Healing Gardens

area: Open creek partner names: Atlanta and Adam 4/19/07 9:15-11am activities-learning: adam gave me a tour of the area, identified plants and told me some things we might want to do. then atlanta showed up and got a tour as well. i sketched a long-leafed lupine and then sat on the rocks by the creek and cattail, listening to the water gurgle; suddenly something flew past and scared me a little. then i realized that it was a hummingbird and i decided that somehow they share that ephermal mystery of a shooting star, as though magnified and whose presence reminds me of the inconcievable grace i can smell here. i sketched the hummingbird as i saw it jolting its gaze from a branch on the willow tree. questions: what to do?

4/21/07 after mclane creek: 1:00 pm-3:00 pm sat in the open creek area; observed the willow tree, walking along the marshy-area. tried to get lost in the willow tree. spent time with each of the plants in this area. spoke with marja about what is to be done!

4/26/07 from 5:30 pm-7:00 pm at the Open Creek activities + learning: perfect temperature when i got off work with screaming babies to the quiet songs in the garden. despite my feeling of relief, the tension caused by screaming babies caused me to pluck the weeds with little mindfulness and much frustration. for a little while it felt good to aggressively clean up the fern at the corner, and it even felt good to get cut up by rose thorns. bleeding a little and very out of breath at a certain moment i paused and remembered that even though these plants didn't 'belong' here, or that the dead fern was 'unsightly' i needed to slow down and breath, and most of all show respect to the life here (and to myself as well.) so i slowed down, tried to be more careful about the rose thorns and ended up with three good sized piles of weed and debris collected from the frontmost part of the open creek area. perhaps there is a friendly way of removing weeds? maybe talking with them as you dig them out? or at least being entirely present to the task at hand...i also sat observing the birds in the willow tree and felt totally safe in a way i haven't in a long time, tho soon misquitoes convinced me it was time to leave.question: what to do about the far left hand side of the area in which rose mixes with lupine and yarrow? which ones should stay?

4/29/07: 10:15 am-1pmactivities and learning: today was absolutely brilliant. atlanta showed me the specifics of weeding (i wasn't sure i was doing it right...) and i spent most of the afternoon weeding along the path down to the willow tree and pulling out old cattails. i learned/experienced what a blessing it is to be able to do this work in good company, with sun and even weeds and dead leaves can be removed with love.

4/30/07 10:45-1:00pmwith adam and atlanta at the open creek:Did a lot of horsetail weeding around the nootka rose, longleafed lupines and red osier dogwood/rock area. cleared away old cat tails at the edge of the hill where the willow spread outward. removed some creeping buttercup emerging from the rock and contemplated whether it should be removed from the creek area and beyond since it looks so right there...sat on the rock and contemplated the supreme elegance of the red osier dogwood. and of the idea of 'cleaning and clearing, pruning' at nature...sometimes i feel like the invasive weed, y'know? but if it is choking out a beautiful dogwood, i'm all for it, but innocently mingling with the creek? not sure what to make of this. today was a slower day in terms of activity; almost disembodied feeling. very possible that this was due to the paradoxical experience of feeling high from riding my bike to school only to be met with a truly horrifying image of an aborted fetus just as i rolled into the garden. not sure what i learned from this. truly i was happy to have refuge at the garden. was confused by adam belief that they are passive aggressive, the way that they say hello to greeners because they are secretly just trying to irritate, that being the only reason they are on campus. i wonder if this is true. i thought about how i said hello to the prolifers this morning as i road over, (trying to do so with the least possible contrivance) since i was in a good mood, tho still upset by their presence. i think i recognized our shared humanness in that hello, while still maintaining my belief that what they are doing is awful.

5/3/07 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm alone in the longhouse garden, upset but happy to be there. i sat on the rock by the willow tree. communed with the dogwood and offered to remove some horsetail that was engulfing it. after some time of doing this, i sat quietly and when a hummingbird arrived it perched on a willow branch directly in frton of me. i asked it for protection/guidance. as i was leaving a saw, for the first time, a swarm of hummingbirds trailing along through the trees behind me.

5/7/07 from 10 am-1PM Weeded around oregon grape and dogwood. was confused about how much horsetail to take out. there is currently a fledgling trail, atlanta and i are considering putting in some rocks but are not sure from where. i have started taking out the horsetail by the dogwood, rose and oregon grape, which will probably make the trail look rediculous. we'll see.

5/17/07around 5:00 planted cow parsnip down in the muck.

5/18/07 4:30-5:30 pm wonderful time sitting in the wet earth weeding horsetail and chatting with atlanta...

5/19/07 10-12 pm struggled -alot-with pulling out an aggressive grass-thing, very intent on staying there. had my friend come help, and both of us nearly fell into the muck. finally got the irisis in by the bridge-ish area down stream, and most of it in the frontal muck area. then i had some cookies that were for the canoe carvers and sat around. it was a saddish day. total hours:19 hrs

5/?/07 spent 6 hrs working on Longhouse garden powerpoint presentation; researching plants, taking pictures and learning how to use the program! (tho can't remember what days this was)

6/13/07 3:30-5:30 PM total 27 hrsToday i weeded around the furthest trail to the left of our site, clearing horsetail, plantain, nipplewort and dandelion. watered the frontal area of the open creek, especially a dying lupin and crab apple. was happy to see that the columbine i planted as two new flower buds growing so it will survive! and in general everything looked beautiful. i sat weeding on the trail and from time to time, i was struck by the life beneath me, of ants and worms and other sorts of bugs camoflouged and appearing like moving dirt, until my eyes zoom in and happen upon their constant laboring. also have noticed a lot of bubbly spit stuff on much of the grass in the area. i think these are spider eggs but i'm not sure. if anyone has any ideas i'm very curious.

July 2nd 2007 2hrs a deliciously hot day. arrived at the long house garden to find massive bulldozers have demolished the beautiful grassy plain. This was very very sad. I tried to ignore their presence, but found it rather impossible. i gave myself a tour of the grounds, to refresh my memory of the place and its needs. i came to a familiar spot on the path farthest from the longhouse, and began weeding. plants such as yarrow, rose, and lupine got some relief from thistle, dandelion, (dandelion impersonators), horsetail, and someting else i'm not quite sure off. also, i discovered a few long prickly vines with sparse and prickly small green leaves around the oregon grape. i considered getting ride of it, but wasn't sure what it was or whether this was ok...total hrs: 29

July 8 2007 2 hrs Today i weeded horsetail and others from around the roses and lupins in the frontal creek area. my friend Julia came by to help.

July 12? 2007 2 hrs Today came down with penfold and we took out the grass and weeds from around the crab apple, lupine and rose area, on the far left of the site, across the last path. charles told us that this would be used to plant something new, and it felt good to do make space in this way...truly a hot day!total 33 hrs.

Sunday july 22nd 3 hrsHad a wonderful time all by my lonesome, first i took my time walking around the whole garden, i spent a while sitting in the front area and reflecting on all the times i spent weeding the horsetails in this very spot again and again. i didn't want to do this hastily, it would be my last time for a while. then i weeded heavily around the lupine and rose. i noticed a lot of different things had been pruned on the path leading to 'bird haven', including some willow branches. since they were just lying there i assumed charles or whoever hadn't gotten a chance to clear them out, so i did that. afterwards i sketched the salal and big leaf maple nearbye, (across from my site).