Very Berry

JWise Food, Photo of the Day, Travels

Berries from the farmers market in Goleta, California

As the Beverly Hillbillies said, California is the place I oughta be. These tasty organic berries screamed buy me when we were last in California. Farmers’ markets alone should drag us the 350 miles west to live in the Golden State, but there are also Ramen shops, ethnic shopping areas, films that only show in New York and California, beaches, boba tea, Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios, San Francisco just up the road, Redwoods, museums galore, organic handmade cheeses, the Monterey Aquarium, Highway 1, real Chinese food, Death Valley and so much more. More, such as traffic, lots of traffic, rents requiring slavery to your dwelling, big fires, and earthquakes, but where else are you going to find imagawayaki, Little India, a Vietnamese shopping mall, body surfing, yellow raspberries in April, and Japanese gardens all in one day?

44

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

John Wise with Boyd on the left and Woody Burns on the right in Santa Barbara, California

Today, the 4th day of the 4th month, I turned 44. This celebratory photo was taken a week before in Santa Barbara, California, where very much to my surprise, this cake, along with a rendition of the Birthday song, was all of a sudden in front of my face. I needed a few moments before I realized this was in my honor. Keeping Caroline out of the loop helped as she looked as surprised as I did. My cousin Nancy, Aunt Jean, Daniel, Theresa, Aunt Ann, Uncle Woody, and good old Boyd were all present and made for the best surprise party I have ever had.

Patio Flowers

JWise Photo of the Day

Flowering cactus

These are not really patio flowers. This was not meant to be some poor April Fool’s joke either. It is just that these blooms are from a cactus that lives on our balcony and Caroline nor I know what kind of cactus it is. I have featured this cactus blooming before, twice I think, but no one else has offered up the name of the species, so here are two patio flowers until we know better.

Aloe Vera Flower

JWise Photo of the Day

Aloe Vera flower

It’s not a cactus, it is a succulent – well it looks like a cactus to me. Not the flower, of course, I know what a flower looks like, although on second thought this doesn’t much look like a flower – besides its bright colors. From the Aloe vera plant comes this springtime bloom. While not native of Arizona, the Aloe vera grows wonderfully here in our desert climate and as always, anything that adds color to our brown environment is a welcome addition.