Archive for the ‘The Autumn Garden’ Category
In which The Gay Recluse has a “special comment” for the straights. We’re obviously not the first to point this out, but it nevertheless seems incredible to us that our life in the city — as we approach our 41st year — is in some ways a tired script from a ridiculous sit-com. We’re talking […]
Filed under: Conspiracy, Decay, Drivel, Gay, Knockbusters, Landscape, Monopoly, New York City, The Autumn Garden | 7 Comments
Tags: Dating, Japanese Maples, Ladies, Men, Sit-Coms, The Gays, The Straights
In which The Gay Recluse cooks. Yesterday we went for a walk in the rain, in part because we wanted to check out what was happening uptown, and in part because none of the grocery stores around us carry the curly parsley that we needed for the lentil soup we planned to make. We’ve been […]
Filed under: City Pattern Project, Dissonance, Food, Gay, Health, Landscape, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia, Photography, Pleasure, Science, Search, The Autumn Garden, Washington Heights, Weather | 4 Comments
Tags: Cultural Revolution, Enbalmed Bread, Health Food, Lentil Soup, Recipes, Sugar Cereals, Uncle Jimmy
In which The Gay Recluse takes a drive. Yesterday we were in Dupont Circle, and today we were in Northern Westchester, where we like to go each year to 1) pick up mulch for the garden, 2) pig out on fresh donuts and hot cider, and 3) buy apples. There have been times in the […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Longing, Search, The Autumn Garden, Washington Heights, Weather | 2 Comments
Tags: Cheesecake Factory, Cider, Donuts, Drives, Leaves, Moving, Mulch, Westchester
In which The Gay Recluse loves birch trees. We considered sweeping up the leaves. But decided that — for the moment — they look better where they are.
Filed under: City Pattern Project, Landscape, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Birch Trees, Bricks, Fall, Procrastination
On Shade Flowers
In which The Gay Recluse enjoys shade plants. Recently we were reminded of a past obsession. There was a part of us that missed being young, filled with longing, even if — as we knew at the time — what we wanted was unattainable. But the greater part of us was relieved not to be […]
Filed under: Brooklyn, Capitalism, Dissonance, Health, Longing, Memory, Obsession, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Gardens, Japanese Anemones, Music, Past, Shade
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the firethorn. Orange is one of the best colors in the autumn garden. It will have to sustain us through the winter. Fortunately, we never get tired of looking at it. Today as we contemplated the clusters of tiny fruit, illuminated by the eastern sun, we […]
Filed under: GWB Project, Memory, Nostalgia, Obsession, Pleasure, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Colors, Firethorn, Mountain Ash, orange, Sadness
On Dreams of Flowers
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with dreams. The years passed, and not always quickly. Many nights we dreamed of roses. When they finally arrived, we could not believe our luck! Then a question: what will we dream of now?
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, Longing, Memory, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Dreams, Flowers, Rosed
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with bricks. According to CNN, both candidates “exceeded expectations.” (That’s a relief, in a way.) But mostly, it makes us remember when we ran for vice-president of our junior high school. And how we wrote a speech and delivered it very earnestly. Who knows what we said: […]
Filed under: Competitions, Memory, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bricks, Elections, Junior High, Moss, Vice President
On the Corsican Mint Project
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with Corsican mint. This was just a few days ago: politics aside, it’s been another good season for Corsican mint! Of all the groundcovers we introduced into the garden, Corsican mint (Mentha requienii) has attained a particular affection for us. Although it has thrived in several places […]
Filed under: Pleasure, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse | 3 Comments
Tags: Bricks, Corsican Mint, Gardens, Moss
Though we’ve long planned to honor the genus Picea — or more commonly, the spruce — for playing such a pivotal role in the continuing drama that is our backyard garden, we felt that it would be even more appropriate to offer a special acknowledgment to three of these trees who have graced us under […]
Filed under: The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse, The Winter Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Norway Spruce, Picea Abies Cupressina, Picea Abies Hillside Upright, Picea Omorike Pendula, Weeping Serbian Spruce
On Putting the Garden To Sleep
We sweep the walk one last time, gathering up the birch leaves — a deep yellow — and the beech leaves — a magnificent, burned orange — before tossing all of them over the wall into the vacant lot next door. The wrought-iron table and chairs we place under a tarp; we bring the candles […]
Filed under: New York City, Subway, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Candles, Copper Beech, Garden, Garden Furniture, Leaves, Terra Cotta, White Birch, Winter Tarps, Wrought Iron
On Birds and Cats
But did you not hear about the trial of the man who killed a cat that was stalking migratory birds in a Texas sanctuary? What a nightmare! On one hand, who can deny the allure of the cat, creature of the night, possessor of dreams? Yet who has not stood in awe of birds flying […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Dream, History, Obsession, Pleasure, The Autumn Garden, The Russian Blue, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Birds, Cats, Conscious, Freud, Jung, The Soviet Union, The United States, Unconscious
It already seems years away, those hours spent sweeping up the golden leaves of the European white birch, which has always been the focal point of our garden in Washington Heights. Each leaf, of course, represents a day in our past, and for this reason might seem more valuable if there weren’t so many. And […]
Filed under: Decay, Memory, Politicians, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse, Travel, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Betula Pendula, European White Birch, Gardens, Italy, Travel, Venice, Wisteria
Ferocious and (like all plants) unapologetic, the wisteria growing in the vacant lot next door is poised to take over the entire crumbling shell of the adjacent building (and possibly our life along with it!). Nor — like some — are we deceived by the delicate and emphemeral blooms of the morning glory, which (equally […]
Filed under: Decay, History, Landscape, Memory, The Autumn Garden, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Coba, Maya, Mexico, Morning Glory, Vines, Wisteria, Yucatan
As part of our ongoing series this primary season, we met with Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who came all the way up to Washington Heights to discuss one of his favorite topics: correct service for the formal and informal table. —————————– The Gay Recluse: Rudy, as mayor you were associated with a hard-nosed approach […]
Filed under: Drag Queens, Politicians, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Abortion, Gay, Giuliani, Guns, Interviews, NYC, Right To Marry, Washington Heights
Like Ann Coulter, the ailanthus tree is noxious, unsightly and invasive, and can be found almost everywhere in the United States, not only in vacant lots and highway meridians, but in once pristine forests, where it wreaks havoc on local ecosystems. It does not favor diversity or nuance, but — and with just the most […]
Filed under: Drag Queens, Landscape, Resignation, Sickness, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Ailanthus, Ann Coulter, Bronx Tree, Death, Fire, Invasive Species, Vermilion
One day on the street in Washington Heights we passed an old man who invited us into his garden. Though barely the size of three parking spaces, the garden contained a vast array of unusual trees, including columnar varieties of a blue atlas cedar, a purple beech (the most magisterial of all trees), a Norway […]
Filed under: Dream, Longing, Resignation, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Art, Beech, Blue Atlas Cedar, conifers, Dawn Redwood, Gardens, Hellebores, Life, Norway Spruce
On Flight
The bleak and vaguely militaristic atmosphere of the terminal is now behind us; we have endured the stifling tedium of the runway and the paralyzing terror of the lift-off, during which we considered the high likelihood of our imminent death and regretted our many missteps. We thought with great tenderness of Dante and Zephyr and […]
Filed under: Dream, Infrastructure, Resignation, The Autumn Garden, The Russian Blue, Travel | Leave a Comment
Tags: Cats, conifers, LGA, US Airways
The Gay Recluse 