About Time…

I’m probably the world’s worst blogger. I have good intentions (I know, the road to hell…) but I’m easily distracted by all of the wonderful things out there to do like take a nap. I hope to get better at this and post more often. 

2022 was an interesting year. The biggest thing that happened to me is that I married my wonderful partner Huy in May. That was followed by a honeymoon to Waikiki in Hawaii. We had a great time there including visits to a Japanese-style Buddhist temple, the Foster Botanical Garden, Chinatown, the Wahiawa Botanical Garden, and the highlight of the trip, a submarine ride under the sea. 

The garden had mixed results this year with some old standbys doing well and others just not growing. I’m not sure why some did not perform as well this year, especially my elephant ears with the exception of the oldest one, the regular taro Colocasia esculenta, which outdid itself.

We took a couple of shorter trips including one to Tucson, Arizona over the Thanksgiving holiday and another during the Christmas holiday to Palm Springs, California to escape the colder weather of Albuquerque. 

Tucson was rather chilly but still warm in the mid-60s Fahrenheit. We enjoyed going to Biosphere 2. “Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe (Wikipedia).” We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and highly recommend it.

In Palm Springs we toured the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium. It is a one-acre family-owned garden specializing in cacti and other desert plants. The Moorten Gardens were established as a nursery in 1939 by Patricia and Chester “Cactus Slim” Moorten and developed into the present-day garden in 1955. While it is small, it manages to house over 3,000 plants. They have a small nursery and gift shop that was fun and inexpensive, considering prices in Palm Springs!

Since then, we have been at home where the weather has been cold and surprisingly wet for us. As I write this in March, it snowed this morning. Old Man Winter hasn’t wanted to give up this year. Despite the unusually cool weather, the spring flowers such as daffodils, hyacinths, and others are in full bloom right now. 

Hopefully, you are enjoying spring wherever you are. It is always a nice awakening in nature for those of us who live in a seasonal climate. I’m looking forward to warmer weather soon as I know it will come. Just seems to be taking its good old time. I’m also looking forward to a May trip to Ecuador that will include a few days in the Amazon basin and a few days in the Galapagos Islands among other places.