Skip to main content

Rhode Island Flower Show, 2008


























Once again the title of this day's entry pretty much says it all.

What it doesn't say is that Susie, Dorothy and I walked from our apartment to the convention center -- it took us all of about 20 minutes -- and so beat the traffic headaches that seem to plague Americans seeking to participate in large-scale events.

The title also doesn't tell you that it was an absolutely gorgeous Sunday afternoon for a leisurely walk into downtown.

Nor would you discern from the heading that the show was overpriced and generally underwhelming -- although I did get a good opportunity to experiment with my new macro lens -- or that it was a fairly juvenile experience. I mean that literally. All the displays were geared toward children's books and stories; and the only bookshop vendor I saw ("Other Tiger") on the fifth level, had two signs posted:"It's all about the children." Right.

The juried section was also quite understated as well and we were sorely disappointed that theren't more individual displays. No orchid organization was represented, at least none that I saw -- and in fact the only orchids I came across were being hawked in two vendor booths only ("why ma'am that pot alone is worth $40 and I'll let the whole thing go for $70 because I don't to talk it back with me to New York. . . ") The carnivorous plant society was stuck way up on the fifth floor, pretty much out of every one's way.

And speaking of vendors one was hard-pressed to figure out if this was a garden show or a what: bathroom fixtures, T-shirt silk-screening, jewelry, clothing, handbags and the like. Frankly I felt a bit violated: they took $16 bucks so that I could walk around an indoor shopping mall.

Still, the girl playing Sleeping Beauty was impressive -- she had certainly found her way into a zen state.

Of course we got in on the tail end of the show, that's true, when some of the arrangements were starting to show a bit of weariness.

But hey, see for yourself.



Ciao,

Steve

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 in Annecy Morning

 [20 April, Easter Sunday] OK, so our morning wasn't actually spent in Annecy per se. Still the bus said Annecy City Tour. . . We had our tickets in hand for a bus trip to Gorges du Fier  and Chateau Montrottier . It was raining lightly as we finished our breakfast and then made the five-minute walk to the town's Hôtel de Ville.  There we joined a few other tourists also waiting for the bus to take us to the gorge. Numerous vendors were undaunted by the weather as they were setting up for the day's big market of mostly gimcracks and geegaws with some food. The bus arrived right on time, and our little group of maybe 16 or so got aboard and out of the cold rain. It was a pretty quick drive out of greater Annecy and through the green countryside. As we pulled into the parking lot I noticed a restaurant I had seen from the train the day before -- and indeed we would see several trains speeding through the valley as we walked to and from the gorge. parking lot Once off the bu...

Wife saves husband

[from Susan VandenBerg, 1/7/1025] To those of you who know Steve (and are perhaps very fond of him) I’m reporting that on New Year’s Eve soon after we had finished dinner, he collapsed suddenly, unresponsive with dusky color and gasping breaths. I immediately responded with CPR and calling 911. Medics arrived in due time and continued CPR along with defibrillation which put him back into a regular rhythm and some return of respiratory effort. He was transported to Butterworth ER and stabilized with intubation and sedation.  I/medical personnel feel this was a dangerous and potentially fatal arrhythmia most likely caused by some scar tissue in the heart from Steve’s previous heart attacks. In that case the scar can interfere with the electrical circuits in the heart, disrupting the normal rhythms. There are a number of other details that I could share with you, although that really isn’t that important at this stage. The crux of the matter is that, if I hadn’t been home when he coll...

Off to Paris and Home

 [22-23 April] We were packed and ready to go by 9:00am. After last-minute tidying up we left the apartment keys on the table, hauled our bags down the two flights of stairs and walked the 10 minutes or so to the train station. Our train was on time and we got right on board without jostling with crowds.  The train ride back to Lyon was smooth and quick and we enjoyed the scenery just as much as on our way to Annecy. We made a point of looking out for the Gorges du Fier on our way out of town. That was pretty cool. Our train arrived in Lyon on time and since we had a couple of hours before our connection to Paris we grabbed a bite of lunch. Our TGV high-speed train to Paris arrived on schedule at platform G and boy was it packed!. Our luck held out though and our assigned coach stopped right in front of where we were standing! We walked on, stowed our bags and headed up to the top deck and our seats. The ride was fast, really fast, and we pulled into the Gare de Lyon in Paris...