i survived husky, the corpse flower

i'm back from the conservatory and i have to say, the corpse flower or "husky" as it's known to those who love it, was pretty stinkin' impressive! (har har! stinkin'!)

the conservatory where husky lives is located in volunteer park. this park abuts lakeview cemetary which is, of course, where bruce and brandon lee are buried. quite appropriate for a corpse flower to be living next to the dead. anyway, this is the outside of the conservatory (which was based on kew gardens, obviously) for those of you living outside of the seattle area.



the park surrounding it (and the seattle asian art museum)is gorgeous. i really like the small ponds with lillies and koi.



(please note: there are no koi in that photo.)

and there are nice drainage covers that look like vonnegut's asshole drawings from breakfast of champions. well, they resemble each other in that they're both asterisks...



(i really only included that picture so i can see if anyone finds this blog by searching for "vonnegut's asshole". heh heh.)

right, right, this entry is supposed to be about the corpse flower. back to business.



"husky" is located in the right wing of the conservatory. a barista that i talked to on the way back to the bus stop told me that about two days ago, you could smell the flower a quarter of a mile away. not so today. i couldn't even smell husky when i walked through the entrance.



still couldn't smell it here.

but when i leaned in a little closer to take this photo



ah, yeah. that's when i smelled it. the stench of a full dumpster on a hot summer day with a bit of boozy vomit stirred in for good measure didn't quite overpower me. but it was there. mmmmm, a flower that smells like the city on a hot day. tasty.

this is husky from behind.



i don't know why that hole is cut out. i forgot to ask the lady that was working in the gift shop. oh well, there's always next decade, i guess.

on the way out i snapped a frondy photo. just, you know, because i had the good camera with me.



i loved the corpse flower. loved it. i only wish that leff had been able to see it. maybe to recreate the expericence, i'll make him stand in front of the trash bin and hold the postcard that i bought in front of him. how thoughtful of me. (hee hee!)