Each Little World

My Christmas sister

Meg Brazill

December 25, 1952 — December 16, 2021

Remembering my dad

Today marks 25 years since my dad died. When you are growing up, you focus on the rules at home and what your parents allow you — or don't allow you — to do. You don't think much about your parents and your childhood in a more broad sense until you are a lot older. Which is to say, I did not realize what good parents — and what an idyllic childhood I had — until I was long out of college and heard the stories of other people's childhoods. 

My parents had four daughters and my dad was very supportive of us and made sure we all went to college so we could support ourselves and not have to depend on someone else to do so. Though we all married, I think none of us rushed into marriage since we indeed could manage on our own. That resulted in marriages that are still going strong. 

My dad with his younger brother, Jerry sometime in the 1920s. 

My dad (right) with his brothers Jerry (left) and Bill. Their oldest brother, James, died of pneumonia the year before. 

My dad served on destroyers in the US Navy during WWII. His first ship, the USS Long Island, took part in the battles of Midway and the Guadalcanal. 

My parents with all of us girls in a family portrait in the late 1950s.

IVOM: Flowers for Rich

I put together these two bouquets last week for a memorial celebration. Since they were for someone who was a big fan of Piet Oudolf and the Lurie Garden, that made it easy for me to know what kind of display would have appealed to him. I went to the Lurie Garden website to see their summer plant list and discovered I am growing a huge number of things on their list. 

This first vase was suggested by an image one of my sister-in-laws texted me and is more contemporary than I often do. I really like the simplicity of it and have to remember the less is more concept in the future. This has Alliums 'Millennium' and 'Summer Beauty', Seslaria 'Autumnalis' (autumn moor grass) and foliage of Heuchera 'Palace Purple'. I used the foliage of Byzantine Gladiolus for some dramatic contrast. The vase is quite tall and is by Midwestern potter Dolorus Fortuna.

This antique Chinese vase is short and squat and made a nice unmatched pair with the other one. More Alliums, Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta, Thalictrum buds, a few stems of flowers from Heuchera and Hosta 'Halcyon', a large branch of Astilbe 'Chocolate Shogun' foliage and a dark Begonia leaf.

This list of blooms pretty much comprises what is in flower for August GBBD, other than some Agastaches and Phlox.

Back to normal

Mark had a great crowd at his opening, despite the fact that the snowstorm that had been forecast for last Thursday arrived an hour before the party started. Lots of old friends and photographers. We closed down a bit early when it became clear that the storm was going to keep everyone else at home. We were glad we only live a few minutes away, so our drive home was short and safe.

We spent the next day doing nothing — after my cataract surgery consult. Then Mark was back at the gallery Saturday afternoon for more visitors. This week we have house guests, along with warmer temperatures and rain in the forecast. Should be a great week. 

Mark has coffee every morning with one of his photo buddies, Tom Schmock. Tom came to the opening to capture the scene since Mark was going to spend the evening talking. This is one of my favorites that Tom took of Mark. 

Thanks to all of you for all the lovely comments you left last week about Mark's exhibit and the local magazine article about him.

Mark's Ten Year Retrospective Exhibit

For the past ten years Mark has tried to answer the question: “What is a good photograph?” 

Through the exploration of various subject matter, photographic media, equipment, technique and, most importantly, photographic theory his images have evolved over time.

This exhibit at the PhotoMidwest Gallery consists of 77 framed prints, 27 self-published photo books, 100s of unmounted work prints as well as relevant quotes from artists and scholars who influenced my practice.

If you are unable to attend the opening (details below), PhotoMidwest is open on Saturdays from Noon to 4PM. We live only a short distance from the gallery and Mark would also be willing to provide access at almost any time. Just let him know. 

If all else fails you can view the images at PhotoMidwest. The books can be viewed at Blurb.com by searching in the "bookstore" under "Mark Golbach." 

TO

PHOTOGRAPH

IS TO

LEARN HOW

TO 

DIE

 

A TEN YEAR RETROSPECTIVE OF IMAGES 

BY MARK GOLBACH

OPENING RECEPTION

MARCH 9, 2023

4PM – 8PM

SATURDAYS FROM NOON TO 4PM

MARCH 4, 2023 – APRIL 22, 2023

 

PHOTOMIDWEST

700 RAY-VAC DRIVE

MADISON, WISCONSIN

CONTACT  MARK GOLBACH

TO ARRANGE FOR ACCESS AT OTHER TIMES

[email protected]

Mark's in Madison Magazine

Doug Moe, a well-regarded local journalist and former co-worker of mine, wrote a nice piece about Mark in Madison Magazine. It details his ten years since retirement taking photos.

These days he's so involved with his own photo work that It's rare that I can get him into the garden to take pictures. When we first started the garden he was the main photographer of it for many years. 

The above photo is one of his earlier ones and is not in the exhibit; but it's always been one of my favorites.

A look back at 2022

As gardening years go, 2022 was an unusual one. We had three major garden tours: One each in June, July and August. Won't ever do that again. I felt like all I did was get the garden in shape for other people. It was fun on one level, but it also kept me from just hanging out in my own garden.

This coming garden season I will be alone in my garden as the city will be tearing up our street for a summer-long project. So I will get to see if I really prefer that.

Here's a more detailed look back at 2022. 

JANUARY

I ordered more plants on-lilne at the start of the year than ever before. I'm not sure if I've even got room for much else, but I am currently getting emails from nurseries left and right. 

FEBRUARY

When Mark built the fence across the back of our property, he encased the old cherry tree that was growing there. We should have taken it down but we were using any extra cash for garden design and plants in those days. The tree finally came out in February making it possible to see the spectacular Dawn Redwood in our neighbor's garden.

I love watching the arborists work in the most awkward situations. 

MARCH

The Witch Hazel put on a great show before any other plants were pushing up.

APRIL

April Food's Day gave us snow and then the temps started climbing quickly . . .

until it snowed again mid-month. Pretty common weather for us.

MAY 

For the first time in long time, I planted multiple containers. Some had shrubs waiting for a final home, some were filled with bulbs or houseplants like Begonias. A big Buttonbush shrub in a pot is temporarily filling the space where half of a large Pagoda dogwood died over the winter. 

JUNE

We drove out to Vermont at the beginning of the month for my sister's memorial celebration, which was a lovely event. I dug these Primroses out of her garden to add to my garden as a way to remember her. 

A week after we got home, Mark had surgery for his A-fib and the following week the Garden Blogger's Fling visited us. Lots of fun to see long time blogger friends and meet new ones.

We we so pleased that at least a couple of people actually went into the Tea House and sat down. (I downloaded this photo from the Fling site and don't have any id's.)

JULY

I took advantage of the city putting off tearing up our street to invite members of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society to stop by. This photo is by Steven King, the new president of the Wisconsin Daylily Society. I love the images he and other visitors took of the garden. So often standing in places where I had never thought to stop with my camera before. 

AUGUST

The first week of August I took advantage of early sales and bought even more plants. These are all from our local nursery, K & A.

SEPTEMBER

I spent a chunk of the month ripping out and redoing areas that had never quite been finished or had become problematic for many reasons. Two new shrubs were added in this narrow bed on the west side of the house. 

OCTOBER

We had spectacular fall color everywhere in the garden and it lasted and lasted. A memorable autumn. 

We took out another old and diseased evergreen tree (you can see the stump below), along with a Korean maple that had succumbed to verticillium wilt. Our arborists also did pruning on the trees that had suffered winter damage. 

NOVEMBER

All the problems I had with Typepad got me thinking about archival projects. I've kept years of big and little journals on the garden, trips, menus and parties. Now I've started making some physical books to remember the garden down the road when we're no longer living here.

DECEMBER

On December 9th we had such heavy wet snow that Mark went out to try to clean off the trees. I went out the following week to do the same after the next snow fall. On Thursday, Dec. 23, I noted that it was -7°F (and felt like -29°F, according to WeatherBug) at 9 p.m. The next Thursday, Dec. 29, the high was 50*F. which made the snow disappear overnight. Not really sure what to expect next.

Though we have a lot of winter left to get through here, I'm anxious to get out in the garden and hopeful that most of my new plantings will have successfully weathered our winter. 

December doldrums

Today marks one month since our friend Janice (right) died of cancer. I met Janice back in 2007 or 08 when I first started going for coffee on Saturday mornings to EVP on Speedway.

Janice was a drama queen in the best sense: Statuesque, stylish and impassioned. Always ready to protest, party or talk plants; we did plenty of all three over the years.

I can't begin to add up all the Saturdays we sat around sharing coffee and conversation. Nor can I quite image all those Saturdays to come without her. 

This week marks another unhappy anniversary: Friday will be one year since my sister Meg died of a rare auto-immune disease. This photo of her is so old I haven't a clue as to the date or location. But it's always been a favorite of mine. Her daughter, Sarah, is probably a similar age and looks strikingly like her mom does here. 

Meg's birthday is Christmas Day and my dad's is Christmas Eve. Despite having done a fair amount of holiday decorating, I am definitely not in a party mood and the 10-day weather forecast — rain, snow and cloudy skies — doesn't suggest there's any sunshine coming to push me out of my doldrums. So this is it for my blog posts this week. 

Glad it's not my record snow!

I grew up in Buffalo, NY on the south side of the city; meaning lake effect snow storms were the norm. We moved to Orchard Park — which just got a record-setting 77 inches of snow in 24 hours — in the mid-1960s (below). The snow was apparently falling at the rate of a little over 5 inches per hour. It sounds like the storm arrived and stayed put, rather than blowing on; similar to the rain "events" that are happening more and more these days. 

I've lived in Madison for 50 years and have always said it doesn't really snow here all that much; not when you're a Buffalo gal. This is what it looked like at my house (below) in the winter of 2007/08 when Madison got 100 inches of snow. But it took until the end of March to hit that record. 

No snow in our forecast this week and the temperatures will be in the 40°s after a very chilly week. So no complaints here and a sympathetic shout out to my cousins who still live in that snowy spot.

A bittersweet journey

Mark and I left Madison on June 1st to drive to my sister Meg's Memorial Celebration in Woodstock, Vermont. I set up my blog posts before we left and stayed off digital media while we were away. That's why I haven't replied to your comments or visited your blogs.

The memorial event was held at this beautiful woodsy sculpture garden that was a favorite of my sister's. A large crowd gathered on a beautiful afternoon under a big tent. Friends and family, including her daughter, spoke. There was a bagpiper! Then we adjourned to a beautiful buffet and looked at photos, memorabilia and shared stories for the next couple of hours. I really had not been looking forward to this day, but it turned out to be the perfect way and the perfect place to remember Meg.

The day after the event, family members went off on their own, meeting up by accident and intention all over Woodstock. It's a town that is so lovely it feels like you are walking around a movie set with historic houses, a covered bridge and Paul Revere church bells. I bought a bagful of books at The Yankee Bookshop ("Eat. Sleep. Read.") and a big blue and white china cup and plate at a dreamy antique store.

But the most memorable moment of the day happened when we walked over to look at the town's library where my sister worked as their techie. This sign was on the door. I spoke to the librarians the day before at the event but had no idea they had closed the library on a Saturday afternoon to attend.

Mark and I decided not to push ourselves and spent three days driving from Wisconsin to Vermont. On the way home, we spent time with one of my other sisters near Chautauqua Lake. We made an overnight stop in Cleveland in order to spend time at the always inspiring Cleveland Museum of Art and have dinner at our favorite restaurant, L'Albatross.

To avoid the stress of driving through Chicago, we drove up to Muskegon, Michigan and took the Lake Express Ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee. The ferry was the first high speed auto passenger ferry in the United States when it began operation in 2004. When you get out onto one of the Great Lakes you realize how big they are, as this photo Mark took of the boat approaching Milwaukee illustrates. 

We got in at dinner time and managed to get a seat at a favorite spot, stayed the night and went to the Milwaukee Art Museum where we saw more great art. Mark and I both took tons of photos which I will share later.