Weekend travels

Over Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Philly and New York with my friends Jonathan and Rachel (on the left here). We stayed with their friends Kim and Ben in South Philadephia. We took a long walk to all the neighborhood shops (fish, wine, beer, bread) to put together our dinner, and added some vegetables from their backyard garden. We had a delicious Italian meal called crudo ("raw")-- raw fish with olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon and lime, and pumpkin seeds for a crunch.






Kim and Ben's neighborhood in South Philly seemed like it hadn't changed much in the past few decades. It felt densely urban but with a low building profile-- two-story row houses and storefronts. There seemed to be a real stoop culture in their neighborhood--groups of older men were sitting and chatting in lawn chairs and little girls were filling water balloons on the sidewalk.



The goal of the trip was attend a surprise birthday party in New York, where Jonathan and Rachel would play music with their old band from Connecticut, the Balkan Situations (ha ha). The band members came from near and far, and got warmed up pretty quickly after a year's break. There was some great accordion, guitar, clarinet, bass, and fiddle playing.

polders

I am getting excited to learn more about the German and Dutch landscapes I will be visiting briefly at the end of August. Here is an image of a polder (land reclaimed from water)that reminds me of a quilt design! I can see the roads and canals, and the red may be homes?

Ivy Creek

Yesterday I walked through Ivy Creek Natural Area, a forested creek valley that was once a farm. I first visited the site with Plants class two autumns ago, and the beech forest was turning golden brown. It is magical in the early summer too-- the way that light filters through the papery leaves makes the beech forest unique.




There is a constructed native grass meadow that is maintained with controlled burning. Some grasses were blooming, some were seeding-- some are taller than a person, some under a foot tall. They are stunning in their own spiky way.






My friend Emily and I spotted a pileated woodpecker, a striped skink, a skinny green snake, a tree frog, and a yellow mushroom.

playtime

When Aaron, Amy, and Camille, visited, we all had a chance to play. McGuffey Park in downtown Charlottesville has a lot of dizzy-making-machines. Camille also made a small city of dome homes in the sandbox. Later, we danced on the sidewalk, made up stories with Mustache Guy and Fisher Guy, wore ribbons as necklaces and bracelets, and traced journeys on a map. Thanks for all the good playing, A + A + C!

letting off some steam...

During charrette week (right before final reviews) the A-school hosts a mysterious event called Snack Raffle. Last year, I skipped it, but this year, I was an energetic participator-- as an insult-writer. The event pits the Architects against the Landscape Architects, with events like the 3-legged race, dance off, race to snack machine, relay of snacks, and insult contest (lots of jokes about future lawn-mowing jobs directed at "Us," and jokes about bird-murdering glass facades directed at "Them.")

Here, the Architect team is doing a dance inspired by the laser cutter (used to make models) and the Landscape Architect (in helmets) wait their turn.