Author Archives: eflaherty

Jungfrau in cloud

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Clouds, almost like lingerie on a quiet, sunny winter day–the level of mystery–what is really there that I can’t see? I want to see more.

Lord Byron saw it in storm and had quite a different take, documented in his poem, ‘Manfred‘.

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The view south toward the Jungfrau massif from the Interlaken region. Real estate agents might call this the million dollar view.

Old Age

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As I observe old age taking interest in my body, it shades my observations of the landscape.

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This apple tree is also under the influence of old age; yet it has retained a balance even though having experienced extreme events during its lifetime. Everybody struggles through life. But how to achieve balance? That is a mystery. Faith? Hope?

 

Wood

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…dream or old school or sustainable?

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From the forest to the town.

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In the town.

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Duplex?

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Neighbors in the duplex make the shared balconies their own. Note finishing details–they are rough but they stand the test of time. Century? Two centuries? Older?

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Not everyone keeps them in museum quality. It is expensive; and believe it or not, it is not in compliance with current energy standards. And how much to upgrade in order to meet those standards?

Short story about a strange…

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…garden and its even stranger keepers…in Tangier.

The Story

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Click the orange circle above to listen. This story is 30 minutes about Moroccan landscape, a strange garden, absinthe, chocolate and its plants.

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Date palms and mimosa in Morocco (Phoenix dactylifera and Acacia dealbata). Ever wonder about the magic of fragrance? Try mimosa, in its natural habitat, in the winter.

The Background

Anyone who has worked in a garden–suffered blisters and callouses in a garden for fruit, vegetables, flowers, medicine–knows there is something more in those gardens. This is for you.

Gardens? Chocolate? Yes, definitely…but I never thought to combine them until the email I received quite recently from an almost forgotten friend. Donkeys’ years ago when I was in Tangier, we worked together on the Baie de Tanger–it was a tourist destination development project.

Now, my friend’s still in Tangier, but as an antique dealer, using as an income cover, a store of second hand furniture. This story is a found antique.

In ‘Christopher and the Hibiscus House’, Christopher tells the story of a Tangier, Morocco garden. In order to visit the garden he was required by the garden’s keepers, a Brit and a Ruskie, to undergo a special ordeal of chocolate and absinthe before walking at sunset in the garden. Christopher first had to visit the land of the green fairies before he could enter their Oval Garden. This is that story.

Readers…by now you know that my blog, flahertylandscape, is all about plants and people–landscape journeys. Sounds fair and safe enough; but what I  share with you in the above story goes beyond ethnobotany, beyond strange.

 

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The Moroccan dream.

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…for millennia…Tangier has been a nexus of Mediterranean, African and European cultures…a classic melting pot that is still on the boil.

This is in part a freshly edited re-post of  a 2015 post I made, entitled Chocolate, Gardens and Magic, which, if I might say so, was a too long read; but it is fortunately well illustrated with Art Nouveau graphics.

And now for something completely different

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I have spent my life living in places where the culture is foreign. Years living in strange cultures. Building landscapes and gardens with people from other cultures. So I have become an observer of signs that focus on cultural differences. Please see the image below. Then try to draw your own conclusion.

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From experience, I have noted that these drawings are to help certain people adjust to strange cultures. In this case one might suppose that people who are not accustomed to toilets with seats or not accustomed to plumbing that functions well might need this kind of help. How can they afford to travel as tourists?

Working on landscaping projects, I have often found that labourers employed by contractors receive a very low salary. Sometimes those labourers have not entered the country legally. Sometimes they have never yet encountered cars or trucks. Believe it or not. People of the earth.