San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers – Part I

Late Sunday afternoon, after a day of helping out our mother at her apartment building, my sister and I decided to give ourselves a pat on the back by rewarding ourselves with walk around Golden Gate Park. We decided to go to the Conservatory of Flowers since my sister had not been since the completion of the $25 million reconstruction project in 2003.

The Conservatory has interesting roots. It was found, still in crates, amongst the effects of the richest man in California, James Lick, after he passed away in 1876. After prominent San Francisco businessmen purchased the Conservatory from the Lick Estate, they donated it to the Park Commission of San Francisco. By 1879 the Victorian structure was erected and the Conservatory was open to the public.

Even though the structure has seen two fires, in 1883 and 1918, and suffered severe damage from a windstorm in 1995 which closed the structure for eight years, it survived the 1906 earthquake.

The Victorian architecture features plenty of gingerbread details: 

The dome looks great from the outside:

And the inside:

 

Their floors are divine:

Their signage is beautiful:

They have a some lovely displays:

and impressive displays of epiphytes:

This is just a sneak peek, next time I’ll show you lots of flowers. Watch this (blog)spot!

From George Washington to Barack Obama

 Getty Images

With the presidential inauguration one week away, it is a good time to celebrate the genius of our constitution.  I find immeasurable comfort in knowing that I can wait out a presidential term to have another opportunity to vote in a new president -- without bloodshed. Good, bad, or indifferent, here are 44 of the many reasons why we live in a great country:

Plus it is always a good time to listen to Maurice Ravel's Boléro.