I typed "what is the meaning of the world" into Google and I got the following website:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_meaning_of_the_world

Charming.

Stop

"Stop all your hankerings; let the mildew grow on your lips;make yourself like a perfect piece of immaculate silk; let your one thought be eternity; let yourself be like dead ashes, cold and lifeless; be like an old censer in a deserted village shrine!
Putting your simple faith in this, discipline yourself accordingly; let your body and mind be turned into an inanimate object of nature like a stone or a piece of wood; when a state of perfect motionless and unawareness is obtained all the signs of life will depart and every trace of limitation will vanish. Not a single idea will disturb your consciousness, when lo! all of a sudden you will come to realize a light abounding in full gladness. It is like coming across a light in thick darkness; like receiving treasure when you're poor. The four elements and five aggregates are no more felt as burdens; you're so light, so free, so easy. Your very existence has been delivered from all limitations; you have become open, light, and transparent. You gain an illuminating insight into the very nature of things, which now appear to you as so many fairylike flowers having no graspable realities. Here is manifested the unsophisticated self which is the original face of your being; here is shown all bare the most beautiful landscape of your birthplace."
-- Sekiso

Before

I thought I might post some "before" photos so when I post the "after" shots, everyone can be suitably amazed.
Above is a picture of our front yard where I just planted some Bavarian Purple garlic, along with a mystery bulb. What? A mystery bulb? That's right.
Here's a shot of a Japanese tsubo niwa that I am just beginning on one side of our house. The moss is starting to peak through the straw, but I'm not really sure that you can see the baby "Emerald Lace" maple tree that's being supported by that branch. We've also had some ferns come alive in the space since clearing it of a serious weed stand.

In other news, I started working at an educational farm last week. It's very fun. The troubled teens who have class there are a riot -- extremely funny. Since I'm volunteering and can leave when I want, sometimes I say I'll stay until I hear the first joke about crack smoking. That's a good way to call it an early day.

"Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?" -- Isaiah 55:2

I came across this quote in a book on Japanese gardening, but it seems more widely applicable:
"As is so often the case, we are unable or unwilling to throw everything out and start from scratch, thereby being forced to combine what we have with what we hope for." -- Motomi Oguchi

Old and New

We recently combed the thrift stores to furnish our living room and one of the pieces we found was this gem. They don't make upholstery like that anymore! It looks a lot like what my great-grandma would have had in her house in Atlanta. But this one is actually a rocking chair. The boys sure do love it.

Best Things Are Free

Annie is giving away some cool things over at Sensible Living!

Generosity is contagious, so what can I give away? Hmmm . . .

"If your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you're not thinking big enough."

-- Wes Jackson

Leaving Waldorf

We pulled our daughter out of the Waldorf School this week. It was a sad and at times agonizing decision, but I'm ultimately glad we did it. We still like the materials and methods, but we had a realization at New Parent night that set the tone for our decision making sessions. Jen said it best: there were all of these parents there, saying things like "I just want my child to be loved" and "it just feels like a big family here." But we actually are the family already and we actually love our daughter already. I can appreciate that you may want those things at school too, and we do. We just felt that we had an amazing abundance realization --> we can make that change and create that environment almost anywhere else. We don't have to pay large sums of money for it and we don't need detailed instructions on how to do it. To me it was like realizing you can grow a lot of your own food. It's cheaper, fresher, and surprisingly uncomplicated. "Spring comes and the grass grows all by itself."

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” -- Howard Thurman

Small things. Noticing the really small things outdoors gives me a renewed sense of scale and our place in the order of things. Along those lines, I collected some moss spore capsules that I hope to grow on soil or agar.

And here are some small flowers from the back yard:

I do not particularly like the word "work."  Human beings are the only animals who have to work, and I think this is the most ridiculous thing in the world. 

 --- Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution

The other day Jen brought her commendable cleaning skills to our backyard and unearthed a beautiful moss stand behind the rhodies. I've been wanting to find a natural stand that I could tend and encourage to grow, and now I have it! Anyone know what kind of moss this is? Polytrichum?

So my new forms of exercise will be weeding the moss and chopping the wood left over from the massive Douglas Fir that we unfortunately had to have removed.

A new friend brought over this lovely bamboo last night:

Here's some recent produce from the garden. Three plum tomatoes and the tiniest little beet. I've been reading Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution and getting my loner-farmer vibe going (I deleted over 200 friends on FB today and have decided to get out). It's not much of a garden haul, but it's something right? Call it the Tiniest Beet Revolution. But I don't think I'll try to subsist on just these as Fukuoka-san would.

Here's two of our cats having a loving moment. Their names are Leo and Basil.

Also, I finally finished my sweater:

Some wild turkeys invaded our backyard the other morning! They were seven in line, portending a sign.