Pressed On Our Hearts

Looking down at the cement floor, the image of a leaf held my eyes.

The leaf was probably not there long. But its influence will be on the floor forever.

So it is with many people who pass through our lives. Some with us for just a moment in time: their spirit remains with us forever.

Sometimes, even the quickest passing of another person presses a beautiful memory on the wall of our heart.

Without the leaf imprint, the garden shop floor would be just beige cement. So when someone leaves you behind, do not grieve. You are more beautiful for how they changed you. Even if it seems it was only long enough for them to have just barely scratched the surface.

Spread the Wealth

It is only natural that this close to an election, that thoughts turn to the spreading of manure.
In honor of Halloween and All Saints Day. I will spread this weekend some organic materials about the garden. I'm not going to work them in- just toss about and allow nature to take its course for a few weeks as the ingredients get to know each other and mingle a bit.

While I am not religious about organic gardening, organic supplements tend to be gentler on the garden’s digestive system, so I favor them the way the nutritionist who helped me find my way back to good health, Dr. David Wu, D.C., favors natural food supplements over the chemical variety.

This is what will be topping the soil on the vegetable path and about the irises.

1. Bat Guano- “Guano manure is an effective fertilizer and gunpowder ingredient due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor.” It is also what I gave my husband as his gift for his 41st birthday- the year we had the best tomato crop ever.

2. Bone Meal
Gardens need good bones- sprinkling calcium makes sense to this irreverent gardener.
This slow release fertilizer is rich in phosphates, encouraging plant sugars to metabolize right down to the to roots' tipple-toes.

Because I have invested in the soil, I have the reasonable expectation that the garden will provide more wealth to share with me, my friends and neighbors.

Last night I was at a public meeting regarding the proposed new Los Angeles NFL Stadium. A former public official got up and proclaimed, " I believe in spreading the wealth. " followed by approximately what is in it for us?

It isn't that I don't think we deserve benefits from a facility being built in a neighboring community. We will be affected by it and we should expect it to be respectful and generous to the neighborhood it is moving into. However, it does take a little bit of gall to demand specific benefits from something you are not contributing to.

If I don't hoe, weed, fertilize, seed and water- my garden wouldn't give me much. If we want something for the stadium- we need to think about what we are able to give, articulate it- and follow through. So it is in the garden. So it should be in life.

* From Wikipedia

*Dr. David Wu, D.C. website- http://www.wellfitcenter.com/html/index.htm

Magenta Mornings

The promise of the day is in the autumn sunrise.

On Magenta mornings, the glory of the day rises, coloring thoughts with optimism.


You are cordially invited to grab a glass of ice tea, apple cider- whatever refreshes your smile- and read about the autumn view from Sue Maxwell's front porch.

I've never met her in person- but from the words she sends over the Internet- I know I like her. You will, too.
This is the link:

http://susan-maxwell.com/_wsn/page2.html

This rose is a classic with a naughty name- Sexy Rexy. Surrounded by red Valerian (it must have been a guy who named it "red" because every woman knows that is a deep pink!)

Thank you to photographer Gene Sasse of Alta Loma for the top photograph. Popular Woodworking just gave his artbook on master woodworker Sam Maloof a great big positive salute on their blog. Read it at http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/editorsblog/New+Book+Maloof+Beyond+90+An+American+Woodworker.aspx

Halloween Haunting

Yoo-Hoo, West Hollywood "Installation Artists"
Someone forgot their Halloween Manners.

Halloween is not about you. About your political beliefs or mis-beliefs.

People who will hang in effigy- Governor Palin- you need to put an ad in the lost and found. You have lost your common sense.

Perhaps you don't have the compassion of my chihuahuas. When you put that noose around her neck- you may as well have put it around every middle class traditional woman in this nation. You showed contempt for every conservative woman in this nation. You think that kind of arrogance makes you look good? Think again.

Take the doll down. Or don't tell me your candidate stands for hope and change.
Don't tell me about the mean Republicans.

Senator McCain and senior spokespeople have been very clear to their supporters- treat Obama, Biden and the families with respect. I'm waiting Senator Obama. Where is your outrage about this? Or is it reserved for people who stand in the way of your ambition?

To the "installation artists"- I have posted these photographs so you can see the kind of Halloween party decoration that celebrates the holiday. Which if you aren't celebrating- you aren't participating in a holiday.

About the time I was married, a brother of a woman I knew was murdered. He was a teacher here in California. His sister told me it was a witches ceremony for Halloween. His body was drained of blood. So don't give me excuses about how what you did is "art". Art is not synonymous with hateful bad taste.

The Inspiration of Trees

"Since I was a boy at summer camp... I have always felt like I was in a church when out of doors. The colors, birds and other animals and fish and the nature around me made me feel as if I was in God's Church.


We even had an outdoor Chapel with a blue sky as the ceiling...... the wind in the trees...

It was wonderful.
I was, and am, very fortunate.
I know that I am richer than most because of that start. No money, But Richer by far.

- George "Gator" Hill

I was not at a church or sitting at the foot of a monument. There is a building inside the gates at 70 Rincon Rd, Kensington- just four miles north of UC Berkeley- a stately mansion with shades drawn- the official residence of the President of the entire UC system. But it was not the building that filled me with awe and made goose bumps rise.

It was the property itself. Situated on a rock-rich bowl overlooking San Francsco Bay, 1200 species of plants call the Blake Gardens home. The diversity in country of origin for the plants residing here mirrors our California population. There were towering trees from Australia.
Rows of our native red-limbed manzanita. Hedges of Chilean bromeliads. Swaths of Mediterranean beauties.

This display captivated me. Just what were these balls on the base of the trees clothed in matching shredded parchment- like bark? Were they growths? A small patch of newsprint peaked from underneath a scrap of bark.

The intrigue stayed with me after I arrived back home. I forwarded the picture to the contact information at the Blake Garden website. Lauri Twitchell wrote back. Quickly and generously.

The tree decoration is a project by Master of Landscape Architecture design student, Erin Murray. Erin believed the immature Melaleuca trees deserved highlighting. She crafted paper mache balls, covering them with bark from another Melaleuca that was sheding, and attached them.

Erin Murray shared this wisdom in the statement which accompanied her installation:

"There is a value in the details of things, but often we let our eyes slide past and don't take the time to EXAMINE what is around us. The purpose of this installation is to INTRIGUE and INSPIRE the public by making them question what is human and what is natural, and how the materials around them can be altered, changed or transmuted into something new. this is achieved by utilizing the bark- in and of itself an amazing material- and attributing to it new characteristics and new forms. Only by utilizing nature itself can you really understand it. "

Information on the Blake Garden can be accessed at http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/blakegarden/index.html

"Ask What Ye Will, And It Shall Be Done"

Family & Friends:

As most of you know, Mariah played the daughter of Jennifer Hudson in the movie DREAMGIRLS. We would like to start a PRAYER CHAIN every day at 3:00p (CST) Central Standard Time for her and her family till the safe return of her nephew, Julian King and continued prayers thereafter for their family Please join me and Mariah as we unite and reach out to our holy father to bring this little boy home to his family. Please pass this along to your friends and family. We know, that when we pray in numbers our prayers shall be answered. Lorna

Mariah Wilson is a local girl. When I was Editor of our community newspaper, the Diamond Bar Windmill, Lorna Tate was lovely enough to send us press releases about Mariah's achievement. It was a pleasure to print good news of the fine people living in this wonderful town.

It was eerie yesterday, watching Dreamgirls for the first time, aware of how special that time was for Mariah and Lorna: wondering if there was someway I could reach out to them.

Then the note above arrived with the answer.

The sign and birdhouse decorated with a cross are what I see when I look straight ahead from my desk. Reminders, that in the end, faith sustains us and helps us through difficult times in ways nothing of this world will.

The Truth Shall Set Us Free

There is something about tending the garden that opens the mind. That gives clarity to thought.

Yesterday was another delightful morning in the garden. The temperature was a little warmer than I like- the sky a bit hazy from the fires- but the butterflies enjoy it- so who am I to complain? Besides, I got to try out the new "floral" shovel. The smaller head is a delight to work with for most planting projects.

While I was outside raking in Worm-Grow and Harvest Supreme Compost to feed freshly scattered poppy seeds around the new yellow butterfly bush way out back, I thought about the invocation I was to give last night.
Once everything was watered, the tools gathered and hose put away, I showered away any cares and organized these thoughts to paper for my portion of the program:

Our Father in Heaven,
We thank you for Your presence in this gathering of your people. Open our minds and hearts to the words of those who have come to teach us. While we are to render to Caesar what is properly the government’s jurisdiction, may we be ever mindful not to let our decisions forget to honor that which is Yours and belonging to Your dominion. Grant us the discernment to know the difference.
Be with those who cannot be with us tonight. Please watch over those who have volunteered to serve in our military, and their families.
Grant peace to those who are in mourning. Strength to those in need. Courage and motivation to those with the capacity to help.
We are humbled by Your generous blessings to us, the people of these United States.
In the coming weeks, we will be tempted by the naysayers who do not understand the magnificence of this time. This is a nation where men and women have equal opportunities according to their skills and education. Where children have the right to education. We live in a land where the sick are not disposed of in the streets for lack of insurance, but are cared for.
Guide us to the courage to do what is right when it is not the same as what is easy. Let us be ever mindful that good results mean more than the beguiling promise. When we vote. Guide us that we will choose the content of character, not the content of words of false hopes.
As is the custom of my faith, I offer this prayer in the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen

The speaker for the Diamond Bar Republican Women Federated was the always interesting Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson. His family never told him to hate. But the culture sent him a different message. His culture told him that he was a victim: that message sowed the seeds of anger. The anger grew, twisting his ability to deal with reality because, "When you hate it is easy to believe a lie."

When the Reverend turned 38, he let go of his anger and founded BOND- a program dedicated to turning the lives of angry youthful adult males towards hope and success. It is his passion to bring an understanding that a healthy community begins with a healthy family. Yes- the government can take care of you- "...it can control you... but it can't treat you right." That subtle difference is important if what we want is not just to get by, but to thrive.

The advice he gave, while the context of the evening was political, is a universal truth. "Love what is right...stand up for it... do not be afraid in the battle between good and evil... overcome the fear... when you are afarid of your enemy you empower them... when you know who you are, you're not afraid of what you're called. "

So be enlightened and speak with calm confidence. The truth is the only ultimate winner.

More information on the Reverend and BOND can be found on http://www.bondinfo.org/

The floral shovel is carried by Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar and selected Armstrongs Nurseries.

The photograph of Reverend Jesse Lee Jackson is with incoming Diamond Bar Republican Women Federated President Barbara Carrera.