La Nieve

We have been surprised with an early spring snow storm, one the likes of I can't remember ever. We've already experienced 3" of wet snow today, March 6. This evening and tonight we may have up to 7" more. The boys were fortunately off of school, so we were not quite touched with the tumult that typically ensues. Hopefully the boys will have the blessed opportunity to get wet and cold tomorrow on a slippery, steep and luscious slope of 10" of frozen icing.

I have not been practicing nor studying of late. It may be redundant stated on this medium, but when it gets busy I do less instead of more mindful contemplation. Oh, to slow down! The heavy snow may give me a chance to view the garden with a fresh and clean perspective. Perhaps the red-twig dogwood will stretch its arms, or the blue spruce lumpenly offer a beautiful contrast, or even unity, with the white snow. I might even ponder the low-growing new garden bed behind the kitchen renovation. It will be a new opportunity to have a new perspective, new plants and new textures. Opportunity indeed!

Eclipse

We experienced a beautiful lunar eclipse last night. I fell asleep early with a sharp headache and only saw a brief glimpse before falling back asleep. A lost opportunity, b/c we had perfect viewing conditions. When we looked it was about 50%, but the red was very visible.

Thanks to Scott at sitecreations.com for this image of the moon with Saturn nearby.

The Garden

It's obviously building, the creeping need to dig in the dirt and to not be trapped within the walls of the house. I just spent some minutes watching a few different episodes of Gardening by the Yard on hgtv. Host Paul James can be a little silly but it's evident that he loves plants, sees more to the garden than "landscape" and is committed to organic and natural gardening. This morning's topics included rose care, starting and using veggie seeds, Paul's raised veggie bed project and some other plant stuff, like showing off a somewhat rare dward pine named . I really enjoyed his raised bed segment. He presented them on the show last fall, building them and doing soil preparation. This "spring" he's harvesting early lettuce and is planting tomato plants. I assume he tapes a year in advance, b/c I can't imagine it being warm enough in OK to do that now. My mom built and planted 2 raised beds last year. I used the truck to haul the soil, a mix loam and sand and topsoil. As an extension of the kitchen remodel, a big task for me will be to take down the old wooden tower in the back yard. Furthermore, I'm thinking about building 2 raised beds in that spot. My one concern is whether there is enough light to really support veggie cultivation given the backyard's northerly facing direction. I love gardening in general, and see veggie and small fruit production as an extension of that. Last year's first attempt at tomatoes failed, but that was my error. The pot didn't drain properly so the plant died of root rot. Live and Learn is the motto of every gardener, and I certainly learned from that lesson.

Homes and Spaces

I've been reading the occasional chronicles of Tasha and Joe and their efforts to build a sustainable "dream home" in Wisconsin. Given their discussion in the blog, I've come to find that building such a space requires much more work than fun. Our own little kitchen renovation has proven the same point to me. We have had innumerable choices just within the confines of an expanded eating and sitting area; it's one of the reasons it is in a kind of stasis right now, moving forward inch by inch, but every so slowly. Their's is an even more daunting task b/c their new space will make a statement, one of long-term sustainability, a feng shui-like usage of interior spaces and of appropriate use of the land. When I saw "feng shui", I mean that they don't just want rooms, but rather that they want them to relate and live together.

Their blog has led to me a few other interesting sites. I include a couple pics


This are pics from the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center. I know almost nothing about the place, but it presents a center based on architecture built with the principles are strong sustainability. My dream house would be happy incorporating this kind of feel.

This is a similar kind of space at our local fav spot Bernheim Forest. This is an arboretum and ecological space 25 miles south of Louisville. It's beautiful in so many ways, and the newish visitor center reflects that, sustainability and beauty combined.

I'm including the one below b/c I like the line of the flowering trees even better.

Modern architecture strives to win a LEED award. Another example I found is this new construction found in Freeport, Maine. Me parece very New England, but very green.


I did a little sniffing around concerning Kentucky's options for environmental sound architecture. I didn't come up with much, which is as usual indicative of our state's lethargy in so many areas.

Gridlock

What they deserve?

Not what they deserve.

Pause

I haven't made an entry of late. As is often the case, when I need to slow down the most is when I am my most frazzled and distracted. We experienced a nice evening of snow yesterday (4"), but this morning were pummeled with ice and sleet and this afternoon with rain. "When it rains, it pours...".

I intend on mulling over some ideas floating in the ether and see if I can put them to paper, er...

Locavore

This weekend my wife attended a convention of independent booksellers from all over the nation. She has worked at local or I should say "locally-owned", bookstores for at least 10 years. Our hometown is experience what everyone else is, a local culture and economy devoured by big-box stores, suburbanization, and rampant development. The convention presented several speakers that impressed my wife very much with their progressive, and my that I mean proactive, views on local economy and locally-owned businesses. Another great example here is Horton's Hardware. This store, under a few different names, has been open for many, many years. It is the quintessential local hardware, filled to the ceiling with odds and ends and brimming with ancient artifacts of plumbing and painting long past. I try to trade (using a term used by my Louisiana grandfather) there as much as I can. Larry the owner often has a forlorn, downtrodden face, that of a man on his last leg, attached to a think and disintegrating tether.