Buddha Bench Tales

This morning, after drinking one of my favorite kefir drinks, I walked around looking for pictures to take. There were many wild flowers shouting that spring is here! I took the shot you’re looking at here about 100 yards west of our house. I got the bench around fifteen years ago at a garage sale outside of Hopland that some Hare Krishnas were conducting. It is massive, built of solid redwood. Supposedly their head guru used to sit on it. At least it’s a good story. As I’ve sat on it meditating over the years, I’ve often wondered what kind of stories it could tell. That is, of course, if that bench could. Sometimes, when the wind is whistling through the trees, I swear it’s trying to tell me something. Like the time when a small group of large women (as opposed to a large group of small women) was sitting on it, and it split in half (that still cracks me up). Another time, a friend and I were lying naked on it, holding very still, when a turkey vulture flew over so low it nearly slammed into the top of the bench. It was checking to see if we were lunch. At least it could dream….

View from Buddha Bench on the ridge where I live in Mendocino County 

Heavy Pruning Produced Beautiful Roses

Early this winter, I severely pruned my roses. I wondered if I had cut back too much of the dead wood. My husband expressed concern about how much I had wacked them.

However, my yellow roses bloomed a few days ago, and I cut three to adorn our home. I think that you will agree with me that the results are stunning!

Stunning First Roses of the Year 

April Showers

Yesterday evening during dinner, my husband, Steve, and I thought we heard raindrops on our four-foot diameter plexiglass bubble in the yurt. We stopped talking to listen more closely for droplets. The pitter patter grew steadily. As we looked out the window, the sun dropped below the heavy cloud bank to the west.

Running outside with my digital camera, I snapped pictures of the incredible scene that unfolded before my eyes. As the rain picked up, I thought it best to protect the camera. Hurrying inside, I grabbed an umbrella and scurried out to the rapidly changing light show. I balanced the umbrella on my head to protect the delicate camera, as well as myself, from getting drenched. Thirteen months ago, we witnessed a similar storm in which the sun set below the cloud bank, bathing us in a stunning yellow-gold light as the rain drifted in sheets from the east.

April Showers Bring Gorgeous Sunsets  

Feast for My Eyes

By the time I went to bed last night, the fog had
surrounded our house. Much later, when I got up to
pee, I noticed that the fog had moved about a half
mile west. To my delight, when I awoke in the morning
there was a spectacular sunrise, the fog resting in
the valleys below where we live making a feast for my
eyes.

Mystic Sunrise 

The Miracle of the Now

I so love living here in the hills of Mendocino County. The beauty here is simply breathtaking. I appreciate the sounds of nature and the stunning beauty of the changing seasons. Even though it is incredibly beautiful where I live, sometimes I forget to really be here. My body is here, but my thoughts are elsewhere. Maybe I am thinking about how I am going to do something, or I am thinking about an event in the past instead of being present in this moment.

How I am able to get out of my “mind fog” is to realize that I am in my mind, instead of being present. Taking a deep, conscious breath helps me come back in to my body, instead of hanging out in my thoughts. That way I have a more present experience instead of just being lost in thought. Aware of all my senses makes the present moment all the more exquisite. After all, the biggest gift we can ever give our selves is to fully awaken into the miracle of the now.

Walk in Beauty

One View of my Driveway.

Lyme Disease, The Hidden Epidemic

Unfortunately, I developed Lyme Disease before anyone knew it even existed. I moved to Northern California in the early seventies. I brought my Labrador Retrievers with me, and they spent a lot of time outside. When I found ticks on them, I would pull them off and squish them between my fingers. I also spent as much time as I could outdoors. Consequently, I probably got bitten by ticks twenty times before I tested positive for Lyme Disease in the mid-eighties. By then I was no longer able to do an overhead serve or spike while playing volleyball. In other words, by the time I was in my mid-thirties, I no longer had full rotation of my shoulders. That was a big deal for me, considering how I was very athletic. Many people suggested that I was just getting old.

Lyme disease is being called a “hidden epidemic.” The Ixodes pacificus (tick) that can carry Lyme has been found in all but two counties of California. Infected ticks have not been found in that many, but then no one is looking, either. Where ticks are, infection could be.The incredibly small poppy sized nymph, which causes most cases of lyme disease makes it all the more difficult to detect. Lyme Disease Awareness Week is May 4-10. For more information, visit the California Lyme Disease Association website.

White Deer and her Baby

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Good Omen or Invasive Species

I saw a herd of white deer on the way to work yesterday morning, The first time I saw a white deer was probably thirty years ago I wasn’t sure what it was. Across the meadow, on the hillside, I saw something that was bright white. It didn’t move for what seemed like hours. At first, I thought it was a sheep, but it was so bright. Finally, I looked through binoculars and it was sitting on the ground. It was huge! It was much larger than our local deer.

Later, I heard stories about William Randolph Hearst giving a pair of white deer to the man who owned the horse Sea Biscuit back in the thirties or forties. They ended up getting loose and they reproduced like crazy. Usually when I see white deer, I think of it is a good omen. However, when they rip out my flowers and even eat plants that are supposedly deer tolerant from my yard, then I have a problem with them being here.

Gloves Help Weeding These 

Lessons from Weeding

I love it that Daylight Savings Time has sprung upon us! It enabled me to get home from work and play in the garden for two hours today, yesterday and the day before. Mostly on my knees, I was able to weed out a cubic yard of nettles. Since the ground still has some moisture, they come out of the ground much easier now than when the ground dries out.

Sometimes it seems overwhelming when I look and see what appear to be hundreds and hundreds of nettles. It seems like an impossible task. With thick gloves, kneepads and my spading fork I am able to lift them out of the ground. Then I put them in a compost pile. Later, after the nettles turn into compost, they will be nurturing my garden with the nutrients their deep roots had pulled from the earth.

The Changing Skies of Spring

 

Once and Artist Always an Artist

My son, Calvin, has always been an artist. He went to our local Waldorf School where there is a great focus on the arts from kindergarten through fifth grade. As a boy, he drew on whatever paper he could get his hands on. He started airbrushing paintings in his early teens. Calvin was also the cartoonist for his high school newspaper. Here are some photos of Calvin as a young teen airbrushing, and one with his buddy Bay Raitt (Calvin’s sister, Christina, fell asleep).

Calvin Airbrushing a Work of Art

Calvin and Bay drawing in their sketchbooks 

Calvin Turnwall Paints Murals

These days, Calvin paints his trailer to go with the theme of his birthday parties. Everyone is told that if they don’t come in costume that one will be assigned. Calvin also does commercial signs, murals (he is working on one with students at Potter Valley High School), and comics.

Pirates of the Carribean Trailer Mural

Elvis is an Alien 

Proper Substitutes Do the Job

Oh, what a productive and fun day this has been! Among other accomplishments, I finished digging the garden bed that I had started a few days ago. Now I have two freshly dug beds that I will be able to plant.

Mango Chutney Ingredients 

The mangoes hanging out on the kitchen counter looked as though they wouldn’t be good much longer, so I got all the ingredients together and made Naturally Fermented Mango Chutney. I used Sally Fallon’s basic Mango Chutney recipe from Nourishing Traditions and substituted a few items. For example, I used lemons instead of limes; dried chili peppers in place of a jalapeño pepper; and fresh green onions replaced onions. Now it ferments naturally as it sits on the counter for forty-eight hours and before I put it in the refrigerator.

Mango Chutney 

Surfing Tomboy Learns to Cook with Love

I grew up labeled a “tomboy” because I loved to play kickball, dodgeball, and four-square really hard. I played with boys because there weren’t any girls who were interested in playing the way that I liked to play.

When I turned sixteen, I got a driver’s license, a car and independence. On non-school days, I woke up at seven in the morning and headed for the beach to go surfing. At that time, the kitchen was a merely a place to eat. I had no desire to prepare food. I guess that I thought if I would just ignore the domestic scene it would somehow disappear. I would show up five minutes before dinner and set the table. I might throw together a salad if my mother made me, and then help clean up. Remember, this was the early sixties, before the exciting days of the women’s liberation movement.

It wasn’t until I was about to get married, at twenty, to my first love that I figured out I was supposed to cook. Good wives were “supposed” to do that. Oh shit, I hadn’t taken the time to learn how to cook. What was I going to do? Fortunately, someone gave me a Betty Crocker Cookbook for a wedding gift. I proceeded to learn, through trial and error, from recipes. Over the years, love was the most important ingredient I ever learned to include.

Today, I never made it out to the garden to finish digging the bed that I started the day before yesterday. However, before making dinner tonight I made naturally fermented Sauerkraut. I have been making Sauerkraut on and off for over twenty years. My favorite recipe has been inspired by Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions. How this recipe is different than the ones that I had prepared in the past is that it includes whey. I recommend this cookbook/cooking encyclopedia for anyone who is interested in learning how and why to prepare foods as our ancestors did.

Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut 

This froth may look gross but it is harmless. 

Spring Spilling Over at the Mendocino Coast

Thursday had dawned incredibly beautiful on our hill, and gazing toward the sea, it looked as though it would be clear. So, Steve and I drove to coast yesterday. We had a delightful lunch over looking Noyo Harbor at Sharons by the Sea The last time we were there in November the construction of the new bridge still dominated the seascape. It was a much more serene yesterday.

While shopping at Racines in Fort Bragg, a cute little art and office supply store, a woman came up to me and asked if I am an artist. I told her that I am a high school art teacher. She asked what would be a good book for someone that didn’t know how to draw, but wanted to learn how. I suggested one of my old favorites, Betty Edwards, the New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

Later, she thanked me for finding it for her. As I was browsing I found Betty Edward’s Color. Wow! It is one of the best books on color that I have ever seen! I am impressed with how she takes the artist/student from black and white to color.


After going shopping at a couple of great local stores in Fort Bragg, we cruised on over to the Mendocino Botanical Gardens, the only public garden that borders the ocean in the United States. Since we are members, we were able to get in free, and to buy a couple of rhododendrons at a 20% discount. We took our cameras, and went for a walk. The beauty was so captivating that we shot more pictures than we walked. Oh well, I guess I better get busy finishing digging that garden bed that I didn’t finish yesterday.

We were also hoping to see a few whales but got distracted by Spring in the gardens. There were zillions of fabulous rhododendron blooms sparkling with new life. It was an absolute treat for our senses! Last time we went in November the mushrooms were on display.

Awesome Beauty at Mendocino Botanical Gardens

Spring Bursting with Joy!