Transplanting . . . Again

“We who have lost our sense and our senses --

our touch, our smell, our vision of who we are, we who frantically force and press all things, without rest for body or spirit, hurting our earth and injuring ourselves: we call a halt.

We want to rest. We need to rest and allow the earth to rest. We need to reflect and to rediscover the mystery that lives in us, that is the ground of every unique expression of life, the source of the fascination that calls all things to communion.

We declare a Sabbath, a space of quiet: for simply being and letting be, for recovering the great, forgotten truths for learning how to live again.”

                     U.N. ENVIRONMENTAL SABBATH PROGRAM

This past year has been difficult, disrupting, problematic, disturbing and has drastically altered our lives. We were settling into our lives in "the best neighborhood", as one of the long time Santa Fe residents stated who was living in the house in which she grew up. We were enjoying getting to know and developing connections to all of the neighbors living on San Felipe Circle. Then BOOM Cathie had two visits to the ER. She had never been a patient in one before. Then followed an admonition from her acupuncturist that she would be so much better off healthwise at sea level. Shasta was so bummed to leave behind morning play time with Hobbes, her treasured Great Pyrenees friend and morning playmate at Lopez Park. Whenever either dog would pass by Lopez Park both would sit and say, "Shasta/Hobbes will soon come play with me."

Shasta and Hobbes playing in Lopez Park

Hobbes in a creek near Moah, Utah

So the packing and organizing for a move back to Sonoma County where our longtime friends live began. In March we drove back to California, staying in what would turn out to be an emotionally disastrous short term rental while we began our search for a house. Fortune would have it that both Shasta and Cathie felt so, so, so much better at sea level immediately upon arrival. Luckily we found our home on Page Street in Cotati and initiated a move into the 1950's bungalow. Now some seven months later with all the many necessary projects completed we all are so ready for a Sabbath filled with resting, hiking and generally enjoying all the beauty of the region.

So we are returning to what use to be our annual trek to the Mono Lake Basin. We will be staying at the longtime familiar Walker River Lodge that has a two bedroom apartment right on the Walker River. Whew! a Sabbath . . . finally!

While on our week long Sabbath we will have and enjoy a frequent

Result

Beneath our living room window and to the left of our front door:  Clematis ligusticifolia (Western virgin’s bower) on the trellis    Cornus sericea occidentalis (‘Tomales Bay’ Western twig dogwood)

has “red twigs” which are spectacular & cheery

in the Winter after the leaves drop. It is planted near the

downspout so it gets lots of moisture during 

       the rainy season. Dwight’s Santa Fe sculpture is in

the far left of the above picture.

Beneath our living room window and to the

left of our front door: 

Clematis ligusticifolia (Western virgin’s bower) on the trellis

   Cornus sericea occidentalis (‘Tomales Bay’ Western twig dogwood)

Phytophthora root disease, as I discovered when I wanted to recycle empty containers at the local nursery I frequent, is causing nurseries to reassess their practices. They now must buy new containers continuously, keep most plants up on tables rather than sitting them on the ground where they are more likely to be contaminated with Phytophthora, and be continually vigilant for the danger of this organism infecting their stock.

Not reusing containers at nurseries is costing the nurseries more money AND is a dilemma for those of us who do not want to dump them into the trash only to be thrown into the landfill. Luckily I have discovered that Harmony Farm Supply will take empty containers 1 gallon size and up. I have loaded up all of those I have to drop off at Harmony before my next appointment with my acupuncturist who lives just beyond this business.

Our front yard does not look so beautiful just yet.
However, as the perennials, shrubs and trees
mature I am looking forward to a
spectacular display in this wildlife habitat.

Now that all the purchased perennials, shrubs and trees have found "their forever home" at PageRefuge, there are a plethora of empty containers. Luckily only a few of them are 4" pots which I can "sterilize" with vinegar and water for reuse when I have veggies starts. I am beginning to contemplate seed ordering which I usually do after the beginning of the new year. Perhaps by then raised beds will be in progress so I can realistically assess my veggie garden space. As I did in Santa Fe I plan to have circles of delish ear corn with small tasty melons planted in the middle. These circles thrived on San Felipe Circle so hopefully they will likewise flourish here.

Our shady area in the back along the North side of the house:
6 Heuchera maxima (Alum root),
2 Carpenteria californica (Bush anemone ‘Elizabeth’) 
& 1 Corylus cornuta v. californica (Western hazelnut)
which all thrive in the shade.

The more I read about Phytophthora, the more my dismay soars. In my humble opinion the climate catastrophe is setting the stage for more and more virulent viruses. Those viruses not only affect humans as with COVID-19, but Phytophthora is threatening native habitat here in California. Probably these virulent viruses are upsetting humans, plants and animals' well BEing far beyond California.

As humans have incredible difficulty altering their way of life to reduce the climate catastrophe, we are faced with a calamity that is distressing all BEings on Mother Earth, our home.

Happy and "sweet", as so many describe Shasta
when they come upon her, on a sunny
afternoon in our backyard.

Mathis Wackernagel in his blog post discusses the global leader meeting in Glasgow and the difficulty of change in spite of all the evidence of the climate catastrophe destruction upon us. As each of us perhaps come to grips with the impact of our human behavior and vows to alter ourselves before it is too late, may we