Garden Party

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Well, it wasn’t exactly a garden party, but it was a garden and it felt like a party. Twice a year, the Gardens at the White House are open to the public.

What is the most striking thing about the White House is its human scale. It was designed as a residence as opposed to a monument. Walking around the grounds, it is easy to imagine a family feeling comfortable living there despite the fishbowl feeling.

The White House grounds are the oldest continually maintained landscape in the United States. And just like home gardens, it has evolved over time. Although located in the heart of the city, landscape architects have created a rolling, rural-like backdrop.

Here is the Rose Garden that borders the Oval Office.

The Saucer Magnolia tree in bloom was planted by John Kennedy in 1962.

Recent additions are a play set for Malia and Sasha Obama and of course, the much heralded vegetable garden. There is also a White House Beehive that produces enough honey so that the President and Mrs. Obama can give away jars of it probably at state dinners and Sunday brunches.

Diana or Dino?

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I have never been a great fan of exhibits that chronicle a person’s life with glass cases full of their favorite things. For some reason, I feel a disconnect in thinking that I learn a whole lot about someone from looking at say, his or her old clothes or shoes.

I am thinking about this because Diana, A Celebration has come to Kansas City. Coinciding with a major royal wedding this spring, the event handlers are hopeful for record attendance.

With the sound of Candle in the Wind/Goodbye England’s Rose in the background, the exhibit has a collection of personal effects that highlight Diana’s life. There are school report cards, toys, family photos, the wedding-dress-with-10,000-pearls-and-the-25-foot-train, a dozen or so designer gowns and a tiara or two. Sorry but the

Celebration doesn’t hold a candle to the recent Dinosaurs Exhibit. Now there was something: the huge loud dinosaurs, the full size skeletons, and the eggs from 245 million years ago.  If it’s between a garage sale and Jurassic Park, where would you rather be?

Wowsa

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How can anyone not like a Wayne Thiebaud painting? And to know that he is alive and well and painting in California kinda makes life a little more worth living.

Here is his favorite model, his wife — Betty Jean. I don’t know whether this is her favorite picture.

But it sure is one of mine.

Step up

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If you are going to be a door mat, why not be a really outstanding one? Check out the whimsical collection at ArtMats.  And another thing, if you’re going to be a door mat, why not be a big one? They come in a number of sizes including a respectable 4′ x 6′.

And who says if you’re going to be a door mat, you can’t be a colorful one?

Hello

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The 100 Word Challenge from Velvet Verbosity invites writers to tell a story in exactly 100 words based on a one word prompt. This week’s word is voice. 

Sam jumped slightly when the phone rang.  “Hello?”

 A woman asked in a hopeful voice. “Hello. Is Teddy Powers there?”

 “Who?”

 “Teddy – Ted Powers.”  

 “No –“

 “Sorry, I dialed the wrong number.”    

 Sam hung up and picked up the newspaper. When the phone rang again, he thought – betcha it’s for Teddy. “Hello.”

 “Hi, may I talk to Ted Powers?”

 “You dialed the wrong number again,” he told her.    

 Her voice rose, “Well, is this 543-2001?”   

“Yeah,” Sam said. “It’s 543-2001.” She repeated the number after him; her voice sounded flat and disappointed.     

“Sorry,” he said. “Listen, my name is Sam.”

I Need You for Something

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Hey, this is kind of exciting. I have been randomly selected – along with several thousand other bloggers – to test new technology. It’s called Scentinology X, the transmittal of scents via broadband connections.  

Right now if you have the right equipment you can see and hear whomever you are interacting with on your computer. Scentinology X takes that interaction a few steps forward; it is a specialized device to allow you to smell what you see.  

Scentinology X technicians have installed a temporary device through the WordPress platform and downloaded a program linked to the bloggers who agreed to take part.  When my blog post is opened, sensors replicate smells, bind them to expulsion cells and then slow releases them.

Please take a couple of whiffs. And then complete the survey. Thanks for your help.