You promised me an Iranian Hat box garden
Note: A Miss Wisely flaw would not be unprecedented. When I answered her question by saying that seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis, she corrected me. “No, Danny,” she stated. “The Earth turns around on its axis. The side pointed toward the sun has summer and the side pointed away from the sun has winter.” Naturally, I was respectful - and curious. “Really?” I responded. “How do we have day and night?” I visited the principal’s office and learned that being right is not always a guarantee of acceptance.
Last week’s letter featured Nazy’s hats. Many readers have noted that I, too, appreciate hats. Accordingly, these week I’ll include a variety of hat pictures featuring, well, me. However, I also have included a photo of (some of) Nazy’s hat boxes. I can’t photograph all at once because I don’t have a wide-angle lens for the Canon camera.
This week we took a tour of the Rose Story Farm , a Carpenteria business that grows roses commercially. (20,000 rose bushes, 120 varieties, 15 acres.) They even have a Julia Child yellow rose. (Julia Child lived in Santa Barbara for several years at the end of her life.)
We are lucky to live in an area with lots of flowers. Commercial open-air farms specialize in fragrant roses. (The entire farm had a pleasant aroma.) In contrast, commercial green-house roses are selected and grown to provide longer life as cut flowers. They sacrifice fragrance for longevity. We learned that the most popular rose color is
“Red!” I shouted in response to the easy question.
“White!” The guide corrected. “You are wrong barn-breath,” the guide thought.
We also discovered that consumers don’t like multi-colored roses and that Nazy’s yellow hat was a big hit.
Here in California, we are awash in roses. Mission Park, close to the house, features ar rose garden full of multi-color roses. But, with flowers everywhere, we heard from Darius.
“The visa is approved! I’m heading to Iran for a 10 day visit!”
“Iran? You got an Iranian visa?” I replied.
“It was easy Dad. I called the Embassy and they said:”You want visa today, come today. You need tomorrow, come tomorrow. No problems.”
“Hmm..” I replied. I was thinking of our visit to the Iranian Embassy in Bern.
We had just completed a visit to the American Embassy. (I needed additional passport pages) After surrendering our car keys, mobile phones and pocket change, we were sent through three separate metal detection units. Then we were ushered into a boring room (Think Terminal C at Washington’s Dullest International Airport.) We waited almost 3 hours and spent $82. Because our ‘simple visit’ had taken so long, we arrived at the Iranian embassy after closing time. We knocked on the door (no marines, no guards) and they reopened just for us. They served me tea while they dealt with Nazy’s request. The service was quick and polite.
“It’s Mom’s homeland, Dad.” Darius said - interrupting my thoughts. “I’ll see Teheran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Yazd and Qom.”
“Isfahan is my favorite,” I replied, still thinking of our trek in Bern.
The Iranian Embassy was quick and polite. However, they couldn’t afford to heat the building. (I could see my breath while sipping tea.) Moreover, the request made in 2010 had to be referred to Teheran for action. It’s 2014 and action has not been completed.
“It’s going to be an exciting trip, Dad.” Darius continued.
“You can say that again,” I replied. “I’m a bit jealous,” I thought.
“Do we have any relatives that I can see while I’m there?”
“I’ll check with your Mom, but I doubt it. All of your grandmother’s siblings (Nader, Nasser, Ali, Homa, Mahi, Minu, Goli and Ali) left. All their children live outside of Iran. The situation is similar with your grandfather’s side of the family.
“So they voted with their feet?”
“Perhaps they know something that you don’t.”
“Everyone says the trip will be great.”
“As much as it pains me, Dar.I have to agree. Nazy’s friends from Switzerland who visited all said they had a wonderful time with hospitable people.” (“However, none of them had American passports,” I thought.)
You can see more hat and rose photos here.
