Greetings!
I started out with this particular blog being devoted to poetry. My poetry. It turns out that, while I used to enjoy writing it as a teen, I don't seem to be too talented these days. Was I ever?
Then, I thought I might devote it to the Central Park in Huntington Beach--anthropomorphizing some of the critters and giving each a topic to write about regularly--but I decided the topics were silly AND I didn't have time to write regularly.
So, I'm changing themes yet again, and this time I'm going to see if I can keep it going with a "tree", or if necessary, a broader, "nature", theme.
Being a California girl, I thought it best to begin with a tree, that while not being a State tree, is none-the-less, frequently associated with California (and Florida, but that's beside the point), the palm.
This particular image is the view I had from my North facing 3rd floor office in the Chapman University Law School, where I was an Acquisitions Librarian for nine years. The law school, (and the library within) is in the City of Orange on Glassell Street, although, while I was there the University managed to officially name a walkway into the Chapman University, "University Drive" so I believe they've adopted that as their official street.
According to KCET, there's actually only one native palm tree to California, and that is the Washingtonia filifera, also known as the Desert Fan Palm, or the California Fan Palm. There's a lovely grove (or two or three) of these in Twentynine Palms, California.
I'm not actually sure whether these palms are California Fans or one of the many imported species, but word from the "Garden Collage" has it that the 100 year life span of the many palms that adorn the streets of Los Angeles is coming to an end, and city officials do not see wisdom in replacing them with more, as, droughts are more the norm than not, and palms need a LOT of water. The only reason the groves have endured in our deserts is because there is an underground water table that has sustained them, but may not continue to. So, gather ye palm fronds while ye may.
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