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Plump Ripe Fig

A close up of a big succulent fig hanging from the tree in my (former) back yard. Delicious.

The Common fig (Ficus carica) is a large, deciduous shrub or small tree native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region (from Afghanistan to Portugal). It grows to a height of 6.9–10 metres (23–33 ft) tall, with smooth grey bark. The leaves are 12–25 centimetres (4.7–9.8 in) long and 10–18 centimetres (3.9–7.1 in) across, and deeply lobed with three or five lobes. The fruit is 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) long, with a green skin, sometimes ripening towards purple or brown.
The edible fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humans. Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic type dating to about 9400–9200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho). The find predates the domestication of wheat, barley, and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture. It is proposed that they may have been planted and cultivated intentionally, one thousand years before the next crops were domesticated (wheat and rye)
Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_fig

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Palm Springs Hill House

Walking along a street on a very warm late Spring day in Palm Springs I noticed this mid-century house up on the hill.

Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles (177 km) east of Los Angeles and 136 miles (225 km) northeast of San Diego. The city became a fashionable resort in the 1900s when health tourists arrived with conditions that needed dry heat. The village of Palm Springs was more comfortable in its microclimate as the area was covered in a shadow late afternoon during the summer by the San Jacinto mountains to the west. In the winter the mountains block cold winds from the San Gorgonio pass.
In the 1920s Hollywood movie stars were attracted by the hot dry, sunny weather and seclusion. Architectural modernists flourished with commissions from the stars, using the city to explore architectural innovations, new artistic venues, and an exotic back-to-the-land experiences. Inventive architects designed unique vacation houses, such as steel houses with prefabricated panels and folding roofs, a glass-and-steel house in a boulder-strewn landscape, and a carousel house that turned to avoid the sun's glare.
Kaufmann Desert House, Palm Springs, by Richard Neutra
In 1946 Richard Neutra designed the Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann House. A modernist classic, this mostly glass residence incorporated the latest technological advances in building materials, using natural lighting and floating planes and flowing space for proportion and detail. In recent years an energetic preservation program has protected and enhanced many classic buildings.
Culver (2010) argues that Palm Springs architecture became the model for mass-produced suburban housing, especially in the Southwest. This "Desert Modern" style was a high-end architectural style featuring open-design plans, wall-to-wall carpeting, air-conditioning, swimming pools, and very large windows. As Culver concludes, "While environmentalists might condemn desert modern, the masses would not. Here, it seemed, were houses that fully merged inside and outside, providing spaces for that essential component of Californian—and indeed middle-class American—life: leisure. While not everyone could have a Neutra masterpiece, many families could adopt aspects of Palm Springs modern."
Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Springs,_California

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Blue Thistle Flower and Bee.

A honey bee hovers near a blue thistle flower (also known as Sea Holly) in the garden at the Getty Musuem in Los Angeles, California.

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Pondering the Flower of Youth.

An old man watches from the street on a dark, rainy afternoon as two women buy flowers in a small shop in central Bologna. I was struck by the simplicity and poignancy of this image as I walked by. As I grow older and loved ones before me pass on, the beauty and fleeting nature of life
becomes an ever present conversation...

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Central Park West

A runner passes by on a hazy afternoon in Central Park on the upper West Side of New York City.

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on 843 acres (3.41 km2) of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan. Construction began the same year and was completed in 1873.
Central Park is bordered on the north by West 110th Street, on the south by West 59th Street, on the west by Eighth Avenue. Along the park's borders, these streets are known as Central Park North, Central Park South, and Central Park West respectively. Only Fifth Avenue along the park's eastern border retains its name. The park, which receives approximately thirty-five million visitors annually, is the most visited urban park in the United States. It was opened on 770 acres (3.1 km2) of city-owned land and was expanded to 843 acres (3.41 km2; 1.317 sq mi). It is 2.5 miles (4 km) long between 59th Street (Central Park South) and 110th Street (Central Park North), and is 0.5 miles (0.8 km) wide between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West. It is similar in size to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Vancouver's Stanley Park, and Munich's Englischer Garten.
Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park

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