Caviar for lunch....

We have been there in the spring, years ago - the famus Huntington Library.  It is so much more than a library, with three buildings full of paintings, a research building and a green house.  The gardens are spectacular any time of year but the day we went, a thunderstorm was brewing.  We snagged a table in the tearoom where leetle, tiny sandwiches, interesting salads were displayed.  At the end of the display table, almost hidden, was a bowl of caviar.  I scooped it onto crackers with clotted cream (its a tea room after all)  and squeeze of  lemon and made an exhibition of myself.  Moaning.  Not de riguer behavior at the Huntington.

The Japanese garden looked serene, but was hot, hot, hot and tucked away in a gully, beautifully arranged and magnificent.  No cooloing wind, and the koi were lazy.

All right, who gets to rake this? Robert made a small Zen garden years ago which had a small rake and some lovely minerals as standing rocks and fun to rearrange.  The end of  this masterpiece and next door was full of ancient bonsai, just as mysterious and open to meditative wonder as the rock garden.  Too hot...we wandered into the main gallery, where a guard had to give me cold water to keep from passing out in the heat. Outdoor museum guard in both the Norton Simon and the Huntington have tough jobs having to stand in the heat, rain, etc.  I doubt they even care about meditation, although the slow passing of time is probably broken up with goffy tourists who need attention of some sort.