Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve

Today I walked the longer loop around the preserve on the Dusky-Footed Woodrat Trail; with a moderate drizzle coming down I had this splendid park almost entirely to myself. In the plant department, it is overshadowed by its neighbor immediately to the south, Edgewood County Park, which is renowned for its springtime wildflower display and unusual native species, thanks to its serpentine soils. But Pulgas is not without its attractions, including some beautiful chaparral, populated with ceanothus and manzanitas, and classic oak woodlands. In one gully shaded by live oaks and buckeyes you will find the uncommon and attractive fetid adder's tongue, or slinkpod (Scoliopus bigelovii). I have never found it particularly fetid, myself, even when I bend down and stick my nose into that striking little flower. This time of year one is also rewarded by the glowing emerald green of our native meadow rue.

Reading shorts

Pnin
Vladimir Nabokov

On one level, this is an academic satire, and a very good one indeed. Pnin, a rather ridiculous absent-minded professor, comes in for mostly gentle mocking. The set pieces and depictions of academia are at times laugh-out-loud funny. But soon enough we discern an undercurrent of deep melancholy and even tragedy, and various indications that the omniscient narrator may not be completely reliable. Who is this narrator? And who is this Pnin? Fool, or modest hero? And the prose: Many sentences and passages will make you catch your breath. As close to perfect as a little novel can be.

The Surgeon's Mate
Patrick O'Brian

This one finds intrepid Aubrey and Maturin on a clever and successful mission in the Baltic Sea, later shipwrecked in Brittany and imprisoned in Paris, with an escape and wedding to close out the yarn. Maybe too much plot?... but never too much Aubrey, Maturin, or seafaring adventure.

Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 109

We were listening to this one in the Subaru this weekend, on a CD (!) of Joni M's favorite tunes. Of course she has great taste. It's possible that I have listened to this recording of this song more times than any other. My mind anticipates every note, but my heart feels a little thrill every time. Rodgers's tune is undeniably great, and Hart's so-sad poetry is lurking, even in the absence of a singer. Miles's extreme blue notes – including the closing note on the what is it... quarter-tone sharp dominant? – are the "hook" here, but Red Garland's piano solo is the core of this masterpiece, meandering in melancholy before taking a wistful stroll through an English country garden, only to return to the somber close. Play it again!

The Donroe Doctrine

David Cole on the Maduro operation in historical perspective:

But in other respects Trump’s “brilliant operation” is unprecedented in modern US history. These earlier strikes were in response to actual or threatened attacks on the US. By contrast, Trump’s unilateral actions against Venezuela were entirely unprovoked. The implication of the administration’s reasoning is that countries can use military force anytime they are unhappy with how another country regulates or fails to regulate conduct within its borders that could have injurious effects elsewhere. But this is ludicrous. By the administration’s logic, Canada could start shooting Americans suspected of carrying drugs over the US–Canada border, or bomb buildings in the US that it claimed were being used to manufacture the drugs. Mexico could do the same with respect to American manufacturers of guns that are routinely used in gang violence, which kills many thousands of Mexicans each year.

Perhaps we should be relieved if it really is just about taking their oil. Or perhaps not...

Confession

I like to cook marinara sauce. It's pretty easy, you can control the seasoning, and if you use high-quality canned tomatoes it's almost always better than what you could buy in a jar. Well, so I used to think, until I discovered this stuff. Very simple, very bright-tasting and tomato-y, well seasoned but letting the tomatoes shine, not too sweet, not chunky, but not pureed either. You can augment with more veggies, mushrooms, or meat. You can also add it to a simple soup made from leftovers. During tomato season, I plan to continue buying bargain "sort-outs" from the farmers' market and making sauce from scratch. Off season... this stuff.

Year-end reading

The Sweet Dove Died
Barbara Pym

'Yes,' she answered. 'Yes, I forgive you,' she repeated, as if she were not quite sure. One did forgive James, of course; one was, or saw oneself as being, that kind of person. Why then, did one not make some generous gesture, some impulsive movement towards him, so that all could be forgotten in the closeness of an embrace?

This passage appears near the end of The Sweet Dove Died, one of Pym's later novels (1977), and it exemplifies her dark humor and careful prose style. Our protagonist Leonora Eyre's internal monologues are often delivered in the third person, as if to maintain a careful distance from one's own feelings, often unsuccessfully. And note the passive voice and sly substitution of "all could be forgotten" for the more conventional "all could be forgiven." A chilly, cynical, and very entertaining novel.  

The Thin Man
Dashiell Hammett

I don't think I've ever watched the movie version, but I can see how it could make for excellent cinema, somewhere between film noir and screwball comedy. The plot is too convoluted for me, but that doesn't really matter much, because it's much more about style than substance. 

The Accidental Garden
Richard Mabey

I treasure my reading time, and I love getting into the "flow" of a good novel (large scale) or poem (small); I read rather little non-fiction for pleasure. But Mabey writes beautifully about something that I directly engage in: gardening that takes wildness and a sense of place seriously. In this book – an account of his stewardship (restoration?) of a plot of land in the English countryside – he explores issues that come up among California native plant lovers all the time: What does a "natural" landscape look like? What has been the human impact on a particular place, its flora and fauna, and does it even make sense to "restore" the land to some facsimile of its "original" state? How should we view "non-native, invasive species"? How can we facilitate a healthy and biodiverse landscape that honors the natural heritage of a place but also acknowledges the contingent and dynamic, the need for change, adaptation, and resilience in the face of cumulative and continuing human impacts? 

Move along, nothing to see here...

1.5ºC and all that.

Can Music Be Perfect? Vol. 108

It's instructive to play this incredible album alongside Coltrane's 1961 classic Live at the Village Vanguard recording. Apples to oranges, sure, but may I say that musically speaking, Perdomo, Cole, and Glawischnig are in the same league as Tyner, Jones, and Workman/ Garrison? Miguel does not achieve 'Trane's spiritual elevation, but that is not Miguel's goal. His goal is to take the great canon of Latin music, deconstruct it, and then reconstruct it, exploiting the rhythmic and melodic inventiveness and intuitive empathy of this great working jazz band. As a saxophonist, Miguel's modus operandi is more Dolphy than Coltrane, cutting angles and quirky long passages, but ultimately, all his own quicksilver sound. This recording represents nearly everything that jazz can be. Never ever pass up an opportunity to hear these guys play live.