A perfect morning — dark coffee, sunlight, a swan on the walk over to de Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam,
and a patient heron as we approached the garden:
For a lover of plants (and a consort willing to come along), this was heaven. The Hortus was founded in 1638 in the wake of a plague epidemic, a living storehouse of medicinal herbs. Wonderful arboreal specimens, e.g. a hinoki cypress (I know that our west coast yellow cedar has a similar wood which is exported to Japan when hinoki cypress is in short supply for building (among other things) Shinto shrines. Corsican pine:
I loved the knobbly cork oaks
and look forward to seeing them in Portugal tomorrow. (Tomorrow!) As for tonight, there’s a party to celebrate Anik and Walter’s wedding and we’ve been promised oysters and champagne. More perfect pairings.
...Theresa Kishkan 