Monday, February 22, 2021

National Margarita Day 2021

When life hands you limes, make margaritas!


Lunchtime at Elvira's: photo by Cliff Hutson
Lunchtime at Elvira's: photo by Cliff Hutson

Every February 22, people come together for National Margarita Day to pay homage to my favorite cocktail. I will not be going out to celebrate it in 2021, it would not be prudent (the photo is from three years ago), but I will hoist at least one (or two) safe at home. That might even be healthy - one can always hope.

Classic Homemade Margarita

Ingredients: 

Process:

  • Combine all ingredients in a shaker and add ice.
  • Shake and strain into a salt-rimmed rocks glass, over ice.
  • Garnish with a lime wheel.


Cointreau: photo by Cliff Hutson
Cointreau: photo by Cliff Hutson


By the way, cuing up Jimmy Buffet’s "Margaritaville" on your music player of choice might make your day even more celebratory. 

Monday, February 15, 2021

Fairy Duster


"In the end, we conserve only what we love. 

We will love only what we understand.

We will understand only what we are taught."


- Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet


Calliandra eriophylla


Fairy Duster: photo by Cliff Hutson
Fairy Duster: photo by Cliff Hutson

During the time that I worked as a naturalist, I liked to have a theme in mind when I led an interpretive walk. I saw this as a means of engaging the audience’s interest, as opposed to just wandering around identifying plants until their eyes glazed over. One of the themes I used was “does the common name of this plant make sense”.  A favorite plant for these discussions was the Fairy Duster, Calliandra eriophylla. It took  little imagination to see that the fluffy pink blossoms do rather resemble feather dusters scaled down to fairy size, assuming we are thinking of Tinker Bell instead of Titania.

The flowers appear between late winter and late spring. They have dense clusters of pale to deep pink stamens and are about two inches wide. I think that they are quite attractive; and, in fact, Calliandra is derived from the Greek kallos, "beautiful," and andra, "stamen”. The leaves are also interesting being twice pinnately compound with each division bearing five to ten pairs of leaflets.

The plant, also known as False Mesquite, is a densely branched shrub, about two feet tall and twice as wide, native to western North America. A member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae), it belongs to a group of primarily tropical plants that include Acacias and Mimosas. However, Fairy Duster grows in sandy washes and on slopes in the arid desert and grasslands of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas; and Mexico.

But, to say it occurs in California may be a bit misleading as it is found only in the Creosote Brush Scrub community and then seemingly limited to Imperial and San Diego Counties. Due to this geographic circumscription , it is included in the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list 2.3 (rare, threatened, or endangered in California; common elsewhere). In the interest of full disclosure, I would like to point out that one specimen was collected by Dr. Robert F. Thorne (of RSABG) on April 12, 1964, in Riverside County and that there is also a questionable 1881 accession from Kern County. I, myself, first encountered Fairy Duster while hiking in Riverside County. It was on land that was starting to be developed somewhere outside of Palm Springs, so it may not have been a natural occurrence.

Wherever we find it, I think it offers people an opportunity to ask people to look more carefully at nature and by observing this one flower they might go to focus on other aspects of nature rather than passively walk though it.

One is not going to value something they do not know and love.

Friday, February 12, 2021

阖家幸福,安康吉祥,万事如意!

Lunar New Year

Noodle Bowl: photo by Cliff Hutson
Noodle Bowl: photo by Cliff Hutson


Welcoming the Year of the Ox, an animal that symbolizes prosperity through courage and hard work.

Happiness to your entire family, peace health and joy, and, all your wishes should come true.


Monday, February 8, 2021

Road to Perdition?

The Jeep commercial that ran yesterday during the Super Bowl was not nearly as good as the one that ran last year on Groundhog Day.  Some might say that it was awful. At the least, it was very disappointing in its tone deafness as to how many of us feel about the state of affairs in the USA these days.

But, it got me to thinking about roads and road songs.


Road to Nowhere


Road to Nowhere: photo by Cliff Hutson
 Road to Nowhere: photo by Cliff Hutson

"The wreckage of my past keeps haunting me
It just won't leave me alone
I still find it all a mystery
Could it be a dream?
The road to nowhere leads to me"

 - Song by Ozzy Osbourne


Road to Paradise


Road to Paradise: Photo by Cliff Hutson
Road to Paradise: Photo by Cliff Hutson

"I'm feelin' okay this mornin'

And you know

We're on a road to paradise

Here we go, here we go"

- Song by Talking Heads

Monday, February 1, 2021

Reading Log: January 2021

 The Books I Read in January 2021


January 2021 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson
January 2021 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson



"50 Ways to Cook a Carrot," Peter Hertzmann

 

Book of the Month


To Be a Bird: photo by Cliff Hutson
To Be a Bird: photo by Cliff Hutson



Life Imitates Art


LA City Hall: photo by Cliff Hutson
LA City Hall: photo by Cliff Hutson

Near the the finish of "Your House Will Pay", which was published in 2019, the author depicts a bacon-wrapped hot  dog vendor plying his trade amongst a protest held at Los Angeles City Hall. This was echoed in real life as a street vendor worked around a mob Trump supporters at City Hall on January 6, 2021. "LA Taco" ran a couple of stories on this.