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

Rocks

Within the circles of our lives

we dance the circles of the years,

the circle of the seasons

within the circles of the years,

the cycles of the moon

within the circles of season,

the circles of our reasons

within the cycles of the moon.

Again, again we come and go,

changed, changing Hands

join, unjoin in love and fear,

grief and joy. The circles turn,

each giving into each, into all

Only music keeps us here.

each by all the others held

In the hold of hands and eyes

we turn in pairs, that joining

joining each to all again.

And then we turn aside, alone,

out of the sunlight gone

into the darker circles of return.

WENDELL BERRY

In the tradition of my mother I collect rocks. These rocks come from places I visit or in the case of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I lived for a short while . . . something like an extended vacation of 4 1/2 years. I have no idea why rocks draw me other than I watched my mother pick up rocks from various places. She took them home with her, often in her suitcase. Her rock pile grew, grew and grew. I often wonder what happened to that huge pile of rocks?

This rock came from Butterfly Beach
in Santa Barbara, California.
A man in Sonoma County 
cut the enneagram symbol.

The pebbles that created the "walkways" in
the backyard of the home Dwight and I
bought in Santa Fe, I raked from the entire
backyard. The bigger rocks lining this 
walkway came from the Santa Fe 
River. The river was without most of the
year so finding just the right rocks was
easy. Bringing them to the backyard
was done by loading them in the car trunk.

Tufted evening primrose in bloom
in front of a water catchment
filled with rocks that were on
the property. 
It grows throughout the West
in sunny, dry, infertile, rocky,
well-drained soils.
Apparently before San Felipe
Circle was built and filled
with Stamm homes, the area
was covered with this lovely plant
that is larva food 
for hawk moths.

This stunning heart shaped rock
came from the Santa River bed.
Dwight carried it home to me
for an anniversary present.

Another water catchment,
beneath a rain spout
in the back of the house,
is filled with rocks
that were on the property.

The rain chain was Christmas gift that Dwight bought me from a nursery in Santa Fe not far from our Stamm home. It now hangs above the green flat bowl that Dwight created. It is pictured below filled with rocks I found in the dirt here in Cotati as I established my native plant garden.

The view of the Santa Fe house from the middle
of the street. Waving around the entire front
and side yards are rocks
that were already on the property.

The rockslide to the West of Mono Lake
is where the below rock was found.
It now sits on my back patio in Cotati.

This is a collection of heart shaped rocks 
from various places visited.
They are on a narrow shelf
beneath the bureau mirror in my bedroom.

I love collecting rocks as you can attest from viewing this blog post. Truly I am my mother's daughter as I follow in her footsteps of her love of rock collecting.

This day is gloomy with intermittent rain. Rain has been falling off and on now for a week with more predicted this upcoming week. The reservoirs state wide are filling which is excellent since many have not been full for some while. May each of us, in spite of whatever kind of weather is happening wherever we are, 

Season Greetings

Season Greetings to all of you wondrous BEings who view my posts. I wish the most lovely of lovely Winter Solstice celebration to each and every one of you. For those of you who celebrate Christmas may yours be special as well. 

Pinus monophylla (Pinyon pine)
Please notice the sculpture sitting in
the upper right corner:
that sculpture closes this post.  

The Pinyon pine is my most favorite tree. I have loved them since I first saw them growing in the Mono Lake Basin. Of course, none grow natively in the are where I live now. However, I wanted one to grow at PageRefuge. I found one to purchase that would fit in my budget. The tree is picture above in a clay pot sitting in the front of my house. I water it daily in the Summer and now with the rains coming the small tree is getting plenty of moisture.  

I felt so fortunate that the house we bought in Santa Fe had a full grown one just East of the driveway. Does not the Pinyon pine look gorgeous with the snow?

Since am forgoing "decorating" for the holidays, I am grateful for the mini Pinyon pine in my front yard. Remembering all the past fully decorated trees is heart warming, like the one pictured below sitting on our Santa Fe house's front portal.

Typically these posts end with

However for this one I am choosing to close with one of Dwight's spectacular sculptures he completed while we lived in Santa Fe. The figure is honoring the place from which her ancestors emerged from Mother Earth. For me she depicts such heart felt love and gratitude.