Tales From The Labyrinth

Cascade of Roses...

Sometimes...

There are no words...
Only cascades of rose petals...

buds opening...

bursting into life...

a fountain of beauty...

sighing into the round
of a posy...

a gift for the mother,
I so love...

Photos: Cecil Bruener Roses in our garden...

Into the Garden...

Into the garden this earth day...

every day,
every moment sinking into this body
this matter blossoming...

that moves

touches,
ripples in the breeze...

spiraling,

and casting shadows...

Into the garden this earth day...

the heart beats...

and sap runs

and peonies bud...

open,

and dazzle the sun...

I curl up in the warmth
and watch ladybugs...

unrecognizable...

disguised as they shed primal skins...

becoming red wonder of flight
that defies gravity...

and I breathe beauty...

tiny creature that I am...
nestled on this giant ball spinning
endlessly through space...

stopping for just a moment
to sing of life
incredible,
into the garden this earth day...

Photos: Our front yard meadow.

Connecting A Million and more Hearts on Earth Day
April 22, 2008

A Spiral Garden

The California spring weather has kept me from my computer... and out into the garden...

I planted our vegetable garden in a new area, having composted and turned the soil, after eliminating the bits of remaining lawn... and found that our new garden was just too flat...

So I took a sojourn to the Russian River that winds through the Alexander Valley in search of rocks to make a spiral mound...

This river is the place where I spent, just a little further down stream, every day of my summer youth...

I had the most wonderful chauffeur and guide to the best accessible place for rocks... None other than my father!

He was quite tickled at my simple pleasure of having a pile of rocks...

And finding myself in heaven...

I even found a spiral rock!!!

I loaded up three crates of these beauties into the back of my car...

and used approximately 39 of them for the almost four-foot spiral, not counting the side beds that I am still creating...

I removed all the vegetables that I planted the other day and laid the ground circle,

filling it with a mixture of planting mix and compost,

With  a drip line up through the middle... I then began adding more soil and winding the rocks upwards, creating a spiral and place for the little plants to grow...

Notice that I removed one of the rocks from the outer ring to open up the spiral to the rest of the garden space...

I then placed the plants, and have even more room to add a few more herbs and vegetables...

A cow came to graze the thyme and oregano...

and my flat garden has now transformed into a spiral of wonder and edible delights!!!

Please let me know if you make a spiral garden... For you can make them out of rocks, or bricks, or rocks and bricks, and any other combination that your imagination might come up with!!!

Spring 2008

Our meadow,
this first day of spring,
is a sea of budding blooms...

Coastal iris burst into glory...

Flags of joy unfurling in the mid-March sun...

Hidden in the folds of California native plants
are bright blues, yellows, and whites...

and this is only the beginning...

these blooms draw me ever inward...

Into the mystery...

of spring...

and the beauty of life renewing...

I have said this before, but my name and the spelling of my name, Lea, is from Old English and means meadow... To walk into this space that is coming to life in our front yard, is to walk into my name and it is divine and beautiful beyond anything I could have ever imagined...

Thank you so dear friends Lynnette and Michelle,
of Belle Feuille Garden Design,
for seeing into my heart's desire,
and bringing that desire to life...

Salamander

In between
sheets
of rain falling
steadily...
Light streams
translucent
flames...
Fire creature
stirring myth and alchemy...

I follow
this path you lead
into time
stopping,
as you wind into
tree ancient...

No longer
flesh and bones,
two-legged returned to four,
mystery
emerging back into primordial
beginnings...
History unraveled,
with new threads
to weave again,
and again
in movement
oh so slow,
a master in disguise...

Photo: Salamander found in our front yard, between rains...

The First Sign

Not only do they design
and create beautiful gardens and environments...
Michelle and Lynnette
of Belle Feuille Garden Design
have planted their first sign in our front yard
amongst the plants and seeds they have so lovingly
brought into fruition...

You two are just the best.

Your friendship, laughter, sense of humor
and sense of design and beauty are incredible...

You both make such a difference in our lives
and in our neighborhood and community...

Thank you for the beauty
you've sowed and planted in our hearts
and in our beautiful garden!

For those of you new to my blog... you must realize that where these two stand was a massive flat patch of water-guzzling lawn ~ now transformed into a drought tolerant inner-city meadow and paradise...

Seeds

Today has been a day
of discovering that many who I hold dear
are experiencing extreme losses..

How can this be when the sun shines here,
when I am so full of life and loving every bit of living,
enjoying myself and those around me...

These seeds,
went into the earth yesterday...
bare soil,
raked and scratched,
dark and fertile,
opened...
moist and yearning
for the seeds of the hills of my youth,
planted in the middle of the city...

How can this be,
this loss,
this receiving,
this mystery that no one can answer...
this joy of knowing
that my hand could hold and then release
such beauty...

Photos: Michelle holding the seeds that she, Lynnette, and I planted on November 27. And the seed packet from Larner Seeds holding these gem-seeds of my heart...

Renewal ~ Writers Island

What if...

you woke up one afternoon and found
that It was time...
to drop down into the earth...

and sleep...

like an earth~worm...
curled round itself...

spirit into matter
isn't always easy for me...

sometimes...
it is pure joy,
and purple,
shining like the sun...

or like the new grasses of our meadow...

in the quarter~acre city lot
taking root...

dancing with the wildflowers...

all abandon thrown to the wind...

lush and full of color...

no matter how small...

bearing fruit
of Dogwood Summer into Fall...

before
the Winter rains
and cold
settles in...
like a blanket
covering the world
in deep sleep...

for sometimes...
life is
just rock hard,
like a lump
of clay
broken and full of cracks

waiting...
not always so patiently...

yet dreaming of Spring,
renewal,
and always...
always...
the heart's desire...

© "Renewal" for Writers Island 2007

 

Sunflower Feeder

It's come time...
for the giant sunflower in our front yard to transform...

Milt did the job, as this was his sunflower, so to speak...

Then with stakes, a triptych fleur-de-lys top, and twine...

I made a bird feeder!!!

a feast awaiting the winged friends who stop by...

Songbird Surprise!

What delight
this morning wrapped
in mists of the receding night,
while beneath our rose ever blooming,
to find this tiny bird,
this glass wonder
of sweet song...
that someone left,
planting their surprise
for me to find...

Oh thank you dear friend(s)
for leaving this little gift
and bringing me such Monday morning joy!!!