What is under the red bowl?

I always walk around the property when I have been gone for over 24 hours. Things change so dramatically. Buds unfurl, holes are dug, the labyrinth gets weedy. Nature is never still or silent, not really.

Recently I returned to find the big red bowl which usually sits on a limestone rock at the tea house entrance, turned over on a concrete paver. Odd, I thought, maybe the twins were playing or maybe Brad or Betty sat on it for some strange reason. There was a glass plate of cat food next to it. I imagined Betty sitting on it and petting Chester or Gold while he ate organic kibbles.

I reaching down to turn the bowl over, and something hissed loudly. " Snake," I thought. But I had a glimpse of grey fur, so I knew my first guess was wrong. Finding a copper pipe, I turned it over and there, coiled in a perfect circle, was the biggest opossum I have ever seen.

He was not happy, I had flipped his bowl. He snarled, hissed, and waddled into the forest. Chester and I looked at one another. I could tell his bb brain was confused also. Had the possum pulled the heavy bowl over on him? Had someone placed it over him? How long had he been covered? An enigma wrapped in a conundrum !

I Found A Thrill on Native Park Hill

Yes, I'm in this picture, but it is not in my jardin. Jake and Pam Ingram, Sally Robison and others are laboring to restore Native Plant Park. They have put in hours of labor to remove air potatoes and reintroduce native plants in a little neighborhood park that was dedicated to natives many, many years ago. After reading the book, Bowling Alone which describes my generation's retreat from the communal sphere, I am touched by folks who aren't secluded in their electronic cottages. Thanks, Jake,Pam, and Sally, you are restoring my faith in the possibility of averting the tragedy of the commons.

Love Brigade on the Lawn

They came again, the makeup artist, the hair designer, the videographer, the production manager, the bone thin models both male and female. Last year they came to shoot the view book on the river lawn, this year they came to do a video. They are infant entrepreneurs working hard to establish themselves, their line, their brand. Somehow my heart goes out to them. I remember my brief sojourn in NY. I remember sweating in winter wool for the December issue of the magazine. I remember the horrified shrieks of the hair folks when the hot lights made my curls sneak out from the shellacked 60's straightness that had been decreed by the fashion czars.I remember the sweet crooning of the photographer as he took the pictures and then handed his camera to the Asian assistant for instant reloading. There is no reloading now. There is only perpetuity.

Hot, hot, hot

OK what do I do with buckets of hot banana peppers? All of the folks I know are on antacids with serious medical names like Omeprazole. I'm thinking I will make Christmas gifts for the younger folks who still have intact digestive systems. Hot Pepper Mustard sounds good. It can be found on the web and doesn't seem to require a degree in astrophysics to create.

Trite but True

I believe this. While part of me used to seek the geographical cure of a move to somewhere else, part of me knows I am here for a reason and I need to deal with it.I am planted in the former Cowford where mud bogging outsells the symphony and barbeque is the preferred cuisine. That's fine.This has been my home for over three decades and the city has provided me with a livlihood and a mental album of beautiful views.

I have never understood why the city hasn't grown except for its homeless core. The only reason I can give is that it is too spread out to have a serious sense of community. Auto dependence has made the burbs seem closeby. White flight rolled on rubber feet.

Bee Here Now

The bee plaza was created after the Frances/Jean flood in 1995. The bee tiles had been nearer the water, but huge waves destroyed the plaza. Michael reassembled them farther uphill and there they have remained.

I am always taken by Buckminster Fuller's statement, " Bumblebees can't fly. Their fuselage is too big for their gossamer wings, but they don't know this and so they fly." How many times in my life have I done something I couldn't do because I had to do it?

Water Gardens for Under a Dollar

The water gardens are flourishing when every thing else is dying of the drought. This picture is an example of a DIY garden. The grid is a fan frame. The pot a found item. The aqua pipe is a vacuum cleaner addition. The old clothesline wick was from the street. I plant in the top only and keep the reservoir full of water. The plant is watered from its feet not its head. They are happier that way.

Yesterday I learned to identify pests at Master Gardener. How on earth is anything alive? Tiny red dragons stalk their pencil point prey; ants farm aphids, the mantis has a one night stand and then snips off the head of her paramour. Petite morte has a new meaning. I was pleased to hear the instructors recommending chemicals as a last resort not a first choice. Things have changed.