We invited a few friends to come here for dinner one evening, and another couple another time. Christmas eve was spent at Hank and Darcy's, then Christmas brunch with John and Carol. Let the good times roll on - and so we decided to meet John and Carol at The Ship Inn in Milford, New Jersey for Boxing Day. And what is that? The day after Christmas, it originated as a day for giving gifts to employees and poor people. There are sporting traditions, especially fox hunting. And in contemporary traditions, it is the day when UK, Canadian, and Australian stores launch their most significant sales period in the retail cycle. Equivalent, I suppose, to the American "Black Friday" following Thanksgiving.
Another storm sweeping in yesterday, variable in quality and quantity. A friend near Boston got 10 inches of light dry, easily shoveled snow. We got some sleet, then about an inch of snow, then rain. The result - a snow sponge sucking up the water, then freezing overnight. That was the cause of the all too familiar icy driveway-becomes-toboggan-run. We'd parked at the bottom, today was warmer, and between the application of some calcium chloride snow-melter and assiduous shoveling the driveway is now clear. Until the next storm.
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I got an e-mail from Shanika, who had asked me to participate in the kiku, Japanese art of the chrysanthemum exhibition at The New York Botanical Garden earlier this fall. New Tang Dynasty TV wanted someone to talk about Japanese gardens. Shanika wanted to know if I would be interested. Indeed yes. A few e-mails and a couple of telephone calls with Henny, producer for the Asia Talks segments at NTDTV, and we scheduled an interview at the New York Botanical Garden. That was my idea. After all, a program about gardening should have at least one segment out in the open air. After discussion with Nick Leshi in the public relations department, we chose the Benenson Ornamental Conifer Collection. It is somewhat isolated from the conservatory and cafe, which means we are also separated from the hordes of garden railroad visitors. The landscape here features rocky outcrops and magnificent conifers. It's a wonderful place. Most conifers, like pines, firs, cedars, and spruces, are evergreen,with dark green or blue needles. A few, like the bald-cypress, larch and dawn redwood, turn gold, amber or orange before dropping their needles in the fall. There's a grove of giant dawn redwoods, a prehistoric conifer thought to be extinct until 1941, when a Chinese forester, T. Kan, found it growing in a remote valley in central China. Those in the conifer collection were planted in 1950, from seeds collected in 1947.
Nucleus of the collection are 200 conifers given to the garden in the late 1940's by Robert H. Montgomery. He had a keen eye for dwarf varieties , anything with a weeping form, or blue needles. Picea pungens 'R. H. Montgomery' a dwarf Colorado spruce with dense powder-blue needles and a pyramid shape is one of his finds, and arguably one of the most widely planted conifers in America. But with the budget cuts of the 1970s the collection was neglected. It was in 1999 that a garden board member, James Benenson Jr., and his wife, Sharen, helped underwrite a $5 million restoration and expansion, adding 200 new specimens well suited to the home garden. So there are examples of unique and quirky conifers that would be cherished in Japanese gardens. As well, there are towering oaks and tulip poplars, some with massive roots gripping the stony ridges, symbols of endurance in the face of adversity. Good choice.
The day arrived and Paul and I drove in, complete with a picnic lunch and thermos of hot tea. It was sunny, breezy, and on the chilly side, but we were snug enough in the solar heated car. Then Henny, along with Shelly, my interviewer, and three man camera crew arrived with all the necessary equipment: two Canon digital video cameras, microphones, power cords, reflectors, and more.
And what a wonderland it is. Perhaps you've always thought of gingerbread as, well, cookies.
That's Hansel peering out the dungeon window,
just before Gretel pushes the nearsighted witch into the oven.
telephone, pencil mug . . . and his computer, ready to keep track of who's naughty and who's nice.
has a trough of oats to eat. They'll keep him warm when the weather's cold and snow is falling.
It's a wonderful display of more than 250 gingerbread fantasies created by families, children, school groups, and more.
Come and see what can be created with some imagination and gingerbread. Georgeann and I enjoyed ourselves, and you will too.
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
What did we want for a backdrop. Where to position talent (that's me and Shelley) and crew.
From the left that's me, Paulio and Eric who are two of the camera men, Shelley, and Henny.
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
We'd film three 8-minute-long segments, and talk about Japanese garden styles and some history,
Japanese plants, their popularity in Western gardens, and the introduction of Japanese plants to the West.
That's Colin, third camera man, in striped scarf and warm hat (clever man) with his finger on the camera.
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
But it was now getting colder, the sun lowering in the sky, and shadows lengthening.
After we filmed one segment, indoors seemed like a good option for the other two.
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
lobby on the 6th floor between the LuEsther T. Mertz library and the gallery had too much signage.
But the Thekla T. Johnson Rotunda with its display case of orchids was just about perfect.
People sometimes walking through meant we'd occasionally need to repeat a sentence or two.
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
That will be edited down to the required 24 minutes, and air in January 2008. As well as the actual interview portions
they filmed some bits and pieces that will smooth the transition from one segment to the next.
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
towards the George Washington Bridge and the longish drive to New Jersey
Photo courtesy of Paul Glattstein
Lights on the highway, cameras put away, action of cars and drivers going here and there.
A very interesting afternoon. I'm looking forward to the finished, edited, final cut.