Monthly Archives: July 2009
Chasing the Dragon
There is (or was) a mysterious objet de’ art in our family. We call it “The Dragon.” My grandfather, an ornamental iron worker after blacksmithing no longer supported a wife and five children in the early 1900’s, made The Dragon … Continue reading
TSA – the Most Hated Part of Freedom to Travel
Land of the free and home of the brave feels more like land of the hassled and home of the knave if you travel anywhere in the United states by air. Meanwhile, we all have stories of confiscated bottles of … Continue reading
Benefits of Harvesting Rainwater
We received less than 1/10th of an inch of rain yesterday – in the midst of “monsoon” season, or, as the weather reporters like to call it “monsoonal moisture.” For once, the phrase made sense! But that was enough to … Continue reading
Taking Too Much
Twenty-one fully-opened white primrose blossoms at the peak of my three Oenothera caespitosa plants—the stars of my 2009 rock garden. I checked them every morning, my joy boosted by bloom count. Conversely, tethered to the amount of critter-caused damage was heartache. After … Continue reading
Lessons in Deadheading
The Western equivalent of raking sand in a Zen Buddhist garden may be weekend appointments with yard work — landscape responsibilities. It gets me out of my home office of endless demands, and even out of the house where there’s … Continue reading