Cali Flora and Friends pt.1

    My sweetest Torontonians, you've obviously stopped looking outside to be here-- thank yourself. It's gnarly outside so here, live vicariously through some photos I took in California, ok? I had to take a trip to the coast because I was extremely depressed, etc. It helped, a lot! Here's to creative pursuits (and the privilege of being able to leave a devastatingly cold and annoying landscape) which sustain you through hard times.

Here's Airin McGuinty! I had the great and hilarious pleasure of spending the better part of my trip with this one. An incredible travel pals to say the least. We kept each other company, I took her photo (a lot), shared stories, shared beds, snacks, and just had a really nice time in California together and solo. She pretty much enabled the whole trip for me since she drives a car and I do not, so she also deserves a big huge thank you. Here's a link to her amazing vintage store's IG, Newold's (located in Hamilton, Ontario).  Onwards! 

why do all the celebs spend so much time in their nice homes when Malibu looks like this?

These! Everywhere! They're about 15ft tall and the beeds you see here make them very loud to be around. Can you tell me which plant this is? 

it's hard to tell which image I like better, so here's another one in case you needed a better look at these beautiful bendy beasts:

And now for something completely different: Joshua Tree. One of the most magical places I've ever been to since the ruins of Palenque in Chiapas.

I thought these were the largest rocks I had ever seen... until we got to the Jumbo Rocks section of Joshua Tree.

Very creatively named "Split Rock" 

not so jumbo but still grade XXL Egg rocks

This nose knows, every rock needs somebody to lean on

Refuses to shave

The most fragrant and delectable plant in the desert, WOW! What is it called? Pray tell.

inside is just as beautiful as outside...

 Next up is the town of Joshua Tree. It's beautiful in it's own way, though I may have depicted the gnarlier and more solemn parts of it. Dont' get the wrong idea though- it was uplifting and very calm and the few folks I met were very friendly. It was overcast and a little rainy, but this made the whole town smell incredibly, of creosote. Jean Pélégri says that landscapes are our metaphysical touchstone, and that each time we describe one we are rendering a self-portrait, so there's that.

see what JP was talking about? 

creosote bushes ! why can't screens be scratch and sniff?

timid truck

Not so functional gas station across the road from where we stayed. Peta Rake's articule in the Winter 2014 issue of C Magazine discusses Del Hilier's Trading Post project. However, he has another project in which he started taking care of abandoned spaces and buildings, only to find that others, in a completely anonymous fashion, would continue to spruce up these locations until they were demolished or re-purposed or something. What happens when you love a ruined thing?  Find the article and read it! This reminds me of that. 

Oh look, here we are back in the Desert,

Airin pulled over whenever I was compelle to get out and take photos (which was often). Here we're en route to the Cholla Garden. This is a general idea of the boundary between High and Low Desert.

split rock, timid, needs chapstick

So that's maybe 1/3 of my trip, the 120mm portion, anyway. Come back here next Tuesday evening and I'll show you even more, new humans included!

Please comment on this post or send me an email if you'd like a print of any of these. They might help you endure the rest of this terrible, terrible Canadian winter!

xo

sbo