The Madre in Town

My dear Mama came down for a visit last week. It gave me an excuse to take off Monday and we headed off to Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino. Built by Henry Huntington (of railroad wealth), the grounds and museums are a reflection of his personal interest in American and European literature and art. Personally, we prefer the gardens. The Chinese garden is now open, joining the rose garden, Japanese garden, and desert garden.

They currently have an excellent science exhibit, with many of Darwin's personal diaries and sketches. We found the American Arts and Crafts architectural exhibit (think the Gamble House) to be rather lacking in depth but the early texts in Huntington's personal library (Shakespeare, Gutenberg Bible, Canterbury Tales) make up for the poor Arts and Crafts showing.

A favorite from the desert garden.
The new Chinese Garden.
On Sunday the four of us (Karin, Chris, Sonja and Bailey) went for a hike out in Corona. I'm wishing that we'd had gone down to our favorite spot on the Santa Ana river as it appears likely to have burned yesterday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

A beetle, hurrying past