TROLLS IN THE GARDEN
We made the first of this year’s visits to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens yesterday. It was lovely and mostly sunny. We were impressed with some new annuals and the expansion of beds near the entry bridge. These gardens get better every year!
This year’s highlight is the presence of some gigantic trolls. These wooden sculptures are the work of Danish artist Thomas Dambo. They were built on site over several months by the artist with assistance from garden staff and more than 150 volunteers. Dambo has been working with wood since early childhood, and his trolls are found around the world.
I was told that these five trolls will remain in place until they deteriorate and fall apart, estimated to be about five years, longer if they receive some maintenance. They are impressive works! We tramped around and found two of them, Soren and Birk.
RECENT READING
Baghdad 2002
When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson
I must confess to buying this paperback book partly because of its very attractive apricot-colored cover. It’s a novel set in Iraq in 2002 when Sadam Hussein was ruling the country. The author is a former international correspondent who spent a year living under that regime. Her depictions of the city and the environment are picturesque and chilling.
Wilkinson has created three female characters, one based to some extent on her own experiences. Ally Wilson is the wife of the Australian ambassador, Huda is a village girl who has advanced in life to working at the Australian embassy, but also acting as an informant for the government. Rania, born rich and privileged, has fallen on hard times; she and Huda were close friends as children. How these three women come to interact with one another and how Huda and Rania’s concern for their teenage children makes them compatriots is the heart of the novel.
I found the descriptions of daily life fascinating, but noticed a lack of tension in the narrative until about the last third of the book. Nonetheless, it’s worth reading about Bagdad during this brutal time. (~JWFarrington)
VIEWING—BRITISH CRIME
Unforgotten (Season 4, PBS Masterpiece)
Detective Chief Inspector Cassie Stuart and Detective Sunny Kahn are partners in solving cold case crimes. Bodies turn up years later in odd places, in this season, a freezer. This duo must identify the victim and then excavate his or her past to determine how and why the individual died. Was it an accident or murder? And who were the principals in this person’s life and what role did they play in the demise? One incident and one quick decision decades ago reverberated through the lives of four people.
From the haunting and ethereal opening song, “All we do is hide away,” to the detailed interviews with possible suspects, each season is gripping drama. This season is exceptionally so. Nicola Walker as the lead (familiar to some viewers from her role in Last Tango in Halifax) is superb, as is Sanjeev Bhaska as Sunny. This pair like and care for each other as friends as well as colleagues. Their mutual respect is echoed in the respect shown to victims, suspects, and family members. Complex, involved, and compelling—highly recommended!
Note: All garden photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
