An early morning romp in the yard with lots of love bites to show for it. The bamboo is skyrocketing, I know how it feels! I put the final touches on the September Horizons and set it aside to proofread later. I went into my yard and began picking up the branch deadfall from last night’s rains.  On evenings it’s cool enough to have windows open, the night blooming jasmine outside my bedroom is intoxicating. Last Spring I created several privacy walls in the yard and now the turk’s cap, copper bush, arbicola and jasmine cuttings have taken hold and created a secluded garden space. I’d planned my cuttings well, they grew in exactly as I intended.

 It feels good to walk through the yard and see evidence of the loving care I give here and there.  Mine is a wild garden, mostly native, no groomed and manicured garden for me. When the winds and rains knock the dead branches into the yard, I pick them up and set aside for firewood.  I like walking through the garden and pinching off the tops of plants as they get too leggy.  I stick everything back into the ground, hence I have lines of hedges I can walk through like a maze. I like mowing the grass, I like tending a garden. I like sitting in the natural spots in my yard where I’ve created sacred vignettes: under the oak, beneath the big pine, under the 3 sisters of oaks and the 5 sisters of pines.  I make offerings in these sacred spaces to stay connected to the earth rhythms. In nice weather I’ve been known to camp outside in my own woods, sometimes alone, sometimes with a few pals for a weekend, usually for shared visualization on a project. It feels good to reclaim my land in a new way and rededicate myself to its stewardship.  I got to test my power recently. I’ve learned I’m powerful beyond measure, certainly much stronger than I ever thought before. I’ve got the power!