The Way It Should Be (3)
UNITED STATES—As they sank into the couch, Mr. Monroy opted for Nescafe and Mrs. Monroy accepted the honey-ginger tea proffered by Mr. Wynn.
"Thank you, Don Carlos," she said. With the real estate sharks absent, the 'don' reinserted in their courtly discourse. And she started to speak frankly about why they were forced into selling.
"During the summer we got really...
Evergreens From Our Home Gardens
UNITED STATES—Evergreens are popular for home décor through winter because there is not much blooming so late in most other American climates. The tradition endures, even though cut flowers of all sorts can easily be purchased from common supermarkets nowadays. Here on the West Coast, where several varieties of flowers can bloom through winter, evergreen foliage is as popular...
The Way It Should Be (2)
UNITED STATES—In this last little corner of Bunker Hill two tenants jumped ship when they learned the Monroy's were going to sell to a couple of East Side real estate sharks. The Monroy's were not your average owners. The charmingly dilapidated bungalow that crept up the steep slope was not just another of Mr. and Mrs. Monroys' many properties;...
Berries Are Showing Color For Winter
UNITED STATES—Nothing lasts forever. Spring flowers fade. Summer fruit gets eaten. Fall color falls from the trees and gets raked away. Berries and other small fruits that ripen to provide a bit of color through late autumn get eaten by birds and squirrels through winter. Every type of berry and every season is unique. It is impossible to predict...
Division Renovates Tired Old Perennials
UNITED STATES—Autumn is a time for planting partly because it is when many plants are beginning their winter dormancy. They are, or will soon be, less active than they would be at any other time of year. Some may not start to grow again until after winter ends. Others will want to secretly disperse their roots through the rainy...
Autumn Weather Prompts Foliar Color
UNITED STATES—Mild climates allow more flowers to bloom through autumn and winter here than in most other parts of America. That is why cool season annuals like pansies and violas are so popular. Cyclamen can be planted now too. None will be obscured by snow. By the time cool season annuals start to fade, warm season annuals will be...
Evergreen Trees Drop Leaves Too
UNITED STATES—As the deciduous trees that will soon be coloring for autumn defoliate for winter, the evergreen trees will become more prominent. Some evergreen trees will drop some of their foliage along with deciduous trees through autumn and winter. Many drop some of their old foliage as new foliage develops in spring, or later in summer. All are on...
Segovia
UNITED STATES—Not Toledo, as promised for the mythical roasted rabbit... but Segovia. We departed mid-morning after a sluggish morning due to the cumulative effects of all the merrymaking. Midday hunger drove us out of Madrid.
We reached Segovia clustered around hills and ravines, full of tan buildings from the 1500s. A Roman aqueduct sweeps across one end of the town....
Sweet Thursday
UNITED STATES—The transcendental discovery in parque El Retiro in Madrid that it was possible to walk in the street and drink wine was mollified by something that happened outside the bar Aleatorio, where we presented out bilingual journal. I took a bottle of beer outside and was harshly rebuked by a man from Tunesia, who had a very harsh...
Arborists Maintain The Big Trees
UNITED STATES—The trees know what time of year it is. Even evergreen trees have shed some of their older foliage through late summer. Deciduous trees generally start later, but will be more blatant about their process as they defoliate completely through autumn to winter. Some get strikingly colorful first, as if to brag about it. Foliage is not so...