Vladimir Kagan's Blog: April 2015

04/26/2015

The Flight of the Snowbird - A Farewell to Florida (part 1)

Reflections on a Little Treasure in South Florida

I Have just returned to frigid New York after spending the last month in balmy Florida. The next few Blogs are my recollections of what I have left behind.

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Barreling down a six-lane highway on route to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, you hardly think of exiting in Delray Beach for a visit to a Japanese garden. It has always been on my back-burner until I needed some entertainment for visiting friends and family.

A Japanese garden in Florida? With lakes – pagodas - topiary trees - Bonsai trees - Koi fish? A respectable Japanese restaurant topped off with an irresistible gift shop? … All this is available just six miles off bustling I-95 in the hinterland of Delray Beach!

The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, is one of Palm Beach County’s most treasured cultural attractions. Located in a tranquil natural setting, its 200-acre park features nature trails, pine forests and picnic areas. The gardens reflect major periods of Japanese garden design, from the eighth to the 20th century. According to the garden’s designer, Hoichi Kurisu, each sequence of gardens is intended to express the character and ideas of a counterpart in Japan. As you follow its swirling pebbled trails, each garden flows seamlessly one into the another to becomes a paradisiacal landscape.

I was surprised to discover a century-old connection between Japan and South Florida. In 1904, Jo Sakai, a recent graduate of New York University, returned to his homeland of Miyazu, Japan, to organize a group of pioneering farmers and led them to what is now northern Boca Raton. With the help of the Model Land Company, a subsidiary of Henry Flagler’s East Coast Railroad, they formed a farming colony they named Yamato, an ancient name for Japan. Ultimately, the results of their crop experimentation were disappointing and the Yamato Colony fell far short of its goals. By the 1920s the community, which had never grown beyond 30 to 35 individuals, finally fell apart. One by one, the families left for other parts of the United States or returned to Japan. All that remains on the map is Yamato Avenue – exit 00 on I-95. (Now I finally understand why the Japanese Name!)

Me. the eternal tree hugger, on my scooter, scouting out the trees

Every tree and shrub has been carefully "topiaried" - they look like grown-up Bonsais

And this is the real "mcCoy" - a beautiful Bonsai forest

As most of you know, I love bridges... here are two charming examples

The garden is full of beautiful flowers

A heron in search of lunch - the Koi fish were too large for his appetite

A dipping fountain - water drips into one bamboo stem which slowly tilts to empty it into the pond below

A walled garden is enclosed with elegant glazed tiles

...and then you come out into a wilderness waterfall

You can rest assured that there will be one of these Japanese lanterns in my garden this summer!

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Addendum from my daughter Jessica's I-phone photos

I love this guy because he reminds me a bit of me!

My design motto "When in doubt, dress it up with a bit of red"

Jessica and I doing a selfie - me tootling on my scooter

The Gardens are named for George Morikami, who over the years gifted all the land to the town of Delray Beach. The Museum offers a plethora of cultural events, but it was my leisurely stroll through this tranquil garden that has inspired this Blog.

Posted at 11:11 AM in Art Shows, Current Affairs, Food and Drink, vladi's humor, Vladi's philosophy, vladi's provocative thoughts, vladimir Kagan | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/05/2015

An Easter Message

Spring is Sprung

It is Easter weekend and it looks as though spring has finally sprung.

I am a snow worshipper… but if I say this to my family, who have endured the severest winter in many years, I had better duck…. shoes, pots, snowballs and glowers will fly at me.

I am visiting my daughter Jessica in Connecticut and she had promised me snow was still on the ground… and sure enough, when I arrived on Thursday night, clusters of snow were still obstructing the driveway.

There is something special about the lingering winter with its barren trees. Light penetrates unobstructed through the forest. A spring wind makes their tender stems dance like a synchronized ballet. And in spite of the severe winter winds and snows, there are still some trees with leaves clinging to their branches. Why?

Friday was a cheerless day with intermittent downpours; the pond was still covered with a layer of ice and rimmed with snow. A winter chill was in the air. Cold was everywhere, inside and outside of the house. There were rude noises about the fu-----ing snow. I bundled up in a blanket. In spite of the glum weather, I went to work trying to concentrate on a design project. Nothing creative flowed onto the paper.

But, oh what a difference a day makes! Saturday I woke to a brilliant orange sun trying to penetrate through the shades of my bedroom, a promise of a break in the weather. By the time I got up, the ice on the pond had started to melt and at the end of the day, it was gone. A walk through the garden revealed clumps of snowbells, crocuses and daffodils pushing through the melting snow. Spring was definitely on its way. Finally, sitting on the deck after dinner, nothing says spring more than the ear-splitting cacophony of lovesick tree frogs in search of a mate!

In a few days, even before a single leaf appears, the forest will take on a pale, fuzzy, green hue. It is the start of nature’s metamorphoses from its winter sleep into a brilliant new awakening. It may last only a few days before all hell will break loose. The trees and the earth will explode with all their might. Trees will burst with new leaves; the earth will part for ferns and flowers to emerge. The energy is almost palatable. Buds will burst open; pussy willows will morph into delicate flowers, forsythia bushes will paint a bright yellow everywhere, magnolia trees will bloom even before they send forth a single leaf. Spring at last!