Sakura Love

The Cherry Blossom Festival at the Japanese Friendship Garden was in March, but because we've had such freaky weather, some of the trees are blooming again (still?). Such loveliness!


A poem by Basho (1644-1694):

A cloud of cherry blossoms;
The temple bell,－
Is it Ueno, is it Asakusa?

How many, many things
They call to mind
These cherry-blossoms!

Very brief –
Gleam of blossoms in the treetops
On a moonlit night.

A lovely spring night
suddenly vanished while we
viewed cherry blossoms

Koi Koi

A trip to the Japanese Friendship Garden is not complete without a visit with the koi...and how cute is this little girl drawing them?

Sunday in the Park

 These are early 1930s murals by Belle Baranceanu in the New Mexico building in Balboa Park. The building was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition; it was then remodeled by architect Richard Requa for the 1935 California-Pacific International Exposition.

This sculpture, from the same time period, is by William Schwiegert...apparently someone thought they needed to decorate it for Mardi Gras? (Kinda creepy!)

And the Queen was there!

A Perfectly Lovely Saturday

B. and I went to the Mingei Museum to see a fantastic outsider art exhibition, "Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum." Works in every genre, from incredible needlework to drawings made with saliva and spit, to carved carousel animals and much much more. The last two photos above are from another exhibition of carved walking sticks, completely amazing!!!

Then we had a beer at Benchmark Brewing Company (not pictured, but yum).

 A delicious banh mi at Saigon Sandwiches and Deli.

 (These brooms were at the market next door.)

 Topped off by some salted caramel frozen yogurt.

A nap (not pictured) then ensued. Lovely, perfect, perfectly lovely!

A Day at the Park

 The koi are in a frenzy because they were being fed...pretty little piggies!

Guess where I was...Japan! No, alas, not really...

 I was with a friend last week at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Parts of the garden really do make one feel as if you're in a garden somewhere in Tokyo or Kyoto. Lovely!  My friend and I went to see the garden and an exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art entitled "Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland." A really fun and interesting exhibition that includes paintings, prints, photos, and objects--including this fellow, who apparently used to be atop the fantastically named Spook-a-Rama ride.

Special Effects

Fun with filters...I like number 2 because it looks rather like a vintage postcard from Japan.

These were all taken at the Japanese Friendship Garden here in Balboa Park; those are sakura (cherry blossoms) behind the toro (lantern).

Japanese Friendship

I became a member of the Japanese Friendship Garden this year, and a few weeks ago they had a very nice Membership Tea.

Top photos show a very condensed version of the traditional tea ceremony, lovely.
Then, koi (of course), lovely (I never tire of photographing them).
And, sakura (cherry blossoms)! Lovely!