View from the apartment where we stayed at the beginning of our trip and final night.
We left the wilds of the desert Thursday for vacation on the East Coast and returned home Tuesday. It was a trip to visit a friend in NYC. It was smoldering hot with a heatwave in Manhattan. After going out for a delicious Italian dinner across the street from the apartment, we drove with our hostess to her weekend home in the country where it was peaceful and a tad bit cooler. It wasn’t the bustling Manhattan I had envisioned for our trip, but so delightful — and much more my style.
How’s that for a change of scenery from Manhattan? It was serene, peaceful and beautiful. We spent the days in deep discussions, reading, and touring small towns in the countryside of Connecticut. We had fabulous meals at affordable prices in quaint buildings. (I wrote last week about my disappointing restaurant meals HERE. Every meal on this trip was excellent.)
Unlike Scottsdale, everywhere we went had history going back to our nation’s founding.
Here are a few phots from a graveyard, lake, art show and restaurant:
One of several quaint, delicious restaurants we visited. Huge portions at ridiculously low prices.
We stopped at beautiful Candlewood Lake.
These were all the outside booths of the art show. There was a building with more booths inside. Small but mighty. So much talent.
One of the highlights:
The last evening of our vacation, we returned to NYC. I met LA of Waking Up on the Wrong Side of 50 in person! We recognized each other on the spot. We hugged and could have talked for hours or days. I felt like I discovered — as Anne of Green Gables would say — a kindred spirit.
What are your favorite parts of exploring a new place?
Sightseeing, eating, spending time with friends or shopping? Or something else?
The stone lantern at the start of our exploration of Rohoen Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix which is designed in the hide-and-reveal style. I wrote about more exciting parts of the weekend with Japanese gardens, guests and fire HERE.
Our docent guide was in her late 70s, from Japan and was a foreign exchange student when she came to the US. She laughed and said she was into “rock and roll” and loved the West.
She explained the meaning of the garden’s name Rohoen:
The characters on the brochure are our gardens name, Rohoen (鷺鳳園), and represent the following:
鷺 Ro – Japanese word for Heron, a symbol of Himeji City. Shira Sagi Jou, or the White Heron, is the name of the famous Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Himeji City is the sister city of Phoenix.)
鳳 Ho – Japanese word for the mythical Phoenix bird.
園 En – Japanese word for Garden.
How amazing it is to have an authentic Japanese garden in the middle of a desert? The architect and designers from Japan had to find native desert plants and others that would thrive in a climate very different than Japan. Only 17 out of the 107 varieties of plants are Japanese.
From the Visitor’s Guide:
The Japanese Friendship Garden, Rohoen, is an authentic Japanese stroll garden designed by Mr. Nozomu Okita in the traditional miegkaure (見え隠れ) style. Miegakure, or hide-and-reveal design, is prevalent in Japanese stroll gardens where the entirety of the garden is never visible at once. Instead, the viewer is led to uncover intentionally hidden views of the landscape while strolling along its curved paths. New visual compositions are revealed as one moves through the various garden regions. Each rock, plant, and ornament has been selected and placed with skill and sensitivity.
Kasuga-doro (春日灯籠, stone lantern from Kasuga) are the style of lantern most frequently used in Japanese gardens. They originated at the Kasuga shrine in Nara, Japan’s ninth century capital. Our ten-foot tall Kasuga-doro is our main lookout point, where the garden’s four distinct landscapes are easily viewed. These include the low-lying grasslands, the woodlands, forested mountains, and stone beaches.
Out friends from our swim team days are into gardening. Especially Japanese gardens. They planned a trip to Phoenix from Palm Springs to visit the garden and stayed with us. They have flown to Portland, Oregon to see a Japanese garden. They are planning a trip next year to Japan to see more Japanese gardens and have invited us to join them. We’re thinking about it.
At their home, they have Japanese elements like olive trees pruned in the bonzai style. They are building a koi pond. Also, their amazing garden has mangos, peaches, mulberries, and other fruit and many vegetables.
Our guests brought us fruit from their garden:
Fresh peaches from Palm Springs. I never knew peaches grew there. I thought it was too hot.
Two of the basket of mulberries they brought us. I’ve never seen or tasted a mulberry before. They are super sweet and juicy, and filled with health benefits like vitamin C, iron, and mulberries help reduce cholesterol, blood sugar and cancer risk!
Here are photos from our tour:
Looking back at the lantern from across the koi pond.
A cormorant on a rock in the water.
Shachi, a mythical creature with a dragon head and fish body.
I learned that a true bonzai has to be in a pot. There were many trees in the garden that were pruned in the bonzai style.
One last beautiful view of the garden’s many shades of green. It was so special to visit the Japanese Friendship Garden with good friends.
Where have you visited Japanese gardens? What was your favorite part?
My beautiful boy in his Nutcracker bunny suit at age three.
I’ll never forget being in a community production of Nutcracker with my son. He was the infamous bunny (it’s a Balanchine thing.) I had two roles: party guest and rodent.
I would take my son to my ballet class and he would play with another three-year-old named Katherine Bottoms. Her father is actor Joseph Bottoms and her mother was an amazing dancer who had danced with New York City Ballet.
While we moms took class, the children played together.
One day, I spotted my son lying on the floor in the dance studio. Katherine had tackled him and was on top of him.
“Promise that you’ll marry me!” she told him. It sounded more like a threat! Finally, he agreed and she got off his chest. I’m not sure if she kissed him. Of course, he ended up marrying another Catherine, who goes by Buff.
I remember having a young love. I was also three. My neighbor Victor was four and my brother was five. (Photo is me with my brother.)
One day the doorbell rang. My mom answered and Victor was standing on the steps.
“I’m sorry, Victor, Bobby is at school,” My mom explained. My brother had started kindergarten that week.
“I’m here to ask if Elizabeth can come out to play.”
“Oh!” my mom answered surprised. I do remember this happening, but I also remember my mom’s retelling it to the neighborhood coffee klatch with lots of laughter.
Victor and I played together most days. Victor ended up moving. When I was in the third or fourth grade, he came back for a visit. We were at an event with music and dancing. Maybe it was a wedding or a church social?
Without a word, he immediately grabbed my hands and twirled me around the dance floor until it was time to leave.
What memories do you have of young love or early friendships?
This weekend, it’s my birthday. I am throwing a party for my husband.
That’s because his birthday was in January and he was sick with an upper respiratory virus. I was sick before Christmas through New Year’s, then it was his turn. I had invited three couples from our neighborhood, plus our Palm Springs friends who now live one mile away. Our Santa Barbara friends were going to surprise hubby. But they came two weeks ago and we had a fun, but exhausting time!
I couldn’t have the party while they were here, because two of the previously invited couples were out of town.
I haven’t felt like entertaining, but time is passing by and I did invite them. I said we were postponing while hubby was sick. I didn’t want to flake out on them so, his birthday party happens to coincide with my actual one.
For my birthday I also made swimming reservations for us at our local YMCA. We had such a cold winter, I never once made it to swim laps. I’m warm weather swimmer, also known as a wimp. I thought what better day than my birthday to restart lap swimming.
I did go to lunch with my two graphic designer friends who moved from Palm Springs to nearby more than 10 years ago. We have made it a monthly get together and we rotate who gets to choose the restaurant. It was my turn and I picked a sushi restaurant that none of us had been to. I had sushi and my friends ordered the Bento Box — which was only $12! That’s a deal in this town.
Hamachi Nigiri and the Garlic Roll that had tempura shrimp, tuna and roasted garlic on top.
My friends $12 Bento Box Lunch Special.
What do you like to do to celebrate your birthday?
Are you a sushi fan? Or, do you like food like in the Bento Box better?
This is a photo of a diver from Jolyn’s website. Jolyn creates swimsuits designed for athletes.
FIRST THING:
Three coincidences happened over the weekend within one hour.
I was talking to our guests about Jolyn swimsuits after my friend asked about the Jolyn stickers on my Hydroflask.
I explained that when my daughter was in high school, Jolyn hit the scene in Southern California. Jolyn was immediately popular because the suits don’t come off in the ocean or swimming in the pool — yet they added some fashion flair. My daughter said their stickers were popular with her age group. Swimmers put the stickers on their water bottles, placed at the end of their lanes during swim practice. That was great advertising for Jolyn.
The minute that conversation was over, I was pinged a Jolyn ad on my iphone.
(My stickers on my Hydroflask came from birthday swimsuits from daughter. I asked her to order suits with their biggest behind coverage possible. I love my Jolyns.)
Next, my friend was baking my husband a belated birthday cake. We were all four talking about his age (which I won’t disclose.) Ping. My iphone sent me an article on how to celebrate a birthday of that particular age.
The final iphone thing was after I pointed out these two coincidences. The friend’s hubby said, “They are listening to your conversations. You need to turn off certain things on you iphone.”
Ping. Article popped up, “What Apple doesn’t want you to turn off.”
Those three things happened within one hour.
Coincidence? Or Not? What are your thoughts?
SECOND THING:
A text I received from my son. He introduced me to Wordle over a year ago and taught me his formula.
I texted this back at him:
Notice they are identical except my squares are black. It’s not a coincidence. If you want to know the formula, I’ll let you know.
THIRD THING:
This is a potato I discovered this weekend. I wanted to share it with Mama Lava from Mama Lava’s Back Porch.
This month she is posting 28 days of love that include uplifting messages, scripture and hearts she has found in nature. I wanted to post this potato on her blog, but WP wouldn’t let me place an image in her comments.
Do you know how to place images in comments? If so, please share.
What are your thoughts about my things posted above?
A lake 15 miles from our house. Our guest took this photo on her bike ride.
When we have guests, we like to take them to the lake. It’s a beautiful drive through Tonto National Forest and so surprising to see water in the middle of the desert. The lake was created by a dam and thankfully the lake was as full as I’ve seen it thanks to a ton of rain. Also I heard that Arizona is building up the dam to hold more water.
My friend who is visiting is an avid cyclist and Saturdays are her days for a major ride. I told her about the lake and that I’ve seen lots of cyclists make the trek with huge hills. It was a 40-mile bike ride. We followed by car with her husband and puppy, to make sure she was safe.
Here are more photos:
This is where we like to go in the summer to cool off with a dip in the lake.
There were people camping and fishing.
A photo taken by my cycling guest during her ride to the lake.
Our friend’s four-month old puppy Karenina.
We also managed to get in a hike.
How do you like to entertain your guests? Where do you take them in your area?
I’ve been sick for a week now. Some days I feel like it’s behind me, then today I woke up feeling worse. I’m not sure if it’s a cold, flu (I did get a flu shot) or Covid.
Then I had a scary feeling today thinking about last year.
A year ago, I got a call from my brother that mom had tested positive for Covid. She was in an assisted living facility near Seattle, close to where my brother lives. But she was asymptomatic.
By New Year’s Day we lost her. Without symptoms, she died in her sleep. I wrote about that and a shared a children’s story I wrote about her HERE.
I decided I needed to test for Covid, although I’m not sure what I’d do differently if I have it — or if it’s the common cold. At least I’d know. And thinking back to a year ago, I felt scared. And sad.
I tested negative. Next weekend, we have guests coming from Santa Barbara to surprise my husband for his birthday. I’m throwing a small birthday party for him with three couples from our neighborhood, our friends we were supposed to spend Christmas with — and our surprise guests.
I have to be well. So, I’ll continue with rest, fluids, vitamins and other remedies that are suggested.
When I have a day like today, where I feel like I’m relapsing, my body must be telling me that I tried to do too much.
This is my last post of 2023. Last year was very stressful with losing my mom and my daughter-in-law’s diagnosis with Stage 3C colon cancer. I’m praying for a better 2024 and good health for everyone.
What were you doing one year ago before New Year’s?
