Morning

Fortunately I am a "morning person". Morning is my very favorite time of the day. Shasta always gets up from wherever she's sleeping to greet me . . . often rather enthusiastically kissing my face. 

The ceramic pot was made by Chris.
The plant arrived from DeAnne
in Peoria, AZ.

On one of my morning walks with Shasta I thought to myself it would be great to have a Thanksgiving cactus plant. Continuing that thought process I decided after all the holidays passed I would venture out and see what was for sale. Or perhaps check online which is my habit for purchasing items. Now no need since DeAnne purchased one for me at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Lucky, lucky, lucky me!

Reading today's 364th entry, Morning, in 365 Tao: Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao was a reminder just how much  I, possibly we, take for granted. 

"All we need is the morning. 

As long as there is sunrise, 

then there is the possibility 

that we can face all of our

misfortunes, celebrate all our blessings, 

and live all our endeavors as human beings. 

Spirituality is something 

that has become necessary 

in these troubled times. 

Yet it is inherently superfluous. 

We need it to remind ourselves, 

to bolster ourselves, 

to integrate ourselves,  

to fulfill ourselves. 

If we could simply acknowledge 

the mystery of night and the glory of morning,

 we would need neither civilization nor spirituality.

At its simplest, life begins with dawn. 

That it is blessing enough. 

That is happiness enough. 

All else becomes fullness immeasurable. 

At dawn, knell down 

and give thanks to this wonderful event. 

We may think mornings are so common 

that they are unworthy of veneration,

but do you realize most places 

in the cosmos do not have mornings? 

This daily event is our supreme goodness.

Greet the dawn. That is your miracle to witness.

That is the ultimate beauty. 

That is sacredness. 

That is your gift from the heaven.

That is your omen of prophesy. 

The is knowledge that life is not futile. 

That is enlightenment. 

That is your meaning in life. 

That is your directive. 

That is your comfort. 

That is the solemnity of duty. 

That is the light of the ultimate."

Look at what Shasta's Auntie T
ventured into her studio and created! 

Certainly 

    Definitely

        Surely

            Undoubtedly

I am ever so blessed to have such wonderful friends. 

Indeed I do celebrate . . . honor . . .  make whoopee . . . for all of my cherished friends; and of course my constant companion:

Shasta Girl, as I call her

As I look outside the sun is shining with some fluffy clouds dotting the sky. I realize how fortunate I am to be living in this cozy cottage with Shasta. In spite of my heavy heart at this holiday season, I am able to

           

 

Dense

This morning  and the previous several ones I awoke to dense, dense, dense fog. I was so dense that I was certain it had rained. However, when I check the rain gauge no rain was recorded.

When I looked out upon the patio all the indentations of the slate was filled with moisture. It is hard to come to grips that this is all the result of dense fog. 

When Shasta and I have taken our morning walks with this dense fog, all the trees were "dripping", the roadways very wet as was the sidewalks and grasslands we walked past. I have to admit I am not an enthusiast of fog as are many I encounter on our morning walks.

And for those of you who have contacted me about the wood chip pile remaining in the ditch in front of my house, the pile is, as I write this post, being moved by my neighbor to the West. 

 

As I did, when this property had grass in both the front and back yards, I applied for a "lawn rebate" from the city of Cotati. My neighbor did likewise. He has been waiting for  confirmation which just yesterday he received. Thus today he is moving the remainder of the wood chips in the ditch in front of my house. WHEW! Just in time because I got a notice from the City yesterday that if the pile was not removed by noon 12/14/2023 they would do so.

My neighbor's plan is to mulch his yard then plant natives as I have. He and his wife will use my plant list to go shopping at California Flora Nursery.

Now I would like to "give a shout out" for my long time friend's book. It is now available for purchase . . . $12.00 on Amazon. A word of caution: be sure to buy his book on Amazon rather other sites. I found the cost to be $2.00 to $3.00 more on a number of sites that sell books.

EVOLVE: A Modern Wizard's Apprenticeship with Merlin

Rob is such an interesting human BEing. He has cut my hair for eons, except of course when I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We have such amazing conversations while he is skillfully cutting my hair.

I am hopeful that the sunshine will eventually burn off the fog. It is late morning here in Cotati and dense fog has yet to be dissipated. So I enjoy, as I invite anyone reading this post, to 

Upcoming Holidays

This is front door for
my Cotati, CA home.
The vine on the left is 
Clematis ligusticifolia
(Western’s virgin’s bower).

Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. On December 25 billions of people around the world observe this religiously and culturally. Celebration occurs in varied and meaningful ways depending on the country's beliefs and practices. 

While living in Northern California Dwight and I had always spent a month in the Eastern Sierras over Thanksgiving. On returning home we could stop and cut a Pinyon Pine which we then put up and decorated together. Last year I chose to ignore the holiday altogether. 

This year however I got down all the boxes stored in the garage to take out things to display. My neighbor put up lights in the bare of leaves maple tree in my front yard. I feel ever so fortunate to have such a wonderful neighbor! And when I plug in the lights and enjoy the sparkle, I am filled with gratitude for her generously giving of her time so I could have this pleasure each evening.  

The Winter Solstice occurs on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, at 10:27 EST. In the Northern Hemisphere it is the first day of winter. This day has the fewest hours of sunlight of any day throughout the entire year.

Winter Solstice Blessing

May you have a warm heart,

open hands,

a creative mind.

May you experience inspiration and brilliance,

clarity and focus.

May you laugh richly and deeply.

May you circle and celebrate,

may you change and grow.

May that which is waiting to be unlocked be freed.

And may you soar with the knowing

that you are carried by a great wind 

across the sky.

I have friends who celebrate the Winter Solstice rather than Christmas. Others, who are Jewish, commemorate Hanukkah (Chanukah) which begins at nightfall on December 7 ends on the nightfall of December 15. And then I have a few friends who are very "bah humbug", like the infamous Scrooge, ignoring any December holiday observations.

Having grown up in Iowa where I cannot remember a Christmas without snow, I herald snow in December. Below are a couple of snowy pictures taken in the Bridgeport, California area.

I have to say that I do miss snow at the time of the year. Perhaps it is best to say that snow makes Christmas for me. It is one of the reasons that I enjoyed living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, durning which each Christmas we spent there was snow. Viewing the snow flakes through the lights strung around the edge of the portal was just such a lovely sight

And another picture sans snow of our Pinyon Pine being securely fastened to the roof rack for its trip to Cotati, California. Shasta is just awesome with her supervisory abilities as well as her inclination to remain with us rather than run off after critters.

And when Shasta's Aunti T visited us while we were living in Santa Fe, we took her to Chimayo (where there was no snow) primarily to visit Santuario de Chimayo.  Please enjoy the display of ristras in the pick up truck she is standing near. 

As we discovered while living in Santa Fe displaying ristras is very popular in New Mexico. Vendors popped up on many street corners to sell them during the month of December.

The Pinyon pine Christmas tree
in our Santa Fe home
when Aunti T visited us.

It is rather pleasant in my home to have some festive memorabilia out of the boxes stored in the garage. However, I chose not to have a tree since I so prefer Pinyon pines as Christmas trees. 

No matter where you are living, whether you have snow or  sunshine, or put up decorations for Christmas or not, or even celebrate this holiday, may this month yield ample opportunities to 

Multiple Prism

 

In the morning the sun shines into the East windows of the large room in the back of my house. This edition was added, we have been lead to believe in the 1970's. I just love to see all the "rainbows" everywhere when I stand in the doorway to this room. 

I have many prisms that are now suspended by red "rope". 

They hang in most every doorway in my house. I hung them almost immediately when we moved in. Of course, the painters removed them to beautify the interior by applying the same colors of paint that I had painters use in our Santa Fe house.

And on that note about Santa Fe house . . . I do believe that house was my favorite of any Dwight and I owned/lived in.

When Dwight's daughter visited from San Francisco, she took this picture. Rainbows were a frequent happening with rain. Often the rain did not last very long but all the residents of the fabulous little city were so happy to receive whatever rain might fall.

I have almost completed the front yard with the "refreshing" of the wood chips. The neighbor, when he "removes" his lawn using the same technique as I will use whatever wood chips remain.

So as I am completing this project, I will 

 

Dispersing

The remaining wood chips pile
looking West from my driveway

Rain finally here. It started last evening and rained pretty much off and on. In my front yard rain gauge 5.8" has collected. Now it is mid afternoon on Saturday, November 18, and the rain has significantly subsided to misting off and on. Shasta, as am I, are impacted by the biometric pressure. As I can hear my my late brother saying we are "wonky". So today we are both pretty slow moving. Shasta is sleeping most of the day.

I trust that I have not
buried too deeply the milkweed plants
with wood chips and mulch.

At this time of November, instead of planning when I might complete "refreshing" the wood chips, in the past Dwight and I were readying ourselves for our month long excursion to the Mono Lake area. We usually stayed in the downstairs apartment at the Walker River Lodge in Bridgeport.

The view out the kitchen window
looking East. It often snowed
after we arrived. By the time
we departed the roads
were all not only clear but dry.

On our way home we would take Highway 182. We would stop when we saw what looked like a healthy stand of Pinyon pine trees. Having brought our own saw we would share the activity of sawing our holiday tree. Dwight would then tie it to the top of our Prius using the rack on top of the car.

Shasta was very good at "supervising" the process. She never seemed interested in running around. I think there were often stickers in the sandy soil although I never found any imbedded in her paws.

This is one of my favorite pictures taken on our walk out of Bridgeport on Twin Lakes Road. Rose was such a incredible being. You can find her story by checking the archives on this blog. I vaguely remember the title as The Incredible Lightness of Being. She was extremely connected to Dwight.

So for me this particular time in November each year is "bitter sweet" as remember the fabulous excursions with Dwight and whatever dog or dogs we happened to have. Presently I do not feel motivated to drive myself and Shasta to the Eastern Sierras. 

As I face this particular difficult time without Dwight may I release the emotions with a frequent belly 

My All Time Favorite Walking Companion

Shasta and Cathie walking along 
the dirt road after we park just off 
the paved road on one clear
November day

A hands full of miles West of Bridgeport, California, right on a creek, is Doc and Al's Camp and Cabin. Shasta "girl" as I often call her was great to walk with her since she would come when called so could be "off leash".

Now here in my newly adopted home town Shasta is a wonderful companion to take on my morning walks. She just trots right along matching my pace. She gets to choose the route once the are through the park across the street from our house. Unfortunately she cannot be off leash since she is often aggressive with other dogs. The animal communicator says it is not the dog but the owner that riles her up.

To return to the garden in which I have planted number of annual Tithonia plants that I started from seed. The Monarch and Queen butterflies love their nectar. So when I water the plants in the front yard I can feast on these flowers plethora of visitors.

"Black and orange butterfly ---

Flying joyously

Wings like a nun's hands:

First folded in prayer,

Then open in offering."

Deng Ming-Dao

I will leave the plants even after they have died so the birds can feast on the seeds. Of course, I will save some seeds for planting in 2024.

And all the while, I will

October holiday

At my front entryway
there is 
no pumpkins to be carved

Carving a face pumpkin was
so enjoyed by my
late husband.
Since his passing there 
are only decorative pumpkins. 

A friend recently visited and brought me three miniature pumpkins she grew in her garden. She shared that the seeds came from a pumpkins she was given. Perhaps I will save seeds to plant in my garden next year. With some searching the name of this miniature pumpkin is Jack Be Little*.

*Each flattened, deeply ribbed 

fruit measures only 5cm (2") tall

and about 13cm (5") across the top. 

If cured fully on the vine, 

the fruits will last as ornaments 

for as long as twelve months! 

Jack Be Little makes perfect 

little bright orange pumpkins 

for fall decorations, 

and each plant produces 

up to eight fruits.

One of my long time local friends celebrates her birthday on this holiday. She has had Halloween parties in the past where she encourages everyone to wear costumes. I recall Dwight often attended while I stayed home. Since I am naturally a very early riser I go to sleep quite a few hours before my late husband did.

When we as youngsters of course we use to canvas our neighborhood for candy and other offered treats. My mother use to make candied apples to hand out or sometimes popcorn balls. Either were deliciously tasty! When we lived in two different Iowa towns all the kids flocked to our house early for their Halloween "trick or treat". They did not want to miss out on whatever my mom made that year.

For all of you birders out there, I have recently read a fabulous book. The title is Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper. which I highly recommend reading. I must confess that I kept National Audubon Society The SIBLEY Guide to Birds (written and illustrated by David Allen Sibley) within easy reach to look up the birds he mentioned as he often traveled about our planet, Mother Earth.

Asarum caudate
(Western wild ginger)
along the North side of my house

While hanging clothes out on my retractable clothesline earlier this month I looked at the plantings along the North side of my house. There in all it subtle glory was a flower on the Western wild ginger that my friend in Pt. Reyes Station invited me to dig up. Not wanting to have only one I dug up two clumps. One of the clumps is quite challenged where it is planted. Hopefully next year it will have settled in more and also have a flower blossom.  

As this October holiday arrives may we each enjoy a belly

Waiting

I am waiting the arrival of a truckload of wood chips. The entire yard will then be "refreshed" as the owner of the company that prunes the tall hedge along my East fence in the back said when he was here.

My friend Pete loaned me a very large tarp that I spread out in the area where I wish the company to empty a truckload of chips. I can hardly wait, waiting is not my strong suit, to begin loading the chips into my wheelbarrow to spread over the entire yard.

I thought this Roger Red grape leaf stunningly beautiful. The Fall color is primarily the reason I planted two of these plants on either side of the trellis that Dwight built specifically for these two grape plants. 

The actual grapes are quite small and not really to my taste. However the birds certainly do enjoy eating them.

On this gorgeous Fall day, now that the thick fog has burned off, the clothes are drying on the clothesline. And my feeling is that all is "right with the world" so I have a

Ahhhhh . . . Relief

Not long ago I was watering the front yard. I noted the Pinyon Pine I had purchased and decided not to plant in the ground but in a clay pot. My thinking at the time was that I could lug the pot inside, once the tree was big enough, and decorated it as my holiday tree. I totally spaced out how very slowly Pinyon Pines grow.

Pinyon Pine in clay pot

Pinus monophylla (Pinyon pine)
out of the clay pot
and into the ground

Once the tree had emitted "Ahhh . . . Relief" I set the empty clay pot along the road. As I was watering thoroughly the newly plant tree a man stopped in front of the clay pot. He asked if I was getting rid of it. "Yes" was my reply and he picked it up. As he did so he said "I hope I can carry this and finish my walk. This will be great in my garden." I am always so ecstatic when something I no long want or have "room for" is appreciated by someone else.

The clouds in this area
are nothing short of spectacular!

Dwight securing our Christmas tree atop our car. Our routine was to walk about an area on the Eastern side of Nevada State Route 338. Once we have declared "this one" we would saw it off, just before we returned to our home from the Mono Lake Basin. It had become our tradition to spent a month here in my favorite place on Mother Earth. There are numerous places to hike. Some of our walking was on a sandy road used to truck out cattle from designated pastures.

As we brought our tree already secured in the Christmas tree stand thorough a narrow front door into the house we always had a good

Chill

            "One leaf on a branch

            and not a sound of sadness

            or despair. One leaf left

            on a branch and no unhappiness.

            One leaf left all by itself

            in the air and it does not speak

            of loneliness or death.

            One leaf and it spends itself

            in swaying mildly in a breeze."

                             DAVID IGNATOW

There is definitely chill in the air when Shasta and I go out for our morning walk. Humans we pass comment on the descending of fall as well as the chill in the air. Yet so many leaves on the trees and shrubs retain their summer foliage.

Cox Orange Pippin apple tree
leaves are turning a beautiful yellow
then brown at which time 
they fall onto to the wood chips
covering the ground.

Here at PageRefuge two Vitis californica ('Roger's Red' grape) are planted on either side of the trellis Dwight built. I primarily plant these for their stunning fall color. As you can see both vines are beginning their transformation. I do not find the fruit particularly delicious but I do observe some birds pecking at the small dark grapes. In our previously owned Santa Fe home the present owners and their son seem to find the grapes tasty as they have shared pictures with me of them doing so.

 I found this piece of art
Dwight created in a cardboard
box filled with all sorts of
sculpture tools and such. 
In the upper right corner
there is another on resting
on one of the legs of
the cement birdbath.

Fall garden chores are being undertaken with a few completed.

The two Rubus (subgenus Rubus Watson) ‘Black Satin’ Thornless Blackberry bushes have been drastically pruned. I find new growth provide more tasty blackberries and in more abundance. 

Grindelia hirsutata 

( Hairy gumplant, Hairy gumweed)

is the yellow flowering plant.

The three flowering grasses

closest to the road

are 

Muhlenbergia rigen (Deergrass)

Achnatherum hymmenoides (Indian ricegrass)

I was introduced to this grass while living in New Mexico. Once I was familiar with the grass I noticed it grew in the Eastern Sierras as well. I think this a stunning grass. I have six plants along with two Grindelia in the area that use to be my compost pile.

The Hopi Black Dye Sunflowers have removed. The flower heads have been cut from the stocks and deposited into a green bin for pick up. The seeds are waiting to be added to dwindling bag of purchased sunflower seeds. I am finding this process to be very, very, very slow as the seeds are tight in these heads. It is as tho' they are "hanging on for dear life" as the saying goes.

These will eventually be deposited in the tray for the birds to eat. The birds do not seem to be inclined to harvest the seeds themselves. It seems I have created their laziness since I provide sunflowers seeds in several devices hanging in my backyard.

In the West most raised bed there is only two remaining tomato plants. The closet one is a black cherry and the one to the West is Blue "Boar" berries also a cherry tomato. With this summer's cooler than usual temperatures the tomato plants fruit just has not ripened as readily as in previous seasons.

The string bean plants are essentially
done producing edible beans to eat.
Above is pictured
one of the Fortex bean pods 
with seeds developing to be 
saved for next years planting.

Steven Severin and Leigh Sims
enjoying an outing to wharf
in Seattle. They share that getting
out into the sunshine is a superb 
way to spend a Sunday
which is the day this was sent to me.

On this Saturday as I look out the window first there is blue sky then gathering clouds as well as a few rain drops then back to sunshine. The plants in the garden are all saying "bring on the rain!" 

On this fall day may each and everyone of us enjoy a hardy and deep belly