St Patrick Day Memoirs

Thirty one years ago today, we made Diamond Bar our home. The first house belonged to a divorcing couple with playful Irish Setters which wandered the house and covered the windows full height with their muddy paw prints. Trevor's days were spent in a baby walker to keep his hands off the whatever the dogs had spread across the floor. With an electric floor scrubber, just the kitchen/ dining areas took nearly a week before crawling could be advised. Then we opened the kitchen cabinets. The paper lining could not be seen for the layer of mice poop covering it.





















Why would we buy a house in need of so much work? Because the structure was sound. the layout easy to live with. This home was looking for someone to redeem it from neglect brought upon it. Bening half Irish, there is a heritage gene pushing us to lay loving hands to uplift the natural character of the architecture out from under the disrespect piled upon it.

That, and really, whenthe Irish say we are looking for a home, we really mean we are looking for a place to make a garden which holds the building we call home.



















Sin and redemption are struggles the Irish are drawn to solve. 7 years later we passed a smiling cleanly painted house surrounded with blooming mauve tree azaleas guarding archways, , clumps of clivia bursting with bloom in shady corners, and a platform where all the neighbors gathered on the fourth of July, to see the best fireworks displays in the San Gabriel valley




























This year will be a wee simple Saint Patrick's Day. Yesterday,I was in an auto accident. All in all, not bad as things can go when you see a big vehicle rolling steadily straight towards your face. Still, I'm a bit unfocused today. The safest plan is simply to enjoy view painted by the clouds generous sprinkling this season- wonder at how something with no color- rain - morphs dusty brown to shades of emerald.




Instead of me turning green from drinking beer, some good Corona beer churned with water in a garden sprayer aimed across the lawn will propel green enhancing religion to enhance the lawns health with deepend shades of green leaves.

Until we meet again- May your days be long, full of love, and spent in a garden full of blooms and empty of snakes.