Thursday, May 15, 2014

Now Here

Striving, struggling, hoping and planning
One foot in front of the other
Collecting, arranging, scheduling and organizing.

Striving to be the hyperbolic human.

Supermom, specialist, expert and fluent
One foot in front of the other
Rising above, forgiving, bridging the clichéd gap.

Still striving to be the hyperbolic human.

Standing anywhere at any time the breeze blows a whisp of hair in my face, across the bridge of my nose.
Irritation.
Leave the hand at your side, and turn your face to the wind, girl.
The lock shifts away.
Inhale and smell...damp earth or hot asphalt or honeysuckle or...
Exhale.
Inhale. Drop your shoulders. Let ease consume you.

Shoulders fall, jaw slackens, eyes close. Exhale.
Inhale...the world's immaculate odor. Fragrant or foul...Earth.

Exhale the body into the Earth...exhale Being.
Release hyperbolic human and be:
At the end of the simple exhalation, cough...gently, and cough repeatedly and softly until all air deserts you. Chuff your wind into the world.
Collapse your Self.

Physiologically and deeply inhale and exhale...now you are primal.
Now you breathe to exist, sweet simple existence.
Simply existing is Being.  Permission and affirmation not required.
I am. I exist. Enough.


Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Yellow Iris


This Saturday the Harbor Market in Kenosha will be heading outside for the summer...a true sign of spring!

The Four Seasons Garden Club will be having our plant sale at the market. I've been illustrating some of the species I'll be contributing to the sale. This drawing was done from a photo I took a couple of years ago. This year I drained my pond, and whacked about 6 cuttings from the plant. The cuttings are in buckets anxiously anticipating their forever homes. :-)

The illustrations will be going on plant description sheets with growing instructions and some other pictures I've taken of the plants, either recently or over the years.

If you happen to be in Kenosha, WI this weekend, please stop by our booth and pick up some plants! The proceeds of the plant sale will support garden club projects including, but not limited to, the maintenance of the Margaret Myers Memorial Garden on the Kemper Center property.

Thanks for stopping by!



Sunday, May 04, 2014

Nature Red in Beak and Claw


A slight variation on the true quote, but more accurate to the scene in my back yard this morning. A Swainson's Hawk stopped by for a meal!



Close-up from the photo above.



From the remaining feathers, I think lunch might have been a morning dove, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for stopping by!



Thursday, May 01, 2014

New Rain Garden




Easter weekend I made this water damming herb garden into a rain garden. Now instead of a pool of water that flows around the house and out to the sewer, I have a garden that claims the water and filters it into the water table. It's still a bit lumpy, so I'll have to do a bit more careful grading to optimize its performance, but there's measurable progress.





Thanks for stopping by!