The Maloof Gardens

The Maloof Gardens

For years I’ve heard about master woodworker Sam Maloof and his home and gardens just up the hill from where I live. And as is so often true with attractions in one’s hometown, I just never went to visit the place. It was time I did so.

I chose a perfect autumn day with a blue skies streaked with clouds, clouds being a rarity for southern California. The air had been chilly in the morning and I was overdressed by the time arrived a little after noon. Thank goodness the garden wasn’t so large that I would expire from

The Getty Villa

The Getty Villa

It’s been over twenty five years since I visited the Getty Villa.  I don’t know why it has taken me so long to go back.  Live got in the way I suppose. In all fairness I should preface this post by saying that in my youth I majored in Classical Archaeology so not only was this a visit to an ancient time, but a trip to my past as well.

Getty Villa is located in Pacific Palisades right off Pacific Coast Highway not far from Santa Monica.  It’s a lovely setting for a museum devoted to the art and architecture of classical Greece and Rome.  The main building of the museum is modeled after

Travel Theme: World Cups

Travel Theme: World Cups

I actually think I can respond to this week’s challenge posed by Alisa.
I offer three rather odd cups.

This terracotta cup is from ancient Pompeii and was on display as part of a special exhibit at the California Science Center in

Leopard under a tree

The Living Desert

April 30, 2014

I picked the most inauspicious day possible for my trip to Palm Desert and The Living Desert Wildlife Adventure.  Temperatures were in the 90s, unseasonably warm as they say, and the Santa Ana winds were blowing fiercely.  I should also confess that I’m not a desert person and definitely do not envision my senior years spent in a retirement community in the Palm Springs area.  So why was I making this trip?  Curiosity, plain and