In 1999, I planted a bare-root Craig’s Crimson Cherry semi-dwarf fruit tree in our Willow Glen backyard. Our dog promptly bit it in half. Despite this rough start, the little tree is flourishing and just gave us a our annual large bowl of deliciously sweet red cherries.
The fruit a week ago – not quite ripe:
Cherry flowers in April 2013:
The tree tags:
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family
In Willow Glen, there is a block with four street names. Two of the names are official – meaning that if you sent a letter by US Mail to an address on “Alma” or “Minnesota”, it would arrive. The other names are associated with the large campus of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Yosip Parish which takes up most of one side of the block. Their internal driveway is “Mar Dinkha IV Blvd” but one exit is marked “Assyrian Ave” and the other is “Mar Yosip Way” – along what would otherwise be Alma/Minnesota. The Alma/Minnesota street sign pictured above is between the exits. Fortunately, people sending mail to the parish send it to a San Jose address on Minnesota, so the many designations probably cause little confusion.
Street names in America are not-quite-random but sometimes seem so. According to the 1993 US Census, the most common US street name is “Second” – with “Third” a close second. The street names used over 5,000 times are:
Willow Glen has at least one more many-named street. About half a mile from the Alma/Minesota sign is another campus driveway which is either “Delmas” or “Wabesco” – both are clearly marked.
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Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Church, News & Reviews
On walks around our Willow Glen neighborhood here in San Jose, California, I occasionally see paw prints in the sidewalk concrete, permanently recording the adventures of some curious animal. Recently, there was a news story about Cat Paw Prints Found on 15th-Century Manuscript. There is even a funny blog entry on how to achieve this cheaply. These prints are the more charming for being rare. The cat prints pictured above are two of four in an old sidewalk near our house.
I was surprised recently when visiting a Silicon Valley company headquarters to see many lines of crisp prints in a new sidewalk, with each pair too far away for a normal cat stride. I conclude that some hardscape designer is selling a paw print stamp option for walkways. Institutionalized whimsy.
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family
There is a tiny Anna’s Hummingbird sitting on a nest outside of my office window. My window is about six feet off the ground (in the bay of WP668, our backyard caboose here in Willow Glen), so I can see directly into the pear tree where the bird is hiding. Such a delight!
June 14 update: two baby birds!
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
I was suggesting images to my artist son Paul for his current animal series of water colors and thought that a blog with pictures of some of our local Willow Glen, California denizens would be of interest. Not pictured is the horrible towhee bird who is flinging himself repeatedly at my caboose office window as I type.
My cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus), Guapo and Sparky, eating a dried pepper:
Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopelmatus) in the side yard:
Big garter snake (Thamnophis) in front of our house:
(picture courtesy of neighbor Jamie Lynch)
Alligator lizard (Elgaria coerulea) on neighbor’s sidewalk:
American swallowtail butterfly caterpillar (Papilio polyxenes) on fennel in the front yard:
Redda the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) trying for a lick through her kennel fence:
Beggar dogs hoping for a handout:
Cat (Felis catus) dominating the neighbor’s car:
Garter snake picture Copyright 2013 by James Lynch, other pictures Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family
Yesterday was Mother’s Day here in the USA and I spent it with family, including two of my favorite artists:
| My mother Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson Professor Emeritus, California College of the Arts |
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| My son Paul Dickinson Goodman Art Student, Foothill College |
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After church and brunch in Willow Glen, the two artists sat on the porch and compared their latest works.
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family
For the last two weeks our house and garden have been in the annual dancing seed storm from the female Cottonwood poplar trees along San Jose’s Guadalupe River. Thankfully, we are now almost done with blowing fuzz for the year. All of my cactus have fluff caught in their spines. I will be watering down the garden all weekend. At least the white seeds make it very obvious where the spider webs are – giving me a target for the hose.
Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
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