Every once in a while, read: any time a tree is involved, the chainsaw gets a workout. Over the years, my Stihl M175 has championed. Sixteen inch blades cut well above the advertised length often into twenty inch diameter logs. Yes, the blades need changing out in those larger logs, but keeping ten blades sharpened and ready make every process smooth. Above, the saw is primed and choked ready for starting. A few pulls and it roars to life.
Off and running, the last of the Alder logs get cut into predetermined lengths. The pollution from the saw is palpable, so cuts are quick and successive to minimize the sulfer dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, and other particulate matters into the air I - and you - breathe. The few fossil-fueled tools I own are used sparingly, always after exhausting any available option; including the body's energy stores and replenishing, as well as time. All measurements are marked, the log is propped, and all other tools are set at the scene before the saw is started abbreviating use into a few minutes rather than an hour.
The south garden involves the use of rope and logs. Nautical, rustic, maritime, seafaring, oceanic, navig-attitude - all contribute to the essence. Alder logs are cut, tied, secured, and staggered to accentuate the natural geographic incline and berm the soil layer. Alders will decay replacing the nitrogen, magnesium, and trace minerals. This spot wants a cedar and ferns.
Howard, ever the champion and example of "what 75 acts like", wheels and dumps barrow-fulls of sifted dirt from the fruit orchard. If the question of "will I be able to..." ever enters the psyche, let this be the answer.
The south garden shored up full of plants and mulch. More flora will come with the next round of planting. In the interim, sifted dirt continued to heap into the neighboring section readying its area for greenery.
From the vantage of the house south entrance, the garden's rawness still quite visible with plenty of options being weighed. What transpires remains elusive.
The rock barrier symbolizes bits of wisdom, often overlooked but always available to any one, any time, for any reason, in all ways.
Nature blows my mind. Agile in perspective and infinite in simplicity, my mind's imagined complexity is no match. What nature conjures from its humble origins surprises and delights, then requires me: "know yourself to know another...when you know yourself - you are the other." (Nisargadatta). The camera now off, feet walk toward the shop, steps full of insight and empty of options. What to do with all of it, who knows? The answers always come. Some simple. Some complex. Stopping momentarily, courage breezes by, coaxing me onward with possibility - the door of evolution. Enter at your peril, comes the warning, for all things change. "Go", it says. And off I run.
