30 months later.

Abundant growth may dictate repositioning of some of the spotlights.

An overhaul of the irrigation system, much planting and diligent fertilization have gone on during the past 30 months and the results are starting to show.

One goal is to have color most of the year around.
Newly planted Hibiscus are at the base of the Mobius loop sculpture.

The Krauter Palm is surrounded by Bottle Brush shrubs.
A symphony of Oleanders is starting to cover the south wall of the home, behind the BBQ.

The east passageway was completely barren 30 months ago.
It’s now replete with Yellow Bells and Oleanders

Yellow Lantana fill this planter. The drop down shades shield the patio area from the blast of southern sun.

The west wall will soon be hidden by these Oleanders.

The west passageway, once barren, is now filled with Star Jasmine and red Oleanders.

The foreground Oleander was just 18″ tall when planted and now rises 8′.
My neighbor’s Bougainvillea spill gorgeously over the east wall.

Here’s the barren, cheapskate misery I acquired 30 months ago – after 20 years this is the best previous owners could do:

Tacky solar landscape lighting included. Immediately recycled and replaced with wired LEDs.

Nikon D700/20mm AFD Nikkor for the night image.
Panasonic GX7/12-35mm pro zoom for the others.

Rebuilding begins.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1951.

The spire of Notre Dame is now no more, and can be dimly glimpsed in HC-B’s magnificent, evocative image taken over 60 years ago. Notre Dame cathedral is truly ground zero in Paris as all distances are measured from its location.

There have already been stories in the press about French billionaires pledging untold monies to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral. Color me skeptical. Guys who made their money hawking handbags and perfume are not what I would call reliable sources of capital. Show me the money.

On the other hand, had Jefferson and Adams not spent formative years in Paris and had they not imported the French constitution to the shores of revolutionary America, there would be no American republic. And without the help of the French military, the colonizing British could not have been kicked out by Washington’s forces. And we need the French design of separation of powers more than ever in the United States which has seen fit to elect a cruel uncaring pig to the highest office in the land, one seeking to destroy the very constitution he is pledged to uphold and defend. A common criminal.

So it is to America that France should look for money to rebuild the great symbol of personal freedom in the Western world. And for America to raise the billion dollars needed to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral as a gift to a nation to which we owe so much, that is a trivial effort.

Donate.

Unspeakable tragedy.

The spire. Henri-Cartier Bresson, 1948.

I write with tears in my eyes.

Name the three greatest cathedrals of Western civilization and the names which spring to mind are Westminster Abbey, St. Peter’s and Notre Dame. And while the first two were only ever symbols of oppression, despotism and egotistical power, Notre Dame was, by contrast, the greatest statement of freedom medieval man ever made. Paris may be the center of bloody revolution, of past despots and of great victories and defeats, but none would argue it ever stood for anything but individual freedom.

As I write the spire of Notre Dame has collapsed. Fire is ravaging the cathedral. Who knows what will survive?

I simply cannot reproduce those images here.

Unspeakable tragedy.