Last Day, Negative Covid Test

Today was kinda a loser; we had to go to Shiphol for our covid test and to find out new situation since Icelandair transferred us to KLM — it took almost 2 hours at KLM travel support before our number was called to talk to someone, plus more money to get economy plus with them since that did not transfer from Icelandair. Oh well. And, sadly, we won’t have a stopover in Iceland to run to the duty free shop to buy Wild Gin — bummer, that! But we get into New York a little earlier; we have reservations at the TWA hotel (at this point, what’s does it matter that it is an expensive hotel — convenience is everything!), right next to Jet Blue for tomorrow’s final trip home (well, almost final, we still have to drive from ABQ to Santa Fe probably after midnight). I hope Patrick and Alison, you read this so we won’t freak you out when we get home.

Yesterday’s final day (Day 7) at Floriade didn’t disappoint — we saw a couple of gardens we hadn’t seen, a couple of lovely put-up-in-a-day vacation homes, a very avant garde immersive art thing and a lovely exhibit of what will happen to the Floriade grounds — I want a plot there! There are ground plots and there will also be houses built quayside and floating houses (all 3 bed/2 bath) that will be for rent. Everything has to be built to their green standards, but there are no restrictions on architectural style — that could be interesting. We talked to a couple who already live in the memory care building — they had the coolest side-by-side two-person bike; three wheeler, I think, two sets of handlebars, but only one attached to the front wheels (you know that was Laird, not me, who noticed that, right?). The first two (or second two? — the two above the ground floor) stories are already occupied; the building is five stories. It comes with its own beautiful, walled-in raised-bed garden area, all planted and looking beautiful. If it all comes to fruition, it is going to be an amazing city district. Alexandra, as a city planner, you really need to come see this — you have until Oct, the 6th I think.

One of the gardens we saw was a chakra garden. There were “art” poles that started with red and went in a semi-circle around to purple, I think. Around them were flowers planted in corresponding colors, very cool. Another garden had the vacation homes, one was up on enclosed struts, that held solar batteries and other utility-type stuff (they were locked so we couldn’t see in), basically one triangular shaped room, half of which was raised cushions that serve as bed/couch/lounge, and the other half dining table with a kitchenette and then a small oblong bathroom in back. That one was all made of experimental, or at least alternative, building materials. The other one, much bigger, was a more traditional house that had been future-proofed. Nice size open kitchen/living room, small bathroom, a very small kid’s bedroom (mostly taken up with twin bed with an attached high bunk (sized for a very small child) and whatever was underneath it; then a bedroom that was big enough for bedside tables, queen bed and closets. We had seen a little village of tiny homes earlier in another part of the park, but these were the only ones that were furnished, which made them much more interesting.

I would tell you about the immersive experience — sculptures that were “asparagus men” (don’t know what the artist called them, but they were asparagus with hands and legs, one holding a briefcase) — then three animated films by three different artists, but I’ll be damned if I know what was being conveyed. I get (well, not “get” — I read) that they were artists’ interpretations of relationship between nature and humans in the new world that is coming as a result of climate change (????) — will humans and natures come closer or further away? The questions were asked “How will nature change in the future? Technology is massively changing our planet, and our relationship to nature is hanging in the balance due to climate change. What can we expect? Will nature and technology become more and more alike, perhaps? Will we get to the point where humans have to wonder how wild nature can become? Is there actually still a place for humankind? In the exhibition NaturAlly: Wild futures, 5 artists present challenging future visions for the wilderness that awaits us. They discover new worlds, investigate new life, and merge with the fierce nature that is taking charge once more. . .or is even taking over our planet.” I understand the questions; I just didn’t understand the answers.

So, we will have to do more pondering in the months and years ahead as humans hurl themselves into the end wall of Manifest Destiny — will we still be shouting, “We have dominion, dammit, we have dominion, God gave us dominion over everything!” when we crash into that that wall? Floriade was a bit of a bright bit of hope in the bleak possible future. I just wish we knew that there were American futurists/scientists/thinkers/planners with the kind of spirit and verve and ideas that were displayed here.

I’ll download some of the vacation home pics to Jonelle’s computer and send them along in a separate blog post. Of course, we owe you all a bunch of pictures. I’m finally figuring out how much picture editing I can do on the phone itself before uploading to the computer and then to the blog. Stay tuned.