Monthly Archives: July 2020

Grotesque 1

“Chinese Teacher (Confucius) Grotesque”
Miller Hall, University of Washington Quad

The Quadrangle, located in the “Upper Campus” of the University of Washington, is the center point for the classic Collegiate Gothic architecture on campus. This was were the non-engineering students and all the attractive girls had their classes. They did not allow engineers to grace the halls of these classic buildings. We were all too busy with our slide-rules. In the six years that I attended the UW, I never had a class there.

Even though I did not attend any classes there, I had ample time to stroll through the Quad on the way to the Chemistry and Physics Buildings and the Suzzallo Library. While doing so, I would occasionally look up at the strange figures on the buildings. I always called them gargoyles. But as I discovered later, they are really grotesques. They are differentiated from gargoyles in that gargoyles have water coming out of them from rain down spouts.

For the next several postings I will focus on a few of these pieces of art.

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Bright and Shiny

“Perennial Mixture”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee

“Bright and Shiny” is what Mary wanted for her Cherry Allee. It was one of the first criteria that we established as we planned our design for the “lower 40.” It has now become a reality … at least the start of one. Colors are constantly changing as one set of blooms expire and another one starts to bloom. Our target was to have a continuous bloom from mid/late spring through the fall. So far it is working.

Yellow Flowers

On a bright, July day, the yellow flowers are like little suns,
waving in a slight breeze and looking toward me from different angles.

The Earth gives us little miracles, like flowers that drink in the sun,
radiating their color and vibrance to any willing passerby.

The little voices in my head say, “We don’t need to understand it all; just look at the pretty
yellow flowers . . .”

– Mary Dahlin Graf

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Star Gazing

“Stargazer Lily”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee


A bloom, rarely shy
The lily, bold and joyful—
Fragrant, fleeting grace

– Mary Dahlin Graf

How nice these lilies smell! We planted them next to our “sitting stones” at the top of our cherry allee. When we were first planning what kind of flowers we want to plant, Mary’s immediate response was, “a Stargazer lily, please, please, please!”. So, we made it happen. Now she can sit at the top of her allee, reach out, touch, and enjoy the beautiful blooms. Life is good!

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It Has a Long Way to Go

“View from Below”
Heatherwood Cherry Allee

Yesterday’s post was of a mature cherry allee at the Yakima Arboretum. This image is our new cherry allee planted this spring. Between the eight trees we have planted a colorful perennial garden with a path zig zagging through the flowers. We have picked perennials that will flower from late spring through early fall.

It will take several years for the trees to grow large enough to form the allee. The perennials will fill in much quicker. In about three years they should fill in leaving a minimum of uncovered ground.

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Looking Into the Future

“Cherry Grove”
Yakima Arboretum, Washington

Cherry trees in July look like they are in full April bloom when they are photographed in infrared. As I looked through the allee my mind imagined what our recently planted allee will look like in the future. This was a good insight with the old trees on the left and the relatively young trees on the right.

Our Heatherwood allee is quite different. It is planted on a hillside looking down to our lawn below. The center of the allee is planted with colorful perennials. Mary calls it her “bright and shiny spot.” On the top we have placed a couple “sitting” rocks to enjoy the view and the colorful flowers below.

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In the Sprinklers Again

Yarrow in the Sprinklers”
Heatherwood Meadow

My neighbors must have thought I was crazy as they observed me leaning over the side of my lawnmower with a big camera and long telephoto lens pointed down at the ground. I am sure they were asking, “Why doesn’t he stop being lazy and just get off the mower to take a picture?”

Maybe in a couple more weeks I will be able to. Not being able to walk around much or kneel down and get up is not stopping me from creating an image or two.

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Playing in the Sprinklers

“In the Sprinkers 1”
Heatherwood Meadow

I have been trying to create the essence of what I see in the meadow for the last couple of weeks. My results have not been satisfying. I am still making my images from my mower since I cannot walk around unaided yet. My prior images have not been as crisp as I would like. I converted several into abstracts to make up for their softness.

For this next set of images, I focused on isolation using a long lens and a narrow depth of field. I also timed taking the images when the meadow was being watered with sprinklers.

In my youth, the highlight of a warm summer day was running through sprinklers in our yard with my brother and sister. I guess I have never outgrown those special times.

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Another Newcomer

Mountain Lantern
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

This informal Mountain lantern was also added this spring to the Heatherwood Japanese Garden. It quietly sits on the hillside above our “Perch” viewing overlook. Its light will gently grace chairs below. I look forward to spending warm summer evenings listening to the waterfall and overlooking the garden below.

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Welcome

Hokkeji Lantern
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Our new Hokkeji Lantern welcomes our guests into Heatherwood’s Japanese garden. To the left beyond the path (not visible) is a young Acer grisum (paperbark maple). In time, its branches will extend over the path to project the Hokkeji. To the right and behind is a newly-planted pink red-bud. Over time, its branches will extend over the Hokkeji as well. The combination of the two trees and lantern will provide a concealed glimpse of the Japanese garden. Once through the entry, the garden will open up to a pathway rising up the hill to overlook the garden and to another path leading to a hidden waterfall.

As I squint my eyes, I see my imagined vision of what will be in the years ahead.

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