Flowering Now

"As I enter this new space may I see and be seen.

May I touch and be touched.

May I speak and be spoken to.

May I feel and be felt.

May I experience and be experienced

that we both may become whole.”

        by Carol Milligan, radiation oncologist

Recently when I was out and about "running" errands I stopped by the Rohnert Park Library to pick up a stack of books I had requested. As I was crossing the street from the parking lot to the actual building I passed by this flowering Manzanita. These types of bushes all around Cotati and Rohnert Park are featuring their flowers in varying colors from white to very dark pink.  

Unfortunately the lone bush (Arctostaphylos bakeri (‘Louis Edmunds’) I have planted in my front yard is too immature to bloom. Near the driveway I have also planted two Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (‘Point Reyes’ bearberry) but they are low growing rather than an upright bush. Presently I am searching for Arctostaphylos densiflora X Lutsko's Pink. 

Oh my gosh, it was just raining now it is hailing. Today the weather here at my house is "wonky" as my now late brother would say. We desperately one  need more moisture so I am grateful for whatever form it falls from the sky.

As I sit and look out the North window behind my computer, I have a whole hearted belly

Stunning Beauty

 “All our efforts are temporary. They borrow from preexisting forces, ride the current of natural events and disappear according to the dictates of the situation. It is best to realize the transitory nature of things and work with it. Understanding the world’s ephemeral nature can be the biggest advantage of all.” 

from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao

No leaves on my California Dutchman's Pipevine (Aristolochia californica) just stunning beauty to behold. Each and every flower is shaped just like a bowl of a pipe. The color of each one is just a bit different from its nearby neighbor. Every day I go out and enjoy this stunning beauty only to be had here in Northern California at this time of the year.

I am so looking forward to watching
this California Dutchman's Pipevine expand
onto the two side trellis recently added.

Tree of Light by Amber Husar

Unique and individual, not one is the same,

A source of nature of which it came.

Strength to grow and remain still.

Through adversities and the cold winter’s chill.

A symbol of knowledge and oftentimes peace.

But with only one branch the tree would cease.

A connection it needs to thrive and flow.

Unity and light is what makes it grow.

An image of family and memories made.

Some happy, some sad, and often some fade.

As we come together to honor those gone.

We look to each other for strength to move on.

If one tiny star can bring light to the dark.

Imagine what the power of love could spark.

Recent years have brought sadness and peril

But coming together we can light up the world!

As we honor our connection with nature and move forward with our lives, may we each partake in a frequent belly 

Happy Valentine's Day

A recent  Hoya kerrii cutting flourishing
on my green table located in my "breakfast nook".

The small heart leaf hoya pictured above is the size I purchased from the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona, oh so many years ago when Dwight and I stayed in the Phoenix area so I could see Spring Training baseball. The cutting was taken from the thriving plant it has become.

Hoya kerrii is an epiphytic plant that climbs and twines as it grows, attaching itself to trees with its aerial roots in its native surroundings.

Unfortunately being contained in a pot with no access to the ground my large Hoya's twining branches just hang loose.

When Dwight and I were relocating back to Sonoma County and looking for a house to buy, I knew this sunny Southern exposure would be excellent location for the above heart leaf Hoya. And it has proven to provide the bright sunlight that was absent in our Santa Fe Stamm home.

Pieces of obsidian: black on the
left and mahogany on the right

Last week my son-in-law came to play with Shasta. He also brought me the two pieces of obsidian shown above. How misinformed I have been! I thought obsidian was black. And as I read the article online (available to each of you if you click on the highlighted "obsidian") I once again was filled with awe!

So I wish each and everyone who reads this post "Happy Valentine's Day". Hopefully you have a "heartmate", as my Molokai friend calls our husbands to whom we are so heart connected, with whom you can celebrate in a heartful, raucous manner! AND enjoy together a frequent belly

Missed

Unfortunately I missed heralding the entry of Spring. On the Celtic calendar February 2 signals the start of Spring. It was known as Candelmas or what we now call Groundhog Day.

"I who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon

among the stars and the mysteries of the waters, I call upon your

soul to arise and come unto Me.  For I am the soul of nature that 

gives life to the universe. From Me all things proceed and unto Me

they must return.  Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for

behold -- all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.  Let there be

beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility,

mirth and reverence within you.  And you who seek to know Me, 

know that your seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you

know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within

yourself, you will never find it without.  For behold, I have been 

with you from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at

the end of desire."

                                                             DOREEN VALIENTE

Daffodils blooming in my front yard

There seems to be no other early flowering bulb more associated with Spring. Luckily previous owners planted daffodil bulbs all over my property. They are just now beginning to bloom.

Recently I was in a garden center and passed by six packs of Old Spice Mix of sweet peas. I bought two.  The fragrance of blooming sweet peas reminds me of my growing up days in Iowa. My mother buried sweet seeds in the ground as soon as the temperatures warmed. For me no flower surpasses the fragrance of the sweet pea. Perhaps I will save seeds so that I can start them myself next year instead of purchasing plants someone else has propagated.

Now sweet peas starts in my backyard

Green Man is Dwight's last sculpture creation. 

As we rejoice in the changing of the seasons, may we enjoy a hearty