A Trip to the Past

Spring is turning into summer here. The temperatures are getting hotter, and the rose blooms more and more fleeting. I try to keep out of the sun and make sure everything stays watered (and, when I have time, deadheaded).

Magnificent Perfume

I feel that I must apologize for falling behind on blogging yet again. I have had a lot on my plate recently: getting  the garage spring fixed (the door wouldn't open and my car was inside), selling some of my photos for a book, trying to figure out why a computer sold to us as new refused to work, finding to my dismay that the workmen we hired to install a new garden gate took down the neighbors' fence instead, and, to cap it all off, being contacted by a casting agency looking for people to feature in an outdoor life show of some sort. 

Basye's Purple Rose

To tell the truth, I feel that my life has begun to resemble an Oscar Wilde play. Fun, but completely unreal.

Intermezzo

Well, I find it hard to make a blog post out of it, so instead I would like to tell you about a trip we took recently driving along the California coast.

A seagull at Fort Bragg

 I hesitated at first about writing a travel post on a rose blog, but I always enjoy reading about other people's trips, especially to places I am unlikely to visit, so hopefully you will enjoy this post too.



We drove north as far as Mendocino, a small 19th century town overlooking the ocean.



It is full of carefully preserved Victorian mansions, salt-box cottages and water towers.







It seemed the kind of place that Agatha Christie would call picturesque in a self-conscious way.




 I found it serene, romantic and very expensive.




Mendocino thrived for many years as a logging community but went into decline during the Great Depression. Its revival began in the 1950s and it is now an artists' colony and a tourist destination.

A disconsolate client waiting at the entrance to an art gallery

Being so pretty and well preserved, the town has been featured in several movies such as "East of Eden" and "Summer of '42". Its most recent claim to fame is being a venue for several episodes of the TV series "Murder, She Wrote".




Even though we did little more than walk and look around, this has been one of our best trips.

An exhibit at the Arts Center

I enjoyed the picture-postcard beauty...,



... the absence of hustle and bustle....,

The main street with hardly any traffic

....the abundance of wild mustard and other weeds superseding the ubiquitous lawn....,




.... and the dedication with which the residents uphold the community spirit by maintaining their houses and gardens in a cohesive style and displaying creativity befitting an artistic destination.

Driftwood sculptures adorning an oceanfront garden

I hope to be back soon, taking a slow walk on a grey cool day, breathing fresh salty air and enjoying a glimpse of a different, unhurried, quiet era. Hopefully, I won't be thinking about fixing my garage or apologizing for the neighbors' fence :).