Arboretum, L.A. version

This afternoon I took Shannon and Courtney to the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum, just up the road in Arcadia. It's a fabulous arboretum, with specimens from every continent, and in addition to a place for serious botanical research is a marvelous place to take kids. It's full of meandering paths, ponds, fountains, and Lake Baldwin with its Queen Anne cottage, built by Lucky Baldwin for his fourth (!!) wife, a 15-year-old who stayed married to the old goat for approximately one year. The best spot in the arboretum, though, is what we used to call the Jungle Trail, now renamed the Prehistoric Area—groves of tall bamboo, mysterious tunnels through dark undergrowth, part scary, part fun. When my sons were little, my mom used to take them to the arboretum to wander along the Jungle Trail, so it was a treat to go there with my own grandchildren.

Here they are at the Queen Anne Cottage. The interior is furnished in period style, complete with mannequins in costume, and at this time of year, it's beautifully decorated for the season. You can't go inside but you can look through the windows. Courtney wanted to know if we would see the queen, and we did spot a lady who could very well have been royalty, or at least quite high-born.


There are jillions of peacocks here, too, and not only in the arboretum proper but throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. People who live around here get used to hearing their unearthly shrieks and slowing for them as they meander across the streets. One wandered in front of the camera as I was taking the girls' picture.


The three of us had a great time. This evening, after dinner, we exchanged our Christmas presents. Here are the girls wearing their presents from me: headlamps from REI:

They spent several happy minutes in their closet, trying them out. Now, all we have to do is keep them from blinding each other with the beam.

P.S. Shannon read this post and said, "You didn't say anything about the dead squirrel!" OK. As we were walking up to the Queen Anne cottage, we saw a dead squirrel lying by the side of the path. It had a hole in its neck, with blood coming out. We don't know what happened. It could have been attacked by a raptor, like a hawk, but it's a mystery. Shannon said at the time, "When I go back to school, I'll say, 'On the second day of my winter break, I saw a dead squirrel!' It was sick!" Courtney wanted a second look, but not Shannon.