Visiting the folks in beautiful Palos Verdes

I just got back from visiting my folks in LA because my dad was getting over being sick and they needed some extra help. They're 93, and nearly every evening they sit together like this on their couch with the lights low looking out at the stars and airplane lights.

This is beautiful Lunada Bay, a 15-minute walk downhill from their home. I went there every morning to soak in the sounds of the sea and the sunshine. The video below will take you there! It's on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

I took photos of lush plants on the way down to the cliffs:

There's the ocean, framed by eucalyptus leaves.

It's a stunning, rugged coastline south of Redondo Beach, where the land rises up to form the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

It's a popular surfing spot.

And every night we watch the sun set over the ocean from their living room.

Have a colorful day

The desert is blooming at Tohono Chul

 

I wandered around Tohono Chul gardens yesterday in the warm desert sunshine and was amazed at how many plants are blooming! I don't know the names of all of these, but they spanned the rainbow.

Red penstemon?

Yellow brittlebrush

Mexican sunflowers

Butterfly

Tohono Chul has some wonderful water features. In the video above I was at a streamside garden where I  spent awhile in one of the chairs with a nicely reclined back. The adobe wall below features water cascading from one pot to another, making a delightful trickling sound.

Holly agaves

Not all the plants have colorful flowers, but there were plenty of shades and shapes of green. 

Cholla

Prickly pear  cactus (foreground), palo verde tree, saguaro in background and a Tucson Mountain peak on the horizon.

Art is scattered throughout the gardens.

I love this glimpse of sunlight from the palm oasis and the rocking chairs under a shade canopy. Tohono Chul is a wonderful place to relax.

Have a colorful day

"Canyon and Cosmos"

My Flagstaff friend Don Lago just sent me a publisher's copy of his new book, "Canyon and Cosmos: Searching for Human Identity In the Grand Canyon." I'm so excited for him! He's published other books about the Grand Canyon, but I didn't know him then. This one will hit the bookstores in May. If you want to preorder, here's the Amazon link: ref=sr_1_1

Here's Don, who's usually either hiking

or with his nose in a book.

From the book jacket: "A major work of literary nature writing, Canyon and Cosmos takes readers on a journey through the Grand Canyon's deep time, geological forces, and biological evolution, making them very real, personal, and meaningful. Through decades of hiking and kayaking, author Don Lago has gotten to know the canyon intimately. Ranging through world mythologies and Native American spirituality, he explores how humans have sought to understand the universe. He confronts existential questions of whether humans can find enough meaning in the scientific cosmos. Through poetic prose, symbolism, and philosophical insight, he shows how existence itself is our deepest source of life and meaning."

My most recent trip to the Grand Canyon was with Don in 2023. Here are some photos from that trip.

And from my first canyon trip, 40 years ago:

These two pictures are me on very first trip to the canyon, in 1985 when I was 29 years old. I backpacked a couple of weeks down there, immersing myself in the incredible light and bird calls and river. Tourists on the rim only see the amazing colors of the rocks, but when you're down by the river there are lush green hanging gardens and sparkling springs and the clear cascading call of the canyon wren. It's a whole different and more intimate world at the bottom.

My last canyon visit inspired this quilt, above, for the colors of the rocks.

The piece I'm working on today uses those same colors. No surprise, since orange and blue are my favorite pairing! And now it's back to reading Don's book.

Have a grand day

Night visions and water spirits

 

The spirit moved me to stitch outside today! It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. High of 78. Iced tea was called for.

I worked on two spirit dolls, shown here before I assembled the pieces. I painted and stamped the fabric, applied colored pens and pencils, and then added the stitches.

I did the final mark making with pearl cotton thread and big stitches, loose and random.

This one is called "Night Visions."

The blue one is "Water Spirits." 

They're each about 20 inches long from the top of their head feathers to the tip of the yarn tail (about the length of a human newborn) and about 8 inches wide. I'll take them up to the gallery tomorrow. I like to photograph them against one of my quilts, more interesting than against a plain wall.

When I moved my work inside, my hanging crystal spun sunshine all over the room! I hope you can see it in this video:

You can see from yesterday's sunset where I get my color inspiration!

Have a colorful day