Seinfeld moments. We all have them.

Just yesterday, as I greeted another graduate student, he replied in a Jerry-Seinfeld-Saying-Hello-To-Newmenesque way, "Hello.... Michael." A few hours ago, I had another Seinfeld moment. I did laundry the other day. I hate laundry. I hate it. I am not good at it, either. Well, I thought I had popped enough quarters in the dryer, however when I arrived at the laundromat an hour later, several items (mostly jeans) were still damp. As there were quite a few impatient customers circling the soon-to-be-free appliances like starving vultures, I thought it would be wise to toss my sorta-dry clothes in the hampers and run home. I did what I have done many other times (yes, I often fail to put enough quarters in the machine) and just lay my clothes on and around the hot silver accordians we also call radiators. After I returned home today, I changed out of a pair of dark green cordoroys (they really did not go with the rest of my ensemble) before I came into Stella's. Not thinking anything about it, I grabbed a pair of jeans off of the nearest 'dryer' and dove right in. One word: heaven. Kramer is SO right. I stood there in ecstasy and amazment, startled that this was the first time I ever had experienced such a pleasantry. I swear, it was something bordering on an illegal substance. I think I may start to lay my clothes out onto the radiator each night before bed, that way I can step right out of the shower and after a brief towelling off, into a pair of piping-hot-trousers!


Yesterday, following a meeting at Cornell Plantations, I passed by several Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' that were in full flower. This cultivar of hybrid witch hazel is one of the best, and was the first selection to be made (at the Arnold Arboretum) from the hybrid union between H. mollis and H. japonica. To me, the spicy smell that accompanies the bright yellow flowers is reminescent of cinnamon and pipe smoke. Simply dazzling, to stare into the spidery blooms on a cool, crisp day and be overwhemed by the scents. Everybody should have a witch hazel in their back yard.