Broken Ground

I am pleased to say that the front yard redo has begun.  The guys came at 7:00 a.m. yesterday morning and brought their sod cutter with them.  I am tempted to ask them to stop here.  Look at all that bare dirt!  I could just go crazy with plants and never bring the lawn mower out front again.  

But I will resist.  For one, I don't think my wife would go for it.  Secondly, the benefit of lawn in this case is that it's actually lower maintenance for me than other options since I can just mow the often-mentioned and much-hated palm seedlings that constantly grow in my yard.  And, finally, if and when we come to a point where we decide to sell our house, I think the "average" buyer would prefer the expected American front yard which means green grass. 

Speaking of grass, in the picture above there is a strip of rock that borders what was the lawn and the walkway.  The landscapers will remove this rock and use it elsewhere.  They will replace it with even more grass.  This is fine with me as I had grown weary of weeding this strip.  I may eventually remove the grass that will be installed where the rock is now and replace it with a curvaceous planting bed or perhaps grow a boxwood hedge, but for now I'm going to let the plan of sodding this area proceed without intervention. 

In the bottom left corner of the picture above you can see a black drip irrigation line.  This line currently runs directly from a hose bib a foot or two away.  This setup has worked for me just fine, but the crew is going to tap into the in-ground system and run the line beneath the stones and re-install the drip irrigation.  This will make the area look cleaner and it will be one less thing for me to worry about.  I find that drip irrigation timers can be unreliable after a while and those pesky batteries die without my permission. 

Unfortunately, what was originally estimated to be a 2 or 2 1/2-day project looks like it's going to end up taking 9 days from start to finish.  The crew has been splitting time between my yard and my neighbor's yard which they are also re-sodding.  They expect to complete the grading of my yard today but they won't have enough time to put in the pipes and lay the sod before the day is done.  And now the rains of Northern California's wet season are scheduled to begin in earnest tomorrow morning and continue for five straight days.  They are warning of potential flooding.  Which means lots and lots of mud in my yard and not a very good time to be trenching sprinkler lines and laying sod.  [Insert grumpy face emoticon here!]

No work will be done in my backyard as part of this project but that doesn't mean things aren't changing there too.  The crepe myrtle leaves are changing and starting to fall finally.  I plan to use the time after the leaves have fallen to study the branching and do some artful shaping - paying special attention to the lower limbs so that eventually I can push the lawn mower beneath it without having to duck.  Those seeds just jump off the tree and attach themselves to my hair.  It's annoying.     

One of my Japanese maples, a 'Glowing Embers' has really gotten orange in the last week. 

The 'Red Dragon' pictured above is still red but it's not the deep maroon that it was this summer.  I love sitting in the iron chair next to this tree.  I love the way they look together.  The colors are so different.  The texture, also, so different.  This is a slow growing Japanese maple.  This is a quality I have grown to appreciate.  This tree looks just as perfectly sited as the day I planted it.  I can't say the same for every tree or shrub I have planted. 

And finally, a seldom-used but fairly old Japanese cultivar called 'Otto's Dissectum' has gone from light green to orange and red.  I've been growing this in a wine barrel for a couple seasons now.  It's such a nice tree.  Some day I hope to create a spot of its own for it - a place where it can sink its roots and grow without impediment and live up to its potential . . . a hope I'm sure we all desire for ourselves and our loved ones. 

I'm Getting Bluer Every Day

I’m sure this happens to everyone in some fashion.  A friend knows you majored in whatever you majored in while at college or, if you didn’t go to college, you developed a fondness for a certain area of interest.  That friend, therefore, assumes you paid attention in class and treats you like an expert on the subject whether you deserve it or not. 

I majored in English.  And now I’m expected to know things like how to diagram a sentence, how to write in iambic pentameter, and how not to dangle participles.  My ability to do those things is hit or miss.  Okay, it’s a total swing-and-a-miss when it comes to iambic pentameter. 

When I’m put to the test, I can often skirt a direct answer simply by saying something lofty like “Oh, that’s a really complicated answer.  I could explain it to you, but your mind would probably go into a boredom induced coma.  Just write it this way instead.”  But sometimes, there’s no getting out of it unscathed. 

A group of friends were sitting around talking the other morning when one of them remarked, “Some people show up and put on an apron.  Others show up and put a bib on.”  We all liked that metaphor.  “Wait, is that a metaphor or is it an analogy?” someone asked.  All eyes shifted my way. 

“Well, I can tell you for sure that it’s not a simile” I offered unhelpfully.     

Whether it’s a simile, a metaphor, an analogy or an allegory shouldn’t detract from its power.  That is why we use them; their power.  A pithy simile can make you nod in agreement like a bobblehead.  A well-placed metaphor can sock you with hurricane force.  An analogy has the staying power of an ancient oak tree.  And a thoughtful allegory can get you really worked up about the pig having absolute power around the farm. 

And this power can be found in surprising places if you learn to look for it. 

I found power while looking at a hydrangea in my front yard.  I’ve got nothing against a pink hydrangea (unlike Madonna) but I prefer blue so I have been adding aluminum sulfate for a couple years and you can see by the bloom on the left that it is starting to work. 

While I photographed this plant, it struck me that in some ways, our lives mirror this hydrangea.  The (almost) blue flowers are no more innately good or valuable than the pink flowers are.  And even though they look very different, they are part of just one body. 

In the same way, our lives, personalities, and relationships are filled with different things, often opposite things, that are no better or more valuable than the other.

I find this to be true when I consider how I straddle the line between maintaining healthy eating habits to help me live a long life and eating, drinking and being merry to help me live a full, rich life.

But it could apply to any number of things.  For instance, it could speak to how we spend our time: should we relax with a book or energize with a hike?  Or it could speak to how we spend our money: should we save for retirement or go on family vacation?  Or how we interact with others: should we offer selfless advice or just listen?  Should we let that comment slide or stand up for ourselves?  Should we be uncompromising in our convictions or should we learn to compromise?

Of course, if you know exactly who you are and who you are works for you just fine, there's certainly nothing wrong with a peaceful and consistent whitish-pink life.  

Or even an airy, light blue and white life with a little variegated background if that's your thing. 

I think what matters is that you take note of the colors around you and consider whether you're happy with them.  If not, you might want to add some aluminum sulfate to your life. 

And that aluminum sulfate is, of course, a metaphor for something else.  Unlike the apron and the bib which, I believe, is an analogy.