Palm Canyon, Palm Springs, California

On a visit to Palm Springs in early January, we hiked in the Indian Canyons.  Years ago, we visited the lush canyons with our Oregon friends and were drawn back to their beauty and serenity.

Centuries ago, the trio of Palm, Andreas, and Murray canyons, with their abundant supply of water, plants and animals, were home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Rock art, irrigation ditches and food preparation areas still exist in these canyons.

We walked, often silently, along the 15-mile Palm Canyon trail among groves of palm trees and rocky gorges surrounded by the stark Sonoran desert.

Palm Canyon has the world’s largest stand of California Fan Palm trees (Washingtonia filifera), the only palm native to the western United States. Fan-shaped fronds spread from the top of the tree and layers of dusty, dead fronds hang down against the trunk, giving it the moniker “petticoat” palm. These fronds form a protective area, providing habitat and shelter for birds, insects and small rodents.

The original California Fan Palm oases were important gathering and habitation sites and were indicative of important springs, usually located along earthquake faults.  Black “berries” with a brown seed surrounded by a sweet pulp grow abundantly on the palms and provided food for native Americans.

The lands are sacred to today’s Indians and the solitude of walking along the windy, dusty trail gave us time to connect with the natural flow and beauty of Palm Canyon.

Leo, Encinitas, California

Leo, an adorable Pomeranian dog, cruises around in his black convertible and the excitement he brings is contagious. At the Encinitas Street Faire this fall, this toy dog was the biggest attraction paws-down.  Leo weaved his car through six blocks of vendor booths, musical groups, food courts and throngs of visitors just off Coast Highway.

He’s the Pied Piper!  Admirers chased after him hoping to get a closer look at the handsome furry fellow. His dad-owner followed behind and operated the car’s remote and almost ran over the paparazzi (including yours truly) who photographed Leo at every turn.

Leo is James Dean cool! With one paw resting on the steering wheel, he’s got it all: the music blaring, the gold medallion, the cell phone and the Costco card. He even sports wire-rimmed shades on his driver license photo. He nonchalantly drives around and his fans flock to him.  People adore him and he knows it.

I’m hoping this foxy fluff ball let his golden locks loose to frolic with a few other pooches in the Lumberyard’s dog park.

Turns out, Leo’s such a popular fellow in the San Diego area that he’s talked about on Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter and even in the Huffington Post.

Let’s hope that as we turn the corner into 2014, lots of unexpected surprises like Leo at the wheel pop up along the way and add to our joy in the New Year.

Endless Time in the Garden, Laguna Nursery

A visit to Laguna Nursery on Coast Highway is one of my “must-dos” whenever I’m in Laguna Beach. During Thanksgiving week, I meandered around the rooms and garden courtyards in the nursery and enjoyed a delightful surprise around every corner.

Cyclamens, succulents, bush-sized poinsettias, and orchids in every size and color are layered and intertwined with artwork, chandeliers, vintage iron gates and salvaged architectural pieces into unique floral set designs.

The “Asian Room” overflows with lava statues, fountains and Buddha images.  A 1940’s deep blue Ferris wheel chair with a bright red cushion brought to mind my  first carnival ride. Scattered throughout the nursery are salvaged pieces from Chicago’s 1919 Peoples Theatre, including a terra cotta wall and wooden horse. They’re artfully arranged with flowers, Christmas ornaments and even angels suspended in mid-air.

The nursery is magical, beautiful, whimsical and a million other adjectives. The trills and tweets of the Laguna Nursery birds including parakeets Kiwi and Melon, lovebirds Peachy and Moe, and cockatiels Mork and Mindy are appealing.  Sounds of water from the many fountains add to the serenity in this 1 ½-acre paradise.

Besides being a visual wonderland, a trip to this nursery will inspire you to use those dusty objects in the recesses of your garage or side yard to liven up your own garden.

Landscape designer Ruben Flores has breathed fresh life into this historic nursery since he purchased it six years ago. Sculptures, unique planters, gifts, and Plein Air greeting cards are for sale amidst the abundant plants and flowers – all in the nursery of “ahh’s”.

Asian Room, Laguna Nursery

“Bumper to Bumper: Hula Girl” sculpture by Paulden , Laguna Nursery

Angels Paradise, Laguna Nursery

LEGO House, Ojai, California

My husband and I visit Ojai often and enjoy walking around the neighborhoods close to the Lavender Inn where we usually stay.  This spring, imagine our surprise when we came across this eye-popping colorful house.

The house immediately seemed familiar. The unmistakable rich red, blue and yellow colors transported me back to my childhood.  My brothers and I would be sprawled on the floor with a pile of shiny LEGO bricks in front of us.  We’d snap the interlocking pieces into crazy, colorful patterns building strange structures shaped by no rules other than our imaginations.  It was great fun and kept us out of trouble for an hour or two.

“LEg GOdt” in Danish means “play well”. That phrase is the inspiration behind the LEGO brand. Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a master carpenter, started the LEGO Group in 1932 in the village of Billund, Denmark in a tiny workshop. The family-owned LEGO Company is now a modern, global enterprise that is one of the world’s leading toy manufacturers.

I’m hoping to be invited inside the Lego-inspired house in Ojai someday.  What creative adventures must occur within those brightly hued walls. I bet we could all “play well” together with the tubs and tubs of LEGO building sets that I’m certain are stashed throughout LEGO house.

Quaking Aspen near Eagle Falls, Lake Tahoe, California

Two bright yellow aspens are ablaze along a trail leading to Eagle Falls in South Lake Tahoe. Ponderosa pines and rugged granite frame the brilliant colors of the Populus tremuloides in its radiant beauty.

Thick stands of aspens are common in moist meadows and near the lake in the Tahoe basin. But these two lone trees, with their long, smooth, pale-colored trunks, punctuate the mountainside and conifers like an incandescent exclamation mark.

Who can forget, “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree”?  American poet Joyce Kilmer’s Trees was the most memorized and recited poem in schools for decades after it first appeared in the August 1913 issue of Poetry magazine.

Trees capture our imagination. Aspens, with their rounded, almost heart-shaped leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, can stop us in our busy tracks.

The golden leaves signal the earth’s spin into the autumn season. They may remind us to slow down and appreciate the aspens at this wonderful time before the leaves drop in winter and rebud and flower in spring and summer.

“The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber.  The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.”

~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert