One home and garden

This place is definitely one of the spirit, for you feel a greater interconnectedness just looking out the windows at the majesty of the mountains behind, the snow-covered hills in front, sparkling icicles melting from the sun, clinging to the branches of the oaks outside my kitchen and dining room.

The array of birds seen in the trees as I sit at my table is a constantly changing tableau. I am learning to identify more of them and to recognize their differences as in the variety of Blue Jays alone for we have several. The gray squirrels also are constant climbers in the trees and often stop to peer in the windows. They are gluttons when it comes to food but they are worth the expense for the joy amusement they give in return.

I took a walk of the hill and back for exercise. I've found that I too would like to plant more pines up front and to see which ones thrive best here and to at least plant one a year. Also, I want roses in my garden and feeders dispersed among them and some baby's breath and yarrow. I understand the butterfly bushes do well up here, a deep blue one would be nice in the yard and a good contrast. Also, I need to decide on the type of ground cover.

I have noticed that on the sunny side of the house most of the snow is melted off the roof while the other side is almost totally covered still. It is quiet and still and peaceful. I have never found such serenity anywhere else in the world. To have the wants of the sun and the beauty of the yard filled the snow is a double blessing. Is like having summer and winter combined.

I've been looking at gardening books and trying to picture a landscape for my hill in my mind before I lay it out on paper. Patience and time will bring it to a reality as well as hard work and healthy plants. It will be an investment well worthwhile. I do not want it to look like a city garden, just to enhance what already grows naturally, defining the outcroppings it already has. The challenge will be to create some type of path leading up so that I can manage it all. It needs more thought and study. There is no hurry for I plan on being here for a long time. Like me, my home and garden, as well as my forest need to evolve.

11191990

Home of the spirit

I awake to a frozen world this morning. The car windows are frozen over with ice and the snow that melted across the driveway is now a slippery to avoid. The birdseed froze in the pan and the birds were unable to pick out individual portions for breakfast. The hanging feeder is almost empty now but has enough for the frequent visitors arriving one or two at a time.

The sun is come out promising a beautiful day with greater warmth to look forward to. Everything it touches sparkles. My neighbor is home and working hard on his driveway after leaving for three days. It is hard work he says and will take days but he is hoping the sunshine will speed up the process.

There is a hawk sitting on the telephone wires. All the birds are gone from the yard, not wanting to be his prey and they are all making a large racket trying to drive the predator away. He calmly looks around in all directions waiting for movement and listening for a sound he can target in on. Later I learned that he caught and killed one of the Quail and that the neighbor has seen him lurking about in the back forested area frequently. He looks both majestic and lethal.

Down the Hill hears of more of the cars spinning its tires as someone obviously tries to extract it from the snow they have let build up and engulf it. Their efforts, at this time, seemed unsuccessful.

Today I devoted time to catching up on my writing, my correspondence, my thoughts and to continue to be in touch with my spirit as I reach out to others with my inspirations, my words, my photographs, and my art. It has been a fulfilling day.

Tonight the moon is risen, not gold but his light is the snow, accompanied by its sister star. They hang over the same mountain each night. I see the dippers and look for the archer amongst the billions of stars God has created to light the night sky and I breathe in the beauty of Stardust.

This is the first home that has been mine alone, not chosen for children our schools but one that has drawn me in spirit. I knew it was home the minute I set foot in the door and when I looked out at the beauty beyond. I was sold as surely as if my name were inscribed on the woodwork and it was tied with a bow. Each day is a gift a new; each sunrise and sunset, each snowflake and Sunbeam a bountiful blessing of abundance.

02211992

Watching cloud formations

The air this morning is brisk and cold but the sky is a deep clear blue with wisps of clouds being blown across it in fragmented, ever-changing shapes. The day never warms and heavier clouds, fog-like in density, take over the sky, I am grateful for the break from shoveling snow, for the friends who gave me a ride to the post office and for the brief company.

As I stand outside on my deck I watching area of clouds swirl like a whirlpool and I am so mesmerized I feel almost sucked in by its pull, then the sun peeks out and lights up the whole area, touching the tips of the trees as well as the clouds. It is too cold today to snow but saw but perfect to freeze. It eats into your bones through the many layers of clothes and it seems to even slow the blood.

The mountains are patterns of shadow and light and texture. The white roofs below me are like signatures of the inhabitants around me and I never feel alone are lonely but truly blessed to live in surroundings that are so alive. The Blue Jay perches atop my tallest pine tree like an angel topper at Christmas only more befitting rural atmosphere.

What I feel most is at peace and in awe, connected to all that is, linked with the universe. I feel as the tree reaching heavenward and yet rooted deep in my beliefs. I feel as fresh as the snow covering all that I encounter and having the power to change what I can. I am as the clouds taking different form, being in motion, sometimes light as a feather and other times fuller, deeper, ready to share all that I have with others. Nothing in life is separate but part of a greater whole.

As evening comes the clouds again recede and the slip of the moon takes its place in the sky. Icicles hang like lace decorating my windows on two sides. I see new sprouts of pines peeking out from the snow in my forested backyard. It is the neighborhood of oaks leading down steeply with huge boulders growing up from the earth, at random, beneath them. Piles of twigs stand like a fortress built to house small animals against the cold winter brings here. The suet has been well nibbled and the new feeder is almost empty of sunflower seeds. My yard is a banquet for the hungry that come daily for their portion of the daily fare. Another day closes and tomorrow is yet another new beginning.

11131992

Family Roots

My family, my alter
together we pray
stronger we grow
bound with love
rooted as one....

06211996

Our Gift

The enlightenment of the Buddha sits waiting....
compassion and love the path I choose....
let me grow each day, here and now.
Let me be me, in understanding....
This the gift of Jesus given us all

06191996

Day by Day

I made contact with an angel,
when I let go of my limitations,
and stopped blocking my way...
She took me by the hand...
and led me to my path,
together we walked, day by day

01111996

Let Go

God is love,
the unity above,
promised so,
pure is the one
who let's go

03061996