The Dragon & The Buddha's Hand

"As the soil, however rich it might be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit."

-Seneca

San Francisco will hold it's annual Chinese New Year Parade this Sunday afternoon, come rain or come shine. It will definitely be raining according to the weatherman, which means I will have to miss this year's celebrations. Oh well, there will be other years, and I will be looking forward to it. I am not to sad about it, because I had a pretty good time recently at the Conservatory of Flowers, enjoying their citrus blossom exhibit in honor of the Chinese New Year. I loved photographing the gorgeous citrus blossoms and fruits, and of course, this festive dragon that was hanging in the lobby of the conservatory. I considered using this picture for my recent Round Robin Challenge entry as the subject of "RED."

All the citrus fruits looked wonderful, and mighty yummy, but one fruit in particular that I found interesting was the, Buddha's Hand. I had never seen it before, but through a little searching on the Internet I found out that it is also known as citron, and it is used often in fruitcakes. I have been eating it for years, I just had no idea how interesting it was in appearance. It is more sweet then most citrus fruits and therefore it can be used in a lot of different dishes from rice pilaf to candied fruit or even a light topping for fish. I also found out that it can be used as a natural room freshener, because of it's clean, sweet fragrance. I am going to see if I can't drop by one of the markets in Chinatown, and see if I can pick one up. I would love to try some new recipes with this exotic fruit. I will let you know what I come up with. :)

-OndineMonet
"Dragon"
Conservatory of Flowers
San Francisco, California
February 14, 2007
Afternoon

Blossoms In Winter

"Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it."

-Johan Wolfgang Goethe

Alan and I had such a good time for Valentine's Day, we spent the day in San Francisco, at the Conservatory of Flowers. There were two exhibits in particular that we wanted to see. The first one was, "One: An Earth Installation," by artist, Stanley Gatti, which I will share with you in a few days, and the second display was the, "Chinese New Year Floral Display," of various types of spring blossoms and fruit, including mandarin oranges, quince, and pomelo.

The fruit and blossom display was held in the potted plant room, so along with the special blossoms, there were some of the usual sights I have seen there, such as the amazing hibiscus and azaleas plants, which is always beautiful, but yesterday, set against the stark white ceiling, were red Chinese lanterns, and yards of oriental silk fabric, which provided a dramatic effect to the exhibit. One absolutely stunning sight was a display of yellow, and deep purple colored orchids, that had the red fabric running like a ribbon just above the flowers.

The weather outside yesterday was lovely and warm, and it seemed everywhere I looked, there were folks walking along with flower bouquets or balloons, or even the occassional stuffed bear or gorilla. It all made for a really nice way to spend a day with someone you love. It was the perfect Valentine's Day... thanks Alan! :)

"The year is unfolding... like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within."

-Unknown

One: An Earth Installation
By Stanley Gatti - November 17 - April 15

Chinese New Year Floral Display
February 6 - March 4

NOTE: If you want a giggle, see this story here. It seems for the second year in a row, as many as 1,000 people have been gathering at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco to engage in a bit of lighthearted fun... a good old fashioned... pillow fight! The link to the above article is all about the 2006 gathering. :) Go have a look. :)

-OndineMonet
"Blossoms"
Conservatory of Flowers
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
February 14th, 2007
Afternoon