TWO TURKISH TULIPS

For your edification -- and ours, here on our wildflower tour -- Tulipa sylvestris NOT in bloom (c'est la vie) followed by Tulipa orphanidea, the money shot of the day.

KAZDA MTN FLOWERS

I'm getting mixed reports from folks about the last podcast from the Kazda Mountains, southwest of Istanbul. Some are getting both audio and pix, some are getting nada. Can't have that, so here are a few of the podcast pix. Will finish up later today, don't want the van to leave without me...

See if you can figure out why this is called the Italian men orchid. Myself, I'd call it the dancing aliens.
The native violets are stunningly simple and clear in hue.
I love to hate this next plant, commonly derided as the cottage cheese plant. But scattered in the rocks on the side of the mountain road, this Iberis -- aka candytuft! -- is a STOP THE TRUCK! plant.

Here's a bit of context for the wildflower field where we found the most coveted plant of the day, and fellow Oregonian, Sarah, amidst a foam of bloom.
Whoa! Gotta run. I got promised a tulip, now you get promised one, too...

PODCAST:BEAUTY CONTEST FROM MT. IDA

It's all in the podcast, folks, pictures and all.

PODCAST FROM MT. IDA

Yes, it's the long-promised podcast, after our first long day on the road and may we have few again like it, Inshallah. Can you spell cranky? But our mighty troupe kept a pleasant facade until cajoled into genuine delight in a private olive grove filled with wildflowers and men bearing artichokes. And so begin the gifts from the Kazda Mountains, 6 hours southwest of Istanbul, where the wildflowers are as legendary as this mountain of the Goddess. Give a listen to the podcast and check back soon to see which of the many promised floral treasures we spy.

ISTANBUL FOR WOMEN ALONE

In a word: EASY. All it takes is a little reaching out and people are quick to reach back. Turks who don't speak English are still generous with time and attention; those that do are a moment away from becoming friends. And though I'm psyched to begin the botanical tour tomorrow -- yes, the one that YOU'RE missing -- I admit I will miss Istanbul terribly and the flexibility of being on my own.

Here's a few pix and a very few words about the last few days in Istanbul, starting with the heady phenomenon of looking straight up in the Aya Sofya.

Now meet the two friends I made while on line for tickets, Anel (right) and Zaure from Kazakhastan.

Here's a couple of other cuties I spied in the city's ancient underground cistern (I only know Medusa by name, right)...

And here's a flock of friends who made the nearby tulips pale.

Jonesing for a look at the first of the native plants? Check out the redbudCercis siliquastrum, as it reaches peak bloom along the Bosporus and near a fortification that dates to when Instanbul was still Constantinope.
Gotta sign off and get some sleep now. The journey begins anew, tomorrow...

ISTANBUL TOURISTS

Couldn't help noticing how many miss the sights.

ISTANBUL IN TULIPS

Not species tulips, of course, just the same old neon bright colors you'll find in any city park these days, but those tulip colors provide just about the only "heat" in the city right now. Instanbul is windy and cold! Good enough weather for walking, gaping, cinammon tea and grilled eggplant.

Couple observations: Turks are gorgeous, gorgeous people. My heart keeps skipping beats. No way to actually categorize their look, they come in a whole lot of delicious skin tones, eye colors, face shapes, hair types. Just generally beautiful women and jaw-dropping handsome men (I do try to be discreet).

They're also crazy friendly and helpful, a bit like Portlanders, most ready with a smile and genuinely warm banter. Even met a woman who hates the U.S. but was entirely non-accusatory, and went way out of her way to help me find an address.

Met another woman who was beside herself to meet me. Imagine that, a Turkish fan who listened to public radio while living in Seattle! The two of us, along with her green-eyed older cousin who owns a fabulous mostly vege restaurant in the Taksim area, ended up at a concert tonight. The music was totally forgettable, but the venue? The Topkapi Palace!

Now to sleep...should the street cleaning machines ever stop. A small price to pay for one of the best views you can have out a hotel window: the six-minaret marvel known as the Blue Mosque.

I snapped the above yesterday from the little cafe at the top of my hotel. More pix to follow, plus three whole days on my own before hooking up with the folks I'm touring with come Monday's 11-day botanical tour.

PODCASTING FROM TURKEY

Today's lift-off for Turkey and even as I rush out the door, I determined to start my regular podcasting (with pix) today and on through my three-week adventure. Keep me company, would'ya?

PRETTY PRIMULA PORN

GARDENER'S PLANT PARTY - part two
I'm not even going to take a stab at identifying these primula, but they're from pix I snapped at Susan Crittenden's garden where the featured guest was Russell Graham, Purveyor of Plants. Some he brought, some she grows.




If you're positively out of your mind with desire for these plants' names, send an e-mail to Susan at susan.crittenden@powells.com but don't tell her I sent you!

GARDENERS PLANT PARTY - part 1

'Twas a crazy beautiful day yesterday and the sun held its own for a primrosian celebration at my dear friend Susan Crittenden's, whose soil and skill have produced a garden of plants in sizes unequaled by mortal men.

Susan (far left) was hosting an intimate group of us to talk plants with Oregon nurseryman Russell Graham, whose woodland plants are among the coveted riches of the embarrassingly verdant PNW.
Russell brought a parcel of plants for show and tell and he's lucky he escaped with his life. From his little double white anemonella to his dark-leaved, yellow-flowered hellebore, his collection of gems was enough to have everyone sputtering and dreaming of great riches, "if only it was mine!"
I'm not going to blurt out what the above plant is, though the last time I threw you a plant to i.d., you guys were all over me in a nano-second. But if the bud of truth isn't screaming out at you, how would you describe the implication?

Primroses tomorrow...

DOG AS WOMAN AS DOG

A telling moment when my buddy Nani and I took our animals for a hike.

COLD TURKEY?

Rumor has it that wildflower bloom times in Turkey are a bit on the late side this spring.

Huh? What does that have to do with you?

Well, if you're not among the lucky ones on my roster, not much, because you're not packing like we are right now for a dream trip wandering among tulips and ruins!

Yeah, I'm a shit. But c'mon, it's five days and counting till lift-off. How can I not be jumping up and down?

Thus spake Wikipedia:

The tulip, or lale (from Persian لاله, lâleh) as it is also called in Turkey, is a flower indigenous to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and other parts of Central Asia.

It is unclear who first brought the flower to northwest Europe. The most widely accepted story is that of Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq, Ambassador from Ferdinand I to Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire in 1554. He remarks in a letter upon seeing "an abundance of flowers everywhere; Narcissus, hyacinths, and those which in Turkish Lale, much to our astonishment, because it was almost midwinter, a season unfriendly to flowers" (see Busbecq, qtd. in Blunt, 7).

In Persian Literature (classic and modern) special attention has been given to these two flowers, in specific likening the beloved eyes to Narges and a glass of wine to Laleh.

The word tulip, which earlier in English appeared in such forms as tulipa or tulipant, entered the language by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend, "muslin, gauze". (The English word turban, first recorded in English in the 16th century, can also be traced to Ottoman Turkish tülbend.)

MOM'S SEDER PODCAST

So! While I was immersed in computer programs at UC Berkeley's Knight Digital Media Center, my family was gathering for seder at my niece's home outside Boston. I only just caught up with my inexhaustible mom yesterday (she'll be 93 on 4/24, sorry to out you, Mom) when she stopped by to catch me up on what I'd missed. That's when I threw the switch on GarageBand. Enjoy!

SEDER - THE PODCAST

As I continue to bumper-car my way into the digital fast lane, I worked way into the wee hours of this morning to post a podcast. Alas! I must have screwed up the ftp because it didn't work. I am confident I will nail this thing sometime today, so pls check back!

BEAGLES ON PREDNISONE

A little more than a week ago, I put a brave face on a sad post about Starry. After several hours at the (yes, $125/hr) animal neurologist, it was clear that my 11-ish yr old rescue was rapidly losing control of her hindquarters and after several (yes, $325) x-rays all we knew was what it wasn't: Obvious.

With enormous sadness, I made the decision not to spend thousands more on determining the problem and attempting a fix. I've only had Starlet for 30 months and know nothing about her history; was she hit by a car? Kicked around? On a grossly unhealthy diet?

Too many variables for me to make any decision other than keep her in the lifestyle she was now accustomed -- loved, and pain-free.

I then left for a week of digital media training at UC Berkeley with instructions for the housesitter re:drugs (several) and walks (none). I had no idea what kind of beagle I'd be coming home to but people were lined up left and right to step in if she needed emergency care.

I got home yesterday.

STARLET'S THRIVING!

The only real change in her regime is doubling the prednisone and cutting out the exercise. It may add weeks or maybe months, I'm not greedy, but I am enormously grateful she's no longer falling.

Make this the one billionth testimony to the beauty of elder care and meds...

MY FIRST SOUNDSLIDE!!

CALIFORNIA MEMORIAL STADIUM:
A Story Punted, Fumbled and Saved

TAKE 'A TOUR 'O TURKEY

Tonight my new friend N'Jeri Eaton at UC Berkeley's Knight Media Center helped me put together a map of my upcoming Turkey trip. Never mind that you didn't ask for it or that it's a little lacking in pizzazz, it's a blazing beginning to my new multi-media career.

Right?


View Ketzel's First Tour of Turkey in a larger map

TEST PODCAST

What a student can do even when they don't get none of it.

WHEN A PHOBIC STUDENT GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

What do you think happens? Go on, guess.

Let's consider our options. She walks on campus and...

1. looks around, smiles to herself and walks off.
2. waltzes into class, settles in, focuses and succeeds.
3. begins, succeeds, falters, panics and ends up medicated to get home.

So the question is:

What type of (formerly, current) phobic student are you?

And the follow-up is:

What type of (formerly, current) phobic student am I?

OH! THE PLACES WE HAVE BEEN

This is the first of a few posts looking back at the mountains, woods and alpine meadows where Starlet and I have traipsed in our brief two and a half years together. Consider it a celebration of a sweet and adventurous little beagle who is not likely to be with us much longer.

Be patient, all will be revealed.
This moment on the eastern side of Wallowa Lake outside Joseph, Or. was captured one fine day last June by my friend Troy Nave (bottom of link page). That was the first time Troy and his buoyant wife Dana (nickname Tigger) took me hiking in their wilderness, and where I first saw a native clematis anywhere in the world. This was also a trip where Starlet did some of her best posing, often looking as if nothing pleased her more than to roam in the great wild. This of course is preposterous because the only thing that pleases and motivates my Starry is being one moment closer to her next meal.

ESSENTIAL OILS TAKE ON FIRE ANTS!

My latest issue of Hortideas has arrived (we've visited its pages before). Here's my pick from its nerdy to noteworthy monthly offerings:

Feng Yu Jing, an essential oil product sold in China as an over-the-counter herbal medicine, is a high- ly effective repellent for the red fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) that have become a widespread scourge in the South. Feng Yu Jing contains camphor, eucalyptol, eugenol, menthol, methyl salicylate, and phenylethanol...more research is needed to develop effective application methods for the active ingredients in Feng Yu Jing.
A source of Feng Yu Jing in the U.S. is Max Nature Products.

If you do go to that website, note that the product's referred to as Golden Dragon Medicated Oil for relief of aches and pains, not fire ants.