I have long desired to clean up and beautify my back yard. I decided this was the year that was going to happen. The transformation has been an interesting process. It is as if my eyes opened to the potential of one space at a time. As I was finishing one area, ideas for another section “came.”

I desired to use the natural beauty that was already present as much as possible. That was much easier to do than I expected.

I also wanted to create beauty in areas that were fairly grim.

There are still plenty more areas that need my attention.

Most of what has already been accomplished was done within ten days time. I wonder what my backyard will look like by the end of April!

I give thanks to my friend Saroja, an experienced gardener, for sharing her ideas with me. She also went with me to a nursery to help me choose some of the plants. I also give thanks to my friend Ramana who is doing the hard labor that it is taking to make this transformation. I feel blessed to have their help.

Written for Weekly Photo Challenge: Future

Weekly Photo Challenge: Landscape

Jefferson Park is a city park located near my home in Seattle. When my children were young the park consisted of a community center, a tennis court and a golf course. The land behind the park was owned by the Seattle Water Department and it was used for a water reservoir. They allowed a playground to be built in an unused portion of their property. My children spent many hours in that playground.

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s in collaboration with Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle City Light, Seattle Department of Transportation, the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Department of Neighborhoods, and many community groups, the park was developed into the 6th largest park in Seattle. The project started with the reservoir being buried.

The landscape pictures below show a small portion of the park as well as some of the neighborhood, city and mountain views. (You can enlarge the photos by clicking on the gallery.)

Written for Weekly Photo Challenge: Landscape

Weekly Photo Challenge: Half-Light

Posted for Weekly Photo Challenge: Half-Light

Weekly Photo Challenge: Dance

This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Dance brought two set’s of photographs to mind.

I took the first set in February, when I went on a nature walk at Loon Lake in British Columbia. The photos are of a downed tree. It seemed to me that one of pictures made it look like the trunk was spinning, as in a whirling dervish.

The second set was from last December when I was in India watching a storm approaching. It was “ready to rumble.”

File 14-12-2015, 8 58 25 AM

File 14-12-2015, 9 00 01 AM

cropped File 14-12-2015, 8 59 18 AM

Weekly Photo Challenge: One Love

I have many loves but the one that I am most immersed in at the moment is my study of Sanskrit. Almost every night, I am dreaming of Sanskrit. In my sleep I’m formulating sentences, reviewing vocabulary, hearing the song we sing in class. I’m learning words faster now and I believe some of that is due to whatever is happening during the night.

Here is a photo from the Samskrita Bharati camp I attended for three days last summer. I’m quite easy to spot!

Samskrita Bharati

Written for Weekly Photo Challenge: One Love

Weekly Photo Challenge: Harmony

Harmony: a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity.

Posted for Weekly Photo Challenge: Harmony

Weekly Photo Challenge: State of Mind

This morning I took a short walk to the grocery store. About three blocks from my house I came upon a scene that took me through several states of mind. Even though all of these photos were taken within a 20 foot segment of the block, my mood ranged from awe to despair.

Written for Weekly Photo Challenge: State of Mind

Weekly Photo Challenge: Seasons

Recently, I have been drawn to this picture over and over again. It is from a past season in my life, perhaps 1954. I don’t know who the man is; or what the occasion was. I suspect that he was a minister or youth pastor and that I was graduating from some level of Sunday School, or something like that. I think the photo shows how shy I was, and to some extent still am.

graduation