Oi, what's going on
Hard run with suffering yet
Still What's going on
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Road Kill 16
Found on the shoulder of the road during this morning's five-miler.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
New Back Gate
The last of my "big" landscaping jobs in the yard is now complete. The gate into the back yard that i have talked of building for many, many years (almost since the day i moved in 12 years ago) is now finished. The bamboo cap was screwed on just before lunch.
I expect grass around the stepping stones to start growing sometime next week. I'll post another picture after it is well established. I'll also post pictures of the back yard once some of the lilies start to bloom giving some color to the picture. Everything there is in place: the fake/rock stream is done, the stepping stone walking path is in place, the stone slab bridge is set, and all the flowers and grasses have been planted. It's still missing "something," but i don't know what that is yet.
I expect grass around the stepping stones to start growing sometime next week. I'll post another picture after it is well established. I'll also post pictures of the back yard once some of the lilies start to bloom giving some color to the picture. Everything there is in place: the fake/rock stream is done, the stepping stone walking path is in place, the stone slab bridge is set, and all the flowers and grasses have been planted. It's still missing "something," but i don't know what that is yet.
Monday, April 2, 2012
In Spring Flowers Bloom
Lao, where have you been lately? Haven't heard a word from you in weeks.
The sakura trees blossomed last month.
Yea, i know. I saw; it was beautiful wasn't it. But where have you been?
Several of the lilacs around the yard have bloomed and the rest should follow suit next week.
Yes, yes, i saw those too. Are you ignoring me? Where have you been?
The snowball bush is getting very close to blooming as well.
Sigh... Lao, why do you do this to me? Where.have.you.been?
Here.
I haven't seen you.
That's because i'm here and you're typically not.
When haven't i been here?
Now?
What?
The day lilies are growing nicely.
Lao..... never mind.
Dave, you need to sit more often. Or, more seriously.
The sakura trees blossomed last month.
Yea, i know. I saw; it was beautiful wasn't it. But where have you been?
Several of the lilacs around the yard have bloomed and the rest should follow suit next week.
Yes, yes, i saw those too. Are you ignoring me? Where have you been?
The snowball bush is getting very close to blooming as well.
Sigh... Lao, why do you do this to me? Where.have.you.been?
Here.
I haven't seen you.
That's because i'm here and you're typically not.
When haven't i been here?
Now?
What?
The day lilies are growing nicely.
Lao..... never mind.
Dave, you need to sit more often. Or, more seriously.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Full Bloom Trees; Half Bloom Sidewalk
Today is either the 5th or 6th straight day of 80 degree weather and everything in the yard is definitely showing the effects. The cherry blossom tree usually starts blooming in mid- to late-April and takes about two weeks to come to full bloom. Both opened yesterday and both look to be at full bloom today! Inconceivable.
Made good progress today on ripping up the sidewalk between the garage and the house. Here's just one of the piles of cement from its previous incarnation as a boring, white-bread, cement sidewalk. It's amazing what you can do with one sledge hammer and a lot of sweat. :-)
Here's the beginnings of what it will look like in its new life. The larger, rectangular stone is the one that will sit inside the threshold of the gate. In addition to these three stones, i have four large(ish) stones left. Those four will have to spread out and fill the remainder of the sidewalk. The spaces between these large stepping stones will get filled with mid-sized stones, if i can rummage up enough of them in the back yard. After that it's down to small stones. Lot's and lot's of them.
Made good progress today on ripping up the sidewalk between the garage and the house. Here's just one of the piles of cement from its previous incarnation as a boring, white-bread, cement sidewalk. It's amazing what you can do with one sledge hammer and a lot of sweat. :-)
Here's the beginnings of what it will look like in its new life. The larger, rectangular stone is the one that will sit inside the threshold of the gate. In addition to these three stones, i have four large(ish) stones left. Those four will have to spread out and fill the remainder of the sidewalk. The spaces between these large stepping stones will get filled with mid-sized stones, if i can rummage up enough of them in the back yard. After that it's down to small stones. Lot's and lot's of them.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Blooms
First full day of blooming and the new Yoshino is already at full bloom. :-) The good news is that it made it through it's first winter in spectacular shape and has beautiful white petals. I had to take a picture now, even though it is overcast and the lighting doesn't show the tree very well, because thunder is rumbling just southwest of here and rain is on the way. I'm afraid the first rain will strip off all the petals before i could even get one picture this year.
The shidarezakura behind the torii is blooming nicely.
Obviously you can see that the path leading to the torii desperately needs to get finished. I put pea gravel around the stepping stones at the base of the torii late last fall to see if i would like it. I've decided i do so will put it down along the rest of the path and take out the grass in a couple of weeks.
Unfathomable
From where blooms of such beauty
The eyes of your son
The shidarezakura behind the torii is blooming nicely.
Obviously you can see that the path leading to the torii desperately needs to get finished. I put pea gravel around the stepping stones at the base of the torii late last fall to see if i would like it. I've decided i do so will put it down along the rest of the path and take out the grass in a couple of weeks.
Unfathomable
From where blooms of such beauty
The eyes of your son
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Cherry Blossoms
The first blossoms have made their appearance here in Lockport! 2-3 white blossoms on the new Yoshino tree and 4-5 pink ones on the shidarezakura (weeping cherry blossoms tree) poked their heads out of their buds late this afternoon
Will post pictures when most of the tree is in bloom, but i am sooooo happy tonight. :-)
Meanwhile, work on the back yard started again this week.
* Built a new brick retaining wall and steps around an area next to the porch that will get white gravel to simulate a pond and then a small 6' round deck over that, which will look like the center portion of this picture, sent to me by a friend many, many years ago (thanks Shirley).
* Terraced the top third of the area on the north side of the house, trimmed all the wild grasses, and transplanted several dozen handfulls of day lilies to that area. Will terrace another third over the next weeks and then leave the bottom part alone until fall. Probably.
* Widened the (fake) creek that flows through the yard from north to south. About two-thirds done and will finish the remaining one-third this week.
* Cut down three-quarters of the remaining wild grasses and Russian Sage in the front and side yards. Will finish the rest tomorrow because they are all starting to show new growth.
* Moved about 50 day lilies, maybe more, probably more, to new locations around the yard to expand already existing sections.
* Took a sledge hammer to about 30' of sidewalk and busted out all of the cement. That will get filled back in with gravel and topped off with dirt. Then limestone stepping stones will be laid out as the walkway from the garage up to the house. Large flat stones to step on, medium stones to fill in between those, and small stones to make everything a reasonably standard width. Then plant grass around it all to hold everything in place. It is going to look oooohhh so good.
* In mid-April i'll buy the wood (6" x 6" posts) and FINALLY build the Japanese-ish gate at the end of that stepping stone path, just before stepping up to the sidewalk along the back of the house. Finally. I'm not sure when i'll get the actual roof on it (money issues), but at least the frame and door will be up and in place.
* This week i have to finish trimming last years growth down, then hope to build another retaining wall with steps down to where i'm going to "skin" the back wall of the garage so that it looks like a temple on Shikoku. That's the purpose of almost everything i'm doing in the back yard. Both stone walking paths and the stone bridge all lead you in the direction of the temple.
* Had an ingenious idea the other day (if i say so myself). I'm going to keep my eye open for someone who has cut down a tree and try and get a section of the trunk about 1.5' long. I'm then going to take the time to saw and chisel it, and hollow it out so that it looks like a temple bell and hang it from a post in front of my fake temple. Haven't decided if i will have to paint it or not. I'll wait until it's done to decide that.
I have promised to help my sister Thursday through Sunday with work at her house. Will rototill almost her entire back yard and put in mole repellent to see what we can salvage. The moles have destroyed it. Once they are gone, we can re-sod sometime in April. Will also install two windows in the shed in her back yard — windows that came out of my back porch when i replaced them.
We'll then pull 6 very old lilac bushes out of her back yard, trying to get them out in good enough shape to move them to my house were i'll add them to the side parking and front yard.
It's going to be a busy next several weeks. :-)
Will post pictures when most of the tree is in bloom, but i am sooooo happy tonight. :-)
Meanwhile, work on the back yard started again this week.
* Built a new brick retaining wall and steps around an area next to the porch that will get white gravel to simulate a pond and then a small 6' round deck over that, which will look like the center portion of this picture, sent to me by a friend many, many years ago (thanks Shirley).
* Terraced the top third of the area on the north side of the house, trimmed all the wild grasses, and transplanted several dozen handfulls of day lilies to that area. Will terrace another third over the next weeks and then leave the bottom part alone until fall. Probably.
* Widened the (fake) creek that flows through the yard from north to south. About two-thirds done and will finish the remaining one-third this week.
* Cut down three-quarters of the remaining wild grasses and Russian Sage in the front and side yards. Will finish the rest tomorrow because they are all starting to show new growth.
* Moved about 50 day lilies, maybe more, probably more, to new locations around the yard to expand already existing sections.
* Took a sledge hammer to about 30' of sidewalk and busted out all of the cement. That will get filled back in with gravel and topped off with dirt. Then limestone stepping stones will be laid out as the walkway from the garage up to the house. Large flat stones to step on, medium stones to fill in between those, and small stones to make everything a reasonably standard width. Then plant grass around it all to hold everything in place. It is going to look oooohhh so good.
* In mid-April i'll buy the wood (6" x 6" posts) and FINALLY build the Japanese-ish gate at the end of that stepping stone path, just before stepping up to the sidewalk along the back of the house. Finally. I'm not sure when i'll get the actual roof on it (money issues), but at least the frame and door will be up and in place.
* This week i have to finish trimming last years growth down, then hope to build another retaining wall with steps down to where i'm going to "skin" the back wall of the garage so that it looks like a temple on Shikoku. That's the purpose of almost everything i'm doing in the back yard. Both stone walking paths and the stone bridge all lead you in the direction of the temple.
* Had an ingenious idea the other day (if i say so myself). I'm going to keep my eye open for someone who has cut down a tree and try and get a section of the trunk about 1.5' long. I'm then going to take the time to saw and chisel it, and hollow it out so that it looks like a temple bell and hang it from a post in front of my fake temple. Haven't decided if i will have to paint it or not. I'll wait until it's done to decide that.
I have promised to help my sister Thursday through Sunday with work at her house. Will rototill almost her entire back yard and put in mole repellent to see what we can salvage. The moles have destroyed it. Once they are gone, we can re-sod sometime in April. Will also install two windows in the shed in her back yard — windows that came out of my back porch when i replaced them.
We'll then pull 6 very old lilac bushes out of her back yard, trying to get them out in good enough shape to move them to my house were i'll add them to the side parking and front yard.
It's going to be a busy next several weeks. :-)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Authenticity
What does it mean to be authentic? To live an authentic life? According my dictionary, the definition of authentic is:
- Not counterfeit or copied.
- Conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief.
Synonyms:
- Unquestionable
- Reliable
The most difficult part of this is that thorny issue of "fact," that which is unquestionable. On one hand, if authentic is 'conforming to fact,' whose facts set the standards? On the other hand, there are facts held by others that i personally don't believe or accept, yet i do accept that they are worthy of belief.
So if, as i believe, it is impossible to come up with a list of facts that everyone, with no exception, will agree are unquestionable, incontrovertible, is it impossible to live an "authentic" life?
I don't accept that. Living an authentic life is living your life completely in accord with your beliefs. Decide what they are, and then live them. No wiggling around in order to satisfy (or make) friends, no wiggling in order to keep the boss happy so you might get a promotion, no wiggling in order to find the perfect mate or to keep peace in the family. No wiggling.
According to my beliefs, there is one unquestionable fact — everything changes; with zero exceptions. Everything. And that includes your beliefs. They may change over years and decades, they may change from minute to minute as "facts" unfold. But, they will change.
Also according to my beliefs, there is one absolutely key ingredient in living a truly authentic life, and that is the commitment to understanding what your beliefs are at all times and noticing them as they change.
In all the myriad of small, seemingly trivial, thoughts, words, and actions you offer the world each and every day, how often do you make an offering contrary to one of your beliefs simply because it is expeditious, simply because doing so is easier than sticking to your beliefs?
Note, i am not asking about the big decisions, the big things that seem to matter, i'm asking about the other 99% of your day, all the trivial things that don't seem to matter, but are done as part of the routine of living.
Join me as i ask myself today, am i living an authentic life?
- Not counterfeit or copied.
- Conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief.
Synonyms:
- Unquestionable
- Reliable
The most difficult part of this is that thorny issue of "fact," that which is unquestionable. On one hand, if authentic is 'conforming to fact,' whose facts set the standards? On the other hand, there are facts held by others that i personally don't believe or accept, yet i do accept that they are worthy of belief.
So if, as i believe, it is impossible to come up with a list of facts that everyone, with no exception, will agree are unquestionable, incontrovertible, is it impossible to live an "authentic" life?
I don't accept that. Living an authentic life is living your life completely in accord with your beliefs. Decide what they are, and then live them. No wiggling around in order to satisfy (or make) friends, no wiggling in order to keep the boss happy so you might get a promotion, no wiggling in order to find the perfect mate or to keep peace in the family. No wiggling.
According to my beliefs, there is one unquestionable fact — everything changes; with zero exceptions. Everything. And that includes your beliefs. They may change over years and decades, they may change from minute to minute as "facts" unfold. But, they will change.
Also according to my beliefs, there is one absolutely key ingredient in living a truly authentic life, and that is the commitment to understanding what your beliefs are at all times and noticing them as they change.
In all the myriad of small, seemingly trivial, thoughts, words, and actions you offer the world each and every day, how often do you make an offering contrary to one of your beliefs simply because it is expeditious, simply because doing so is easier than sticking to your beliefs?
Note, i am not asking about the big decisions, the big things that seem to matter, i'm asking about the other 99% of your day, all the trivial things that don't seem to matter, but are done as part of the routine of living.
Join me as i ask myself today, am i living an authentic life?
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