Morocco–the real Morocco

100% Moroccans 100% of the time

Day-dreaming or the real thing?

On an early summer day in Gibraltar I was relaxing on a hotel terrace, shaded by wisteria, looking towards, Africa, Morocco, Tangier. At a table near me, I met a grizzly old American landscape architect named Herb Striet. He talked about the geography at the Strait of Gibraltar.

Why was Striet in Gibraltar?

Striet was in Gibraltar because his old-time Lebanese friend ran the bank where Striet kept his off-shore accounts. “It’s convenient,” Striet said, “I can easily go back to my Tangier if I want.” Then the conversation got weird. I couldn’t understand. He twisted. I got twisted; but I listened.

“Heh, heh,” he said, “…if… if I want.” I didn’t really get the picture. He continued. I summarize.

All the while he had been working and living in the Arabian Peninsula, Striet said he had missed the freedom of Morocco, North Africa, the Maghreb. He had missed the accessibility of the Moroccan people. He had missed the intimate human nature of their medina public realm. He had missed life in Morocco, very real, just 100% Moroccans 100% of the time–Morocco, where daily life was not flash like the oil-countries of the Arabian Peninsula. He told me his daily public realm life in the oil-rich Middle East was awkwardly filled with contracted, sad-faced expatriate service people.

At the end, I finally understood, almost, that Striet had a love/hate thing with Morocco. So nice… but…

And all this is mellowed-out by C418’s cut “Door” on his Alpha album.

Curious Tales: The Prequel is free to read on Kindle Vella at this link: https://bit.ly/3Hv6p2p

And the story behind Curious Tales is Tangier Gardens and it is available on Amazon at this link: https://amzn.to/3HLrtyv

Curious Tales Ebook will launch 15April at a huge discount: Sign up here for details: https://bit.ly/3q5lcaq

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Who is CJ?

Some of you may not have any idea about Christopher Janus, CJ, so here goes.

Who is CJ?

CJ is a contemporary designer, an American, born in the Midwest, raised in New Mexico—a hard worker who found his muse in the landscape. 

At university he grew to embrace—with humanitarian, environmental and spiritual sensibilities—literature, all the fine arts and their roots in the landscape. Those humanitarian and environmental sensibilities drove his thoughts and explorations.

Underneath it all he had questions about his purpose in life. In other words, he was just like many of us.

Drawing upon his fine arts history, CJ becomes obsessed with his experiences in nature and the landscape—experiences beyond the five senses. Beyond the five senses? The paranormal? You can decide.

But what does he design? 

Christopher Janus studied landscape architecture in university and graduated; but they did not teach him about landscape. He learned landscape from the hardest, most unfortunate events in his life.

CJ was studying the large scale landscape and the fine detail of plants and gardens to uncover the essence of design. He did that internationally as he worked in the strangest cultures and most exotic landscapes. Christopher Janus had adventures in and was inspired by the landscape.

You may ask what is the landscape? To which he would answer, “When we get out of bed in the morning and put our feet on the floor, we are in the landscape”. You might rightly ask again, what… my apartment, my flat, my house, my town, my city? To which CJ would simply answer, “they all sit in the landscape”.

CJ chases nature, its landscape and plants to their existential roots. He describes his interactions with cultures, landscapes, gardens and plants of the world—where the unexpected and downright strange become daily facts of life.

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Interested?

Join my email list for discounts on new releases as CJ goes deep into Cairo, Istanbul, Vienna and the Swiss Alps via this link: 

https://bit.ly/3q5lcaq

Gardens? The Hesperides?

The Rock? The Strait of Gibraltar?
An illustration from a 1922 edition John Milton’s Comus, illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

Myself, I went to North Africa once, and that was enough–too many people pressing in on me all the time–not my idea of a fun afternoon. I was more interested in nymphs, orange blossoms and golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides.

Finding that garden though, has been one of those fun, but not really serious peccadillo challenges in my life. Good descriptions are hard to come by, what to speak of the garden itself.  I’ve never found it.  I’ve always come up empty. So this time, I figured since I was in the neighborhood–since I was in that hazy western Mediterranean–I figured I’d look for that garden again.

Read this entire short story, The Rock, for FREE on amazon Vella at this link: https://bit.ly/3Hv6p2p

3 for 1–a good deal

Another FREE Vella Episode

3 for 1–a good deal: FREE and available now at Vella here–>https://tinyurl.com/3fhvpdsd

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And coming next week Vella.02. A NEW Vella story = North or northwest?

What is it?

Majoring in Landscape Architecture, CJ is in Tangier on a term abroad design study. The visit occurs at the turn of the 21st century, barely before the 9/11 disaster. 

The landscape had always been CJ’s muse. But in Morocco, he did battle with it. He was confused by it. He tried to understand it. Its Oriental roots ran deep across the entirety of north Africa. 

But he discovered that the Moroccan landscape had equally strong roots deep into the dark heartland of west Africa. In Morocco. In the coming Vella, CJ recounts some of his northwest Africa explorations.

Find the FREE Vella episodes here–>https://tinyurl.com/3fhvpdsd 

Want to keep up with CJ’s international landscape adventures and get advance notice of free copies, then click here–>https://tinyurl.com/bdyjwrak

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Free Vella Episodes

Okay–put up my first Vella (American college student in Tangier)–three short episodes(700wds each average)–more to come.

FREE episodes!!!

 But that is not the whole story.

I self-published Tangier Gardens(120,000wds) via KDP select in March and after the 5 day free offer launch (50 downloads) everything has gone to sleep–deep sleep.

I had a bunch of background stories that didn’t make it into the final Tangier Gardens, so I figured to put them together on Vella.

I need some feedback from the Vella episodes. What is missing? What is disappointing? What is good?

Find the FREE Vella episodes here–>https://tinyurl.com/3fhvpdsd 

Find Tangier Gardens here–>https://tinyurl.com/2p9e66xm

Thanks

Treeline in the mirror

Which photo has the treeline?

1. No treeline, the mountain is not high enough.

2. Treeline, the line above which trees no longer grow.

So, what is a treeline?

Well, Wikipedia can tell you; but the mountains I am looking at are in Switzerland so I’ll refer to the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich for the definition of a treeline.

A mountain treeline certainly is not a line in the common sense. The treeline is defined as the high elevation, climate driven limit of tree growth.

The treeline is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations. Beyond the treeline, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowpack, or associated lack of available moisture).

It is easy to get into the weeds discussing the geographical, botanical and topographical details of a treeline. Just look at the images above for a general idea and the graphic below for a summary.

Mountain treeline explained

But where does the mirror fit in?

A treeline is natural. It tells about interactions between ecotypes. And that makes me think. Is the treeline a vector or raster? Is it a thin line, a narrow path one pixel wide or is it a broad and wide line with varying gradients, blurs and opacities?

I think the latter. And looking in the mirror at treelines, I wonder…are human cultures like environmental ecotypes? Are they definable on their edges by lines? Raster or vector? Is diversity our strength…or our weakness…or is the effort to define cultural differences a non-sequitur?

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In my book, Tangier Gardens, CJ faced incredible cultural challenges.

The Tangier gardens saved that young man from the relentless, brutal challenges issued by the northwest Africa landscape. It’s an intriguing story about culture, design and humans.

Give it a go.

They just make me happy!

Lime or linden?

I don’t go out looking for trees–but when I’m out sometimes they call me.

This year the Tilia trees’ blossoms came earlier than normal. It was my olfactory pleasure. I could not say no. The fragrance captured me. It made me smile.

An online search of Tilia spp., their floral fragrance and their teas can keep you busy a whole day. Bottom line? Tilia fragrance and perfumes, Tilia fragrance and teas…a deep and mystical appreciation by all involved. No one can describe with absolute certainty what is the amazing fragrance. So, I’ll tell a personal story.

There is a time after the glorious spring greens that a summer tedium green takes over all deciduous trees. Tedium green? That’s the summer green that makes all deciduous trees look the same. They all fade into a dark green, amorphic background. 

This morning it began. Mature foliage on all deciduous trees had grown full size and darkened. It was working–each leaf a mini-plant-factory taking in the glorious sunshine and the CO₂ to assure their health and ours.

Here is what I found in town. Unannounced, the nearest Tilia tree–its fragrance descended upon me. The tree was already a physical landmark. I realized it was also a sociological landmark, a local center for relaxation–soothing away anxieties. Its fragrance does that.

In other parts of town, people were climbing into the lower Tilia branches where they collected flowers. They took them home for drying to produce homemade herb tea known for its calming pleasure.

Look for your closest Tilia or lime or linden.

Under the linden, the local landmark where everyone gathers to relax and enjoy the linden flower fragrance.

Summer sunrise on the landmark flowering linden.

Alone, the size of the linden identifies it as a local landmark in town.

When CJ went to study local landmarks in the Moroccan towns (medinas), he learned things about landscapes and gardens they didn’t teach at university. Check out Tangier Gardens for a good read.

As it has for millennia–the rose

As it has for millennia…the fragrant rose…exudes a mellow sweetness that quietly and slowly penetrates the deepest corners of the heart and surreptitiously intoxicates…soothes all emotions. 

…the fragrant rose…

Get close to a fragrant rose today. It is a free pleasure. Let that fragrance enter your being.

When CJ was in Morocco, it was not scent so much as the sights and sounds of the plants that entered his being and took him to places never talked about at university.

Tangier Gardens

Spring primrose

Primula veris

At 2,000 meters above sea level, in the northern range of the Swiss Alps, I rediscovered the spring joy I had experienced three weeks ago, albeit at 500 meters above sea level.

This joy can be discovered anytime, anywhere.

This is the joy that Christopher Janus experiences in the Mediterranean gardens and landscape of Tangier, Morocco. Read about it, muse and adversary, in my book, Tangier Gardens.

Mountain forest spring

I’m lucky.

Out of my living room I see forested mountain slopes. They are steep and, as the crow flies, only 4km away.

So I get to see, up close and personal, the seasonal changes of the forest trees.

High up on the slopes is a forest of evergreen conifers–they climb right up to the tree line, the elevation above which trees no longer grow.

Lowest on the slopes is a forest of deciduous trees–the ones that lose their leaves every winter.

In between is mountain forest of mixed deciduous and evergreen.

From this distance, I rarely see color change in the evergreen conifers.

But the deciduous, that is another story. This time of year as the new spring growth just about reaches full size–their color is a brilliant chartreuse.

As summer sets in, they become darker green and much less obvious in my vision.

I have included 3 images of that mountain forest for you to examine the difference between deciduous and evergreen in a south facing, northern Swiss Alp forest.

1. From a distance
2. Medium
3. Close up

If you get into the landscape and discoveries, you might enjoy reading my recent novel, Tangier Gardens.