Note the cirrus clouds above, the bright bluish morning light, the wispy plants waiting to be transplanted and nourished, the lonely atmosphere of farm life, punctuated by small moments of warmth and friendship.
This was one of those “capture the moment” moments, when one single second later, the light is just not there. Note the golden hue on the field as well as the trees, the sparkle of nearby light catching the top of the grass ridge in the foreground.
A small farm must be efficient if it is to pay off, and it has to pay off or you can’t keep running it. The pile of used lumber will be re-cut and planed down for the chicken coop and hen-run.
Used lumber everywhere, parts of greenhouses to be restored and patched up, seed huts and planting sheds must be refurbished every season. The Autumn changes are already with us here, and the rising sun catches them in high relief.
Amidst the Heart Stones donated by various Sangha communities, you’ll note the presence of large slime molds and a variety of mushrooms and other spore plants, none of which we put in there — they found their own way to the Geomantic Heart of the Zen Garden.
This beautiful live spray of red berries and leaves is long gone, as is the fog in the background, but in quantum, it’s still very much here.
Floral offerings are made by telling me how much you want to donate for the florals, and then I go find the ones I want in there. You can’t choose which florals go into my Zen Garden, but you can build your own and share it as I do.
This is a full-blown outdoor temporary art installation — the components of this exhibit have long since rotted away and blown off into the wind, as we all are wont to do. Temporary Art is a very specialized form of Zen Practice, which I teach according to the method used by Suzuki in the Guttai School, but I have NO credentials, and never needed them, having a total disregard for academic conventions unless they’re held in Vegas.
The Old Bridge has long since been repaired, actually rebuilt from scratch, due to aging of the wood over a period of thirty-five years or more. The Garden area behind has been cleared — by me in a single day of floral flailing and weed-whacking — and now the back area of the walkways is revealed when you first encounter the waterfall and stream.
You don’t generally get to walk through to the Sacred Circle unless you’re on a Zen Walk or a meditation that requires it. There is one hard wooden bench, and you’re looking at it.
Goats will eat just about anything, so it is well to keep your camera out of range of their ongoing munchie snack.
That’s what sheep and goats and any grazing animal will do if given the chance — reduce the land to bare earth — because like some dinosaurs I could name, they never stop eating.
This meditation hut is just under the wire for building code, but it is built to code for safety’s sake. Surrounding the small building are California Junipers that had been kept as bonsai for years and were allowed to grow to full size here by the large pond and meditation hut.
This tea house can accommodate a group of eight at tea ceremony. The floors are Tatami mats, and the walls are stained hardwood. There are NO nails or metal parts in this tea house, and the roof is made with antique Chinese ceramic roofing tiles.
Well, that’s it for the Zen Garden and Food Garden photo artprints at the moment. There are many more, but they’ll have to wait until we have the printing scans from my photos which were printed from negatives, not digital.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby