The Cat and the Christmas Tree

The tree was tall and prideful of its lights.

The cat was small and mindful of her rights…

A cat is she: to rip and shred and claw

Is what cats do and should do. Wait, there’s more!

When claws and lights and trees and cats combine

A cat (whose lifetimes previously numbered nine)

Becomes the Mighty Hunter. And the tree

Would shed those lights and garlands all, and flee,

Save for the fact it’s plugged in.Curse those lights!

What of the cat? She stands upon her rights:

Up, up the tree, defeat the tinsel snake --

For such delicious mayhem, felines make.

Jen Downes, Christmas 2016

The Orchid Hunters

Rare and fleeting, the wild orchids bloom only once a year, and if you miss them -- well, better luck next time. They're strange, exotic, and they hide in the woods. This is what we were looking for:

The wild "spider orchid," Adelaide Hills, November, 2016

So, nothing daunted, we mounted an expedition, aware that we would do some serious bushwhacking to find these elusive beauties. They don't grown anywhere near the beaten path...

Step one: pack picnic basket and cameras. Step two: actually get out the door! The weather was iffy, the light was not very good -- you see the white sky in the above picture, which shows one of the trails to Upper Waterfall at Belair. It wan't very warm at all, no matter the fact this is November downunder and summer comes in, in a couple of weeks now. So, don't forget the jackets --

Dave the Intrepid Orchid Hunter. 

Even Dave took a jacket and wore it! I think we've thawed those Alaskan bones at last. Lately, he really does seem to feel the chill -- and we live in a part of Australia with a Mediterranean climate, so we can get chilly, though we rarely see frost, and never snow unless you're very high in the hills indeed: altitude.

The trail to Upper Waterfall leads through a small part of Belair National Park. In summer it can be scorchingly hot, and it can be a complete quagmire in winter. This has been the coldest winer, and the wettest, in anyone's memory, so we weren't surprised to wear the jackets the whole time ... but we didn't get rained on. Above left: a selfie of the photographer, on the day, sitting on a rock at the waterfall -- which was dry, save for the tiniest trickle; but the trail in showed several patches of very wet earth, testimony to creek-like torrents that had been flowing until the last few days. We timed this well!  And as for the orchids ... I'm going to stop talking now and let the gallery pictures speak for themselves. Here we go:

Photographing these tiny beauties in a stiff wind was far from easy. They are very small -- for scale, see the shot where Dave is steadying the flower while I get the picture. You're working in macro and super-macro the whole time, and with each gust the flower sways out of your field of focus. You wait for a lull, shoot fast, and shoot a lot, because a lot will often be out of focus as the plant moves. The other challenge is, these flowers have a prominent white area which, in digital cameras, tends to burn right out to harsh, pure white and look quite nasty. Getting around that is ... a challenge.

And orchids weren't the only wild flowers growing along the trail. In fact, Belair has been carpeted in flowers for a couple of months now, and with the cold, wet spring they've lasted much longer than usual, almost into summer:

Back soon with a post about birding ... kookaburras, black-tailed yellow cockatoos, and more.

Open Garden at Carinya

"Nestled in the Mt Lofty Ranges between Willunga and Clarendon, and following a water course at the base of McLeods Hill is the property we named "Carinya." This means "Happy Home." The 20 acres of gully with magnificent river red gum trees and a winter-running creek is our place of paradise ... when we stop working on it and really enjoy it!"

So begins the brochure for Carinya, a garden jewel set among vineyards and paddocks at McLaren Flat, adjacent to Mclaren Vale, South Australia. This visit to an "open garden" event marks a first for Dave and myself -- we never did this before, and really enjoyed it.

Something like five or seven acres of the property's 20 aces have been intensively landscaped around a dam and winter creek, and of course any visit to a major garden -- especially in spring! -- will be a celebration of flowers, shrubs and trees; to which Carinya adds the occasional quirky, charming sculpture or metal art, and some colonial antiques, such as the wagon which welcomes visitors to the property, on the lower lawn:

The stroll around the gardens is so quiet and pleasant, one could spend a whole afternoon there. It's little wonder the early settlers fell in love with this spot: "In the early-mid 1900s this area was used as a resting and water stop for stock. There are remnants of an old shepherd's hut up the gully. Locals have informed us that seasonal fruit pickers used to camp here. A family with five children lived in a very small hut on the other side of the dam." (From the brochure text.)

Today, the property is surrounded by vineyards which, alas, tend to pump the winter creek dry, causing the dam's water levels to fall dramatically in summer. Carinya falls back on the capacious tanks one sees on the other side of the creek -- and this will be a thirsty property, if the lawns are to remain green in summer and the more delicate shrubs and flowers to survive:

For Dave and myself -- both rather avid gardeners only awaiting the day we have a suitable garden to work on, and in -- the stroll around the property was nothing short of a joy; and you always wonder where one would start on a project such as this. The brochure tells the story of owners Sue and Dave Wagner, who bought the 20 acres in 1987 for a sum which, today, we would consider the proverbial "song." But Carinya didn't evolve from the paddock with the winter creek into the lavish, park-like garden overnight. It took many years of extremely hard work...

One of the greatest pleasures of the garden is its variety, and the charm with which the design has evolved across the decades. The local soil is very clay-rich, according to the brochure; gypsum was used to break down the clay, and lawn clippings were mulched in with a mix of horse, cow and chicken manure. The result is very rich, very fertile soil which will literally grow anything.

In particular, the roses were glorious ... and also carefully pruned two or three months ago, to bring them all into bloom at just the right time, and the same time. The garden is open over the weekend of November 5 and 6, so the detailed planning for this event goes back to at least to August. And the results...

Naturally, I took about 200 photographs (as one would...) and the job of culling them down to a couple of dozen for this photo essay was tough. Carinya is so photogenic, images are everywhere. Difficult to imagine a time when nothing was there save the gully and dam, and the first projects for the Wagner family were a dirt access road, and a 20' x 30' garage, which was the family home for some considerable time!

Part of me is saying, "Ooooh, I wish my had my time over again...!" But it also takes a lot of courage and vision to start absolutely from scratch ... plus close to 30 years before the vision can be said to have taken shape. For example, work on the creek area began only in 2015, so the Carinya "vision" is still taking shape. One can only imagine what another decade will bring...

After an hour rambling around the gardens (and in my case, taking the equivalent of eight rolls of film, as we used to know it in days long gone by!) we headed back up to the vast lawns at the front of the house, which step down from the family home to the dam in wide "terraces." There's a fairy door set into the roots of the big tree there -- and a child's swing, which visiting children were delighted to use. For Dave and myself, slightly more mature  amusements were in mind --

The tables were set for tea. Yes, please. Tea, coffee and cake. The whole event was in benefit of charity, and organized by "Open Gardens South Australia Inc, a not for profit organization opening private gardens to the general public. The purpose of Open Gardens SA is to educate and promote the enjoyment, knowledge and benefits of gardens and gardening in South Australia and the build strong public support for the development of gardens." (From the brochure.)

We'd have to say -- mission accomplished! Now -- what about that tea and cake...?

Star Trek Beyond -- new on dvd

Written by two lifetime Trekfen, Star Trek Beyond is thrill-a-minute stuff. The film is about fun, and as the proverbial "fun summer movie" succeeds on all counts. Only deadly serious Trekfen would have a quibble, and even then would have to admit, Beyond is big fun -- the kind of escapism which is highly likely to engage a wider audience, put bums on seats in movie houses around the world, and expand the already impressive Star Trek audience.

The film is designed as an action thriller, so the greater part of the screen time is devoted to high-speed, high-pressure ... action. Chases, crashes, shootouts, punch-ups -- you name it, it's in every "reel," mostly played tongue in cheek, so one can roll with the punches and not be overwhelmed by the potentially gruesome. (Hollywood at its best or worst, depending on your point of view ... they do it so well.)

But among the non-stop action are some fine scenes focused on the characters we've come to love across the decades. Some of the most poignant are virtually throwaways, such as a little scene that would never have made it past Gene Roddenberry's blue pencil: Sulu joins his family on vacation, and whaddaya know? There's his daughter, Demora -- still a child -- and hey, his life partner is a guy. Gene Roddenberry wouldn't have allowed this, but -- dang, it's about time official-universe Trek joined the rest of us out here in the real 'verse, where folks are just folks, and we come in all kinds.

Justin Lin's direction is high-powered, spinning off an extremely good script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung (who appears briefly as Sulu's other half, Ben), which, admittedly, does take a few liberties here and there. Long-time Trekfen could pick a bone or two ... but I'm not going to, because the overall effect is fine -- also, the company behind this franchise had the presence of mind to hive off into a whole new timeline with the first movie, which answers several quibbles right off the bat.

I must hand it to the actors: Chris Pine has William Shatner down utterly pat, and Karl Urban is as perfect in the shoes of DeForest Kelley as is Zachary Quinto in the footsteps of Leonard Nimoy. Simon Pegg is a whole new Scotty, but the new character does work. One grows to like him surprisingly quickly; I believe James Doohan would have approved.

The passing of Leonard Nimoy is marked in the movie, with the death of Ambassador Spock; and Anton Yelchin is honored in one of the disk's added features. The part of Chekov, by necessity, must be recast for the fourth film -- yes, an "untitled Star Trek sequel" has been announced. (I just wish they'd make them a bit faster, because the actors are already visibly aging ... just me being greedy. There's a limit to how long you can make these movies before the inevitable wheelchair and "ear trumpet" gags begin.)

It's quite superfluous to mention the CG work, because great effects so ubiquitous, it's more notable when the standard falls and a move has noticeably cheap or rotten effects. But one enormous surprise for me was discovering that the incredible backgrounds for the space city of Yorktown were not (or not entirely) CG. The movie was filmed in Dubai: that really is what Dubai looks like. A tiny bit of dressing, and the city slides into the C24th. Note to self: go there on vacation...

Cinematography is also of the usual high standard -- in fact, for me at least, the camera work in this episode is preferable, since, with the exception of the action sequences which are filmed with the usual windmilling, whirling, jiggling camera which knocks my middle ear sideways and splits my vision (!), the director uses a stable camera platform ... for which I'm enormously grateful. Means I can get through a major new movie without getting a massive headache. Always a plus.

Star Trek Beyond is highly recommended as a keeper on DVD. I don't see movies in the theaters anymore -- can't rationalize the $50 price tag for a couple to see one movie, one time, when you can buy the disk for $19.99 and own it. This one is an excellent addition to your SF action thriller shelf.