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On palm trees, one in particular

Photo of RAT beach taken by Piper Haywood in 2009

RAT Beach in 2009. RAT = Right After Torrance

When I was very young, I developed a sustained, irrational fear of the palm tree that stood near the southwest corner of Deelane Street and Anza Avenue in Torrance, CA.

This fear is one of my earliest memories. The palm was cartoonish and stereotypical. It was spindly and swayed even on very still days. I lost my four-year-old mind every time we passed it on foot, convinced that it would fall over and pile drive me in to the ground.

The palm tree no longer exists. It was probably removed just after we moved away in 1993.

Satellite view of Deelane Street and Anza Avenue (Torrance, CA) in 1980 and 1994

Satellite view of the corner of Deelane Street and Anza Avenue in Torrance, CA. Left image was captured in 1980, right image was captured in 1994. Source for both images is USGS via historicalaerials.com

I picked up “Edges of the Experiment – The Making of the American Landscape” from the Fw:Books table at Offprint a couple of weekends ago. It is a two-volume publication designed and edited by Hans Gremmen focusing on the landscape of the American West. The first volume features photographs by Marie-José Jongerius and is punctuated with essays. The second is more text-based and includes a curated selection of media; historical photographs, anecdotes, facsimiles, essays, etc. The photos by Jongerius are what originally drew me to the publication. They are incredibly true to the place.

Last weekend I started reading volume two, including an essay titled “The infrastructure of trees in Los Angeles” by architect Warren Techentin. I learned that the palm tree is a disappearing southern Californian icon:

Considering that the average lifespan of a palm tree is 70 to 100 years, and that most of the palms visible now were planted to beautify the city for the 1932 Olympics, the bulk of Los Angeles’s palm trees will disappear within a decade or two.

Warren Techentin, “The Infrastructure of Trees in Los Angeles”, Edges of the Experiment: The Making of the American Landscape, Vol. 2, Netherlands: FW:Books [2015], p74.

The city isn’t replacing most palms that are removed. Apparently they were never a great ecological or economical choice.

So my childhood nemesis was likely removed due to old age. It’s kind of sad. I haven’t found any photos of that particular palm tree.

I can’t emphasise enough how much I have enjoyed “Edges of the Experiment”. One particularly lovely spread includes the first page of Techentin’s essay alongside one of Hans Gremmen’s graphics illustrating water usage in California. Water is touched upon in many if not most of the texts in “Edges of the Experiment”, and its presence (or lack thereof) is notable in many of Jongerius’s photos.

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The Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion at the Colby College Museum of Art

Photo of the entrance to the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion at the Colby College Museum of Art

Lobby of the Colby College Museum of Art and the entrance to the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion.

Visited the Colby College Museum of Art recently for the fist time in years, the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion is a great addition. Wish I brought a proper camera.

Photo of the Colby Museum façade

Entrance to the museum, including Richard Serra’s “4-5-6” in the courtyard.

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Joan Jonas

Black and white photo of artist Joan Jonas with a mirror

Photo of multimedia artist Joan Jonas by Sebastian Kim for Interview Magazine (image source)

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House on the rock

The carousel in the House on the Rock, from Slate (image source)

House on the rock in Wisconsin is a very strange collection of collections.

Need to go. It looks almost identical to a house that was in a recurring dream I had as a kid. It was the house I wanted to live in, with a room full of pianos of all shapes and sizes lining the walls, ceiling and floor, another room that was just an interconnected series of waterfalls and water-slides that defied gravity. I think this is it’s nearest IRL replica.

It’s also supposedly featured in one of Neil Gaiman’s books? Another big reason it’s at the top of my travel to do list.

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Short-ish list of San Francisco recommendations

Photo of the coast near SF from near the Nike Missile Site SF-88 in the Marin Headlands

View of the coast near SF from near the Nike Missile Site SF-88 in the Marin Headlands, looking south towards Point Bonita Lighthouse

I say short-ish since this is short relative to the number of fantastic places to visit / eat / imbibe / shop in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Compiled primarily for my lovely cousin in anticipation of her trip out west, also so that I don’t forget some places that I really like. I’ll keep adding to the list as places occur to me.

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