santa Monica mountains (really hills.)  I've been to a lot of places and I'm only now truly appreciating the great beaches of LA.  Not that I didn't always love the beach growing up, but I never appreciated the huge expanse of sand between the water and the buildings.  There's a lot of sand.  No rocks.  In the picture the water is to the left.  You can see a thin band of water between the sand and the sky.  

This African iris was sticking out from the wall of green between my mom's house and the neighbor's.  The plant itself was way inside, but the flower found the light.  It wasn't there yesterday.

These oranges were weighing down a tree in front of an apartment building in Beverly Hills. If people had more edibles in their gardens here they could feed a lot of people 

An oak tree across the street from friends we visited Sunday.

It's been a different, pandemic trip.  We've gotten take out, but haven't dined in any restaurants like we normally would.  

And the ceiling at our gate at LAX this evening.

This has been, until this week, a pretty chilly visit, for LA.  But it's been chilly for Anchorage too while we were gone.  Our house sitter reported that our kitchen sink pipes froze, but he was able to get that taken care of.  

Looking forward to being home for a bit.  

Trying To Keep The Blog Current On Redistricting While Taking Advantage Of The LA Sunshine

 I'm sitting outside at my mom's house in LA.  Well, she lived in this house the longest, so it's always going to be her house in my mind.  It rained Tuesday, but the sun has been out since.  Today, however, it toasty.  And since clouds and rain are predicted for the rest of the week, I'm taking shameless advantage.  

This is my afternoon office on the deck.  The birds of paradise are right behind me. 

Two legged and winged birds flit around.  The sun is on my filthy laptop screen makes using it an effort.  And I know my friends in Anchorage have no sympathy whatsoever.  

But there are things of import happening with the Alaska Redistricting Board.  I do want to make comment on the various court challenges to the Board's Proclamation.  But first here's a headsup for Monday's initial court hearing in Judge Morse's court room.  The hearing is scheduled for 11:30am and below is the info for calling in. 

[It's an image, so for those of you with visual impairments, whose  text reader can't turn images into audio, I'll add it here too:  First call 1-800 768 2983 or  1 907 206 2349.  Then, enter the access code:  2640425.]

I've also updated the Redistricting Board Page adding this court information and also adding links to all the legal challenges.  So use the Redistricting tab under the orange banner or click here.

There Are Still Flowers Here South Of Canada

After what seems like a week of grey and rain, the sun came out this afternoon and it felt warm.  I'm guessing low 60s.  

Some pictures while picking up my granddaughter from school this afternoon.  I got the sun behind a branch of this tree before taking the picture.

Flowers are still blooming on Bainbridge Island.  Wednesday we head back home for the Anchorage International Film Festival which starts Friday.  I'm afraid I'm not giving the festival the attention it deserves this year, but redistricting posts are taking up all my blogging energy right now. I'm working on a third one that looks at how the court might consider gerrymandering.  It should be ready in a day or two.  Meanwhile I'm enjoying the flowers and the bushes and trees that still have green leaves.

My Week So Far

 Sunday it was warm enough to sit ou on the deck and work.

Monday, it was cooler and damp as I biked home from the redistricting meeting.

Tuesday, the mountains that had just traces of snow Sunday 

were now mostly white.  

Oh, and the Redistricting Board's new maps - v3 and v4 - are now up for viewing.

"We are pleased to announce that the map gallery (link here: Alaska Redistricting Board - Map Gallery (akredistrict.org)) has been updated to include Board Proposed Plan v.3 and v.4, which were adopted yesterday. If you have recently visited the map gallery, you may need to refresh your browser.

 

The following formats are available:

• Google Map interactive
• Shapefiles (require GIS software)
• Regional .pdf maps

 

District population and deviation files are also posted.

 

We are still working on the 3^rd party maps that were also adopted yesterday, but will get those up soon!"

 

Trying Out My Wife's New Phone's Camera In The Yard

 

My wife just upgraded her iPhone at High Fidelity (a phone repair store) because ATT has told her that her old phone isn't going to work much longer.  My interest was in how much better her camera might be than mine.  

Much.  

Here are some pics I took in the yard today.  

Something took a chunk out of this amanita.  Hope it had a good trip.

These are astrantia.

A small broccoli.

High Bush Cranberries

Lysimachia, or loose leaf.

Snapdragon

Snap pea.

These are sub-arctic tomatoes.  Tomatoes require a lot of work in Alaska - the nights drop down below 50˚ F (10˚C) and the fruit doesn't set.  But these are supposed to set down to 40˚F.   

I've got some inside the house, these in the old greenhouse in the backyard, and one plant out on the deck. There are some tomatoes in all three locations.  The earliest were in the house.  But these in the backyard greenhouse are doing ok.  There are lots and lots of flowers, but not that many tomatoes.  Will the redden before it gets too cool?  This is an experiment.  I ended up with lots of plants because every seed I planted seemed to sprout two or three plants.  That part was successful. I don't think I'll be gathering that many tomatoes in the end though.

These are still very small cherry tomato size.

Without a doubt, J's new camera is significantly better than my old one.

The World Offers Little Miracles All Around US

Some of the tiny beautiful worlds in the yard.  The astrantia from a distance doesn't look like much, but close up it's amazing.

Then there are some purple perennials whose names I can't remember, but come up each year showing that there are so many ways to be a flower and to attract bees.

Well, this stock isn't a perennial.  When I planted the seeds earlier in spring, I didn't realize they were all purple.  Nevertheless the bees like them all the same.

And these little mushroom villages surely suggest that pixies or other sprites might be hiding nearby.

This salpiglossis I can't take credit for.  It was calling out to me on one of my visits to the botanical garden.  $3 for a little pot that I know will give me more of these beauties into October.  

 And some flowers come inside where we can enjoy them a little more.

Good Time To Visit Anchorage Botanical Garden

 There's a great display of rhododendrons right now at the garden.  The early ones have big seed pods.  It's just past the fire station off Campbell Airstrip Road.  Same parking lot as the Save High School.

And then there are the ones that are in full bloom.   

Someone had a camera set up to take time-lapse photos these.  

Rhododendrons play a huge role in traditional Chinese art.  Next time you see a Chinese scroll look at the flowers carefully.  

And, of course, there are plenty of other things blooming as well.  I try to stop by at least once a week on one of my bike rides so I can check out the every changing selection of plants to buy.  

I think this is a globe flower, not quite in bloom yet.

And below are Martagon Lilies.

When Our Sphere Gets Shrunk, There's More Time To See What's Still There - The Sun And The Moon And Merton

 Last night, when I went outside, the moon was already big.  And a little googling helped me set my camera so it wasn't washed out.  

And today the sun streamed through the windows to highlight parts of this bouquet KS dropped off the other day.  

I love how flowers go from youth to old age in a week or so, revealing wonders before returning their atoms to the earth for other flowers to use.

I didn't mention flowers in the post title, mostly because what struck me was how the sunlight changed them.  I think of these pictures more about light than the flowers.  But, yes, the light spotlights details of the flowers.  

And tonight I watched the moon through the bare branches of a birch in the back yard.

And let me slip in this last picture - from one of the Olé classes I'm taking this month - Thomas Merton.  I first learned about Merton on an early Talk of the Nation show.  I was stunned by all the people who called in to talk with host Ray Suarez about this modern monk/philosopher, people who were moved and inspired by his words in his many books.    I learned that I had a couple of 'connections' too Merton.  (We can connect with people in odd ways because our paths have crossed, sort of.)  Merton died in Bangkok in 1968, electrocuted in a shower.  At least that was the story I heard.  I was in Thailand teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer.  If I read about his death at the time, I don't remember at all.  I didn't know who he was and probably would have passed over it quickly.

Image from Kathleen Tarr's Olé presentation

Merton also spend some time that year at a monastery in Eagle River, Alaska, a community that is part of the Municipality of Anchorage.  

I got a chance to talk to Ray Suarez some time after the Merton show when he was visiting Anchorage and told him how remarkable I thought the Merton show was.  He said that was an early show, but when the Merton call-in was so wildly successful, he knew that Talk of the Nation would be a success.  It turns out that Kathleen Tarr, who's teaching the class is a serious Merton scholar and that has added to the richness of that first class.  Three to go.  

On a more somber note, something I'd hoped this post would stay away from, I learned, as I was looking up Merton's death just to confirm the details, that a book was published in 2018 saying that his death was murder, not an accident.   The story of his death by electrocution in a shower in Thailand was very plausible to me.  Someone I knew had been knocked unconscious in a shower when the light went off and he tried to turn it back on.  Fortunately, he got up shortly and was fine.  

And enjoy the sun, the moon, and even think about reading a book by or about Thomas Merton.  It's something I look forward to myself.  

Some Nice Stuff For A Break - Clouds, Sunflowers, And The Power Of Teachers

First, here's the view I saw at Goose Lake yesterday.  Clouds can be so amazingly beautiful.  

And sunflowers at UAA.  

My own sunflowers - planted from seed - are just now budding.  There is time for them to bloom still!  (I'm trying to put this on the right and have the text on the left, but Blogger has created a new "improved" version and I haven't figured out how to align the pictures and text the way I want them.)

And finally, I found this AOC twitter thread truly endearing.  

pic.twitter.com/eUhZ3P21uR

— Alberto Cairo (@AlbertoCairo) August 13, 2020

{If it's too small to read, click on it.  It will take you to the Twitter post.  Then click on the image again and it will let you see each of the four tweets enlarged.]

This young member of Congress is so intelligent and so creative!! And then you look at the old men in power and scratch your head.  If more people with the energy, decency, intelligence, and imagination were in Congress, we could have such an incredible country.  My only hope is that when the people of AOC's age now gain power in Congress is that they won't have been worn down by the tedium of fighting entrenched power.  But meanwhile this exchange with her 2nd Grade teacher is priceless.