VT (for all of my design-obsessed peeps)

Barrier Reef of Belize photocourtesysportsdiver.com Peeps, While working with the landscape crew in the garden today, I could not help reflecting on the ironies of the times.   Cynics, critics, skeptics, and others who deny the effects of global warning would need to simply venture from the cooled comfort of their homes and offices, and into the 102F plus temperature presently experienced by our region in order to experience the precursor of the inevitable.   It is alarming when native grasses, rose-of-sharon shrubs, and catmint start to wilt under the stressors of extreme heat and the lack of rain.   Water can be quite costly, and in some states and counties ration quotas and schedules are in effect; it seems almost inhuman to run the sprinkler on a suburban lawn in the pursuit of some ideal of lawn perfection, knowing that the general populace of many African, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries faces dehydration and starvation.   A very cruel ...

photocourtesyofjjjjound.blog Peeps, As is customary, during the month of August the theatre remains dark.  We will reopen on September 5 with the peepshow entitled:  5 COOL AMERICANS.  Our blog will be featuring weekend visual treats provided by guest writers and a series of remixed vintage treats.  If you not already done so, please sign up for email notifications, so you can enjoy all the additional fun. Thanks, Shane PS:  Got a call from Bernice, our editor who has been on vacation in Syracuse.  It seems that I keep missing the typos, as well as forgetting to water her potted plants on the window-sill.  Last evening's visual treat devoted to the Victory Garden had two boo-boos in the narrative, which were:   'also means less of the grocery budget gets to stay at home,' should have read: 'also means more of the grocery budget gets to stay at home.'  Also,  'Not to mention the pickers and pickers who endure something j...

imagecourtesydinnergarden.org Peeps, The Victory Garden that Mom or Grandma carefully tended is probably not there any longer; nevertheless the underlying principle still remains, and with the increased emphasis on sustainability, nutrition, and quality of life, items such as tomato cages runner-bean tepees, and potted herbs have become almost commonplace in many cities and towns.  Sure, I admit that driving down a quiet tree-lined suburban street of manicured front lawns, pristine-white picket fences, and the requisite clematis climbing up the mail-box post (or street lamp) is enjoyable, nevertheless the site of corn and artichokes plants carefully and skillfully integrated within a perennial bed of peonies, boxwood, and shrub roses, quickens my pulse for here is someone who ‘gets it.’  ‘Getting it’ for myself and many others means finally realizing how easy it is to convert a small area of a suburban yard or garden plot into something which provides hours of enjoyment...

photocourtesyalnwickgarden Peeps, I am shocked and saddened at the death of Amy Winehouse; it seems quite surreal that all that remains of this particular individual’s life are the images we experienced electronically, shared moments in the attendance of a live performance, or the singular bewitching voice which pierced through our consciousness thereby forcing us to understand her—as well as our-- need to feel, to risk, to love, to live.   Brilliantly and mischievously, she made not being good, devilishly good.   She will be missed. She will be simultaneously missed and remembered for both on and off stage performances; there is no denying her incredible talent, yet lately this had been clouded by public incidents of the loss of control attributed to drugs and alcohol, both poisons to which much caution must be attached.   It is argued that the substances (or the base materials) in themselves are quite benign, and only in application does any danger arise.   I...

RyoanjiZenGardenJapan photocouresyvirtualtourist.com   Peeps,    Kind and wonderful persons in my life have made me quite aware of the challenges faced by many individuals in our society.  The blind and visually-impaired and the manner in which they negotiate through the maze of obstructions, hazards, challenges, and limitations--as well as biases and prejudices on the part of others-- has always interested me.  Probably the idea of losing my eyesight fills me with some fear, and as an artist and writer I strive try to understand how the lack of information provided by the sense of sight forces optimization of the other senses, which for the simple reason of survival must move quickly to complete a person's individual consciousness vis-a-vis the perceived world outside our body. Vision provides the brain with information of a large object moving towards us, this combined with the sound of a angry car's horn and compounded with the feel of a swoosh near our...

RooftopGarden/ChicagoCityHall photocourtesplantizen.com   Peeps, Last week we experienced the hottest days of the summer so far; even zinnias and straw-flowers, two of the sturdiest heat-tolerant annuals and proven summer stalwarts, showed signs of duress. I confess to having a tentative relationship with annuals of which I find some to be a tad riotous; at times the Carmen Miranda color hues are sometimes difficult to integrate into the soft palette offered by pink phlox, white roses, Wintergreen boxwood, lace-cap hydrangeas, and the softly rounded mounds of spirea--all much favored by my employer.  Although nothing can quite compare to the intensity of color offered by French marigolds, petunias, geraniums, rex begonias, and coleus, especially when the continuous heat has driven the remainder of the garden into shutdown-mode. Duncan at Merrifield Gardens wisely notes: it is not the plant, it's the placement, so give it a second look; over the years I h...

Landscape#15/WalterHelena imagecourtesywaltherhelena.com                                   I would not sing you to sleep.  I would press my lips to your ear  and hope the terror in my heart stirs you.                                                Lullaby This week's peep-show is dedicated to the memory of Reetika Vazarani.