1960's Houses: Before & After

When I was 3'ish, living at Cape Canaveral, dad was transferred to Houston, the newest site for a NASA installation.  We rented a home in Pasadena.  NASA construction was not complete.  Many engineers worked across Houston in a hodge-podge of rented buildings.  Not enough homes had been built yet to house NASA workers.  Finally, dad zeroed in on a home.  Living on a government salary, wife/2 kids/poodle, in his late 20's, dad had zero family financial help or inherited funds.  He wanted the brand new home, directly across the street from NASA, but could not afford it.  What to do?  He phoned the builder, asked to meet him at the house.  The builder, an older gentleman, had retired from his building career, moving to the little neighborhood on salt water.  His retirement income, building a few homes.  They walked/talked, dad sharing his story.  Finally, dad lobbed his hail Mary low ball offer.  Accepted.


Pic, above, here.

Loved my time living in Pasadena, TX.  Ellington Air Force Base was not far, and ADORED the pool, above, and rows & rows of old white wood buildings, below, with streets in perfect grids.  We had access to the pool, BX & commissary, with dad in the Air Force Reserves after being a test pilot.
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Occasionally, when mom would take sister/me to swim, the pool was not open.  Yes, I was as miffed as could be.  The pool would close for the astronauts to practice, above, their boring stuff.  Odd men, not working in offices.
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Once we moved into our new home, no more pool worries with those odious astronauts closing it down, the neighborhood had its own pool/marina.  Perspective/priorities are everything.



Pic, above, here.

Interesting planes flew from Ellington Air Force Base.  Adored seeing the Flying Guppy, below, over our house.


 
Pic, above, here.

Visiting mom, she's still in the house I grew up in, it's obvious her neighborhood is ripe for a new era.  More than updating with light fixtures, paint color on the trim, a new front door, the homes are worth architectural renovation.  A pair of before/after, below, renovations.  Incredible vision.  Mom certainly won't be renovating, girl-don't-like-change.  We all have our quirks.


 
Pic, above, here.


 
Pic, above, here.
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Go team, above.  Earned every penny of raised property value.
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To be fair, several homes in mom's neighborhood  have already done the total architectural renovation, mostly the homes on salt water.  They are in a class separate from the rest of the neighborhood, for obvious reasons.  In the 60's the price variance from salt water to interior of the neighborhood was minor.  The world doesn't operate that way anymore.
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Aside from astronauts in our neighborhood, and most of the team designing their rockets, a high profile murder case moved onto a prime salt water lot.  Gossip was thick about him, Melvin Lane Powers.  His home had a helipad and the ocean going yacht from the estate of Coco Chanel parked in back.  
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Obituaries throughout adulthood have given a clearer picture of many childhood neighbors.
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From the New York Times, October 18, 2010.

Melvin Lane Powers Is Dead at 68; Cleared of Murder With Lover-Aunt

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"Mr. Powers also drew attention in the early 1980s by adding 23 feet to his 142-foot yacht, said to be one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere. He cut it in half and put in a new midsection with a Jacuzzi, underwater viewing ports and a mirrored ceiling.

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Atop the building was his 20,000-square-foot penthouse with a 360-degree view of Houston, a rooftop swimming pool and a helipad."

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Fabulous obituary.  When Powers first bought the yacht, cars/trucks of the workmen renovating it lined the streets of our neighborhood.  For months.  Had no idea they chopped the yacht in two.  His helicopter became such a nuisance it instigated its own discussion at our local city council meeting.  Restrictions were applied.  

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I worked at a local high-end clothing/jewelry store during those days.  Made top sales several months in the jewelry department.  (Most of the jewelry came from Europe.  Still happy to have had exposure to it.)  One afternoon a tall thin tanned barbi doll, of obvious profession, came in to shop for clothes.  More perfect than her namesake doll, excepting a single feature.  Her face was football leather.  Said to my co-worker, "I don't get it.", she said, "Imagine her in a bikini on that yacht."  I got it.  (No judgement on her profession.  Loved what it did for the shoe department at Sakowitz, my favorite shoe department.  A shoe saleswoman mentioned that it was the hookers allowing them to carry such exotic expensive sexy shoes.  Not that I ever afforded any of those.)

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Never saw Melvin Lane Powers, until the obit pictures.  

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"Mr. Powers with Candace Mossler, his mother’s sister, after they were acquitted in the 1964 killing of her husband, Jacques Mossler. CreditUnited Press International"
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Oh the irony of childhood, bored by it all.  Little knowing it made me immune to much.  Most amazing thing I took for granted during those go-go years?  Pristine beauty of growing-up on Galveston Bay.  Few inhabitants during that era.  Skies, water, beaches, birds, marsh, tides, pastures stuffed with Longhorn cattle, scents.  Views for miles without man-made interference.   That is a hunger, that landscape.  
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Table Tableau: In the Garden

When friend-client-mentor Mary Kistner invited me to lunch, most often it was the 2 of us.  Her table, whether inside or on her porch, always had a fresh tableau created along the span reaching our places.  Lovingly, a fresh arrangement from her garden, she had 50 acres, a perfectly chosen textile, a book, opened to exactly the right photo/s, color as important as form, other magic.
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Mary was the 1st female leading Rich's department store interior decorating department,  she created all the store windows & department vignettes during WWII.  Times were dire, there were no men for the job.
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Blessedly, I knew at the time how special every moment of our time together was.


Pic, above, here.
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I would send this pic to Mary today, if she were still alive.  Instead, it is sent to you.
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"It's what we do with what we have.", Mary Kistner.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT

Garden Design Layer: Wonk

Perfect settings are a delight, think Carolyne Roehm, but the every day do for myself must have a touch of wonk.  No, that's too narrow, I put wonk into every Garden Design.  Specializing in creating new historic Garden Designs, wonk is a layer of narrative.  A given.
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What is wonk?  Most often wonk is completely je ne c'est pas.  Wonk arrives to you, a gift.  Once wonk arrives, like love, you'll know.  Become a fertile pasture, wonk arrives as the honey bees do in South Georgia.
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A new wonk, below.
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Love me some new wonk.  Plonk that tree on the table.


Pic, above, here.
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Made my first bonafide roux last nite.  The house is still swimming in its perfect dark dark brown fragrance early this morning.  My hair too.  Heaven.  I can smell the kitchen, above, it's last night's wild caught South Carolina shrimp etouffee made without a recipe.  A meal from my previous life, and apparently I paid attention.  Beloved paid attention, eating speaks louder than words.  Few leftovers, and I cooked enough for all the dishes set on the table, above.  
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This trinity of wonk, above, potted tree/cut wildflowers/nursery herbs, set onto the harvest table, already embedded into my Garden Design DNA.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T  

House Numbers & 911

At a client's home, many years ago, they mentioned their neighbor had died at home.  The cause, 911 ambulance was too late, if it had arrived earlier the neighbor would have lived.  The ambulance was late because house numbers on the street were wildly hard to see/read at too many of the other homes.
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The ambulance was not at fault.
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Since that appointment, my DNA scans on site appointments for ease of reading house numbers.  If it's difficult I mention it to the client, and ask them to pass on the info to their HOA.
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Today, I'm doing it with you.
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If you've ever had to dial 911 you know how awful it is, the fear, the need, wanting that ambulance in your drive.
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House Numbers, my personal PSA.


Pic, above, here.
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Size, font, color, placement, all matter when choosing your numbers.
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This is not a paid post, just another arrow in the quill of Garden Design.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Furniture in the Garden

Delightful garden.  I want to walk the graveled courtyard investigating the plantings/cultivars, go beyond to the potager, of course go inside the cottage, perhaps wine/canapes with kindred spirits & owner of the garden at the table/seating, below.
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Furniture too hodge-podge-lodge for you?  Easy, paint it all the same color, poof, a bit more formal.


Pic, above, here.
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Table with chopped off legs makes me smile.  Mom/dad used a round Sheraton'ish mahogany dining room table, with chopped off legs for a coffee table until I was just about thru college.  Flew home one weekend, and it was gone.  Given to the maid's nephew's, uncle's mom's youngest sister's 2nd best friend.  Catch my drift?  Given to the universe, NOT ME.  Speechless, then my best 2 year old self found her voice.  It was my parents turn to be speechless!  They had no clue I loved the table, nor thought it should be mine, all mine, some day.  Nor did they care, deed was done, get over it, buck-up Buttercup, and by the way your disgusting attitude is an embarrassment to us and yourself.  Got the memo.
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Last gasp of entitlement felt.  It was the era, graduate college, move out, get married, get a job, pay for husband's master's degree, save money, build a house, get a second degree, horticulture, by age 27.  This was the go-go mid/late 80's and I was the failure, so many my age already living in the big homes, blah-blah.  Parents always had stories to share, in detail, about childhood friends made CEO or selling their 2 day old company for millions (ha!).  My profession a misery to my parents.  Until he died, dad tried turning me away from horticulture, into my engineering degree.  No worries, at this distance, he did it from love.
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Knew at college graduation I would eat dirt off the sidewalk before asking parents for help, instead missed a lot of dinners.  My sister has a knack for sending articles about snowflake millennials that make me call her almost immediately just to laugh together, imagining if we had behaved similarly, we wouldn't be alive now.
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A sweet duality, seeing tables with chopped off legs.  A madeleine, a Proustian moment.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT

Color Echoes: House to Garden

Tiny and potent, below.  A joy to see simplicity of plantings, lines, materials.  More, the cunning echo of pot color & edging color from house to garden.  Wicked good.


Pic, above, here.
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My only design concern, above, was allayed looking more closely, really close, & seeing it dealt with, bravo.
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Did you think the same thing?  About the 'mulch'.
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They've already planted groundcover, soon, zero need for mulch.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Life is good for this home, pretty garden AND a marmalade cat.  My marmalade, Mister, lived to 22.  He's buried in a song bird meadow, where the deer slept in the tallish grass toward the start of the wild wood.  Only the best for Mister.  How anyone shares/posts about their pet 'just' dying, is beyond me.  Tearing up now, and he's been gone over a decade.

Pure Science: Introverts vs Extroverts

"I'm not like you, watching chickens, reading books, being in the garden, lunching with your girlfriends in the conservatory is not living.", Beloved said with great 'tone'.
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Classic collision of introvert & extrovert.
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Beloved's extroversion an education.  Retreating to the garden, books, chickens, my tribe, for replenishment.  At a minimum Beloved 'sees' introversion in action, excepting, no depth of field to his lense.  



Pic, above, here.

There is a science to extroversion & introversion.   For decades I've known, Gardening/gardens is/are my drug.  Recently, validation to my drug theory.  It's fact.
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"
  

It’s all about the dopamine, which makes extroverts want to seek additional stimuli

Extroverts’ need to seek additional stimuli, which results in constantly seeking new hobbies and interests and cherishing the unfamiliar, may be the result of their genetic code which controls the dopamine function that forces them to look for new experiences.⁴ Moreover, extroverts are more likely to seek out situations that will provide them with reward because of their dopamine system.⁵

On the other hand, introverts prefer acetylcholine, which is another neurotransmitter. Acetylcholine also creates that pleasant feeling, but it’s related to introspection. For that reason, introverts don’t need to seek external stimuli to feel good. That is why extroverts might come off as easily distracted by new things, while introverts seem more focused."  Lifehack, here.

 
Pic, above, here.

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How are introverts Different From Extroverts?

While Carl Jung was the first to coin the terms “introvert” and “extrovert” and provided theory explaining the main differences between the two types, later research showed the differences in the brain structure of the two types of personalities as well as the different ways in which they react to stimulations and recharge their energy.

Namely, extroverts possess lower levels of arousal, therefore they are always on the lookout for new exciting adventure, while introverts, possessing higher levels of arousal, will look for activities and situations that require lower levels of arousal. ⁵

Moreover, introverts would always choose a more relaxing activity for recharging, while extroverts are more likely to choose rewards through excitement. This has to do with the fact that brain of extroverts feeds on dopamine, making them feel pleasant only through challenges and excitement, while introverts’ brain prefers acetylcholine, which creates pleasure through introspection and more self-focused activities."  Lifehack, here.

Ideal jobs for thinking introvert

• Aerospace engineer
• Industrial engineer
• Computer programmer
• Web developer
• Video game artist
• Fashion designer
• Interior designer
• Graphic designer

Lifehack, here.          

Rather prophetic list, above, I have an engineering degree, and horticulture.  Take the link, above, there are more lists for different types of introverts. 

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If you are in love with an introvert

Introverts are great partners as they can provide genuine love, support and thoughtfulness to their love interest. Since they don’t act before they think things through, their partners can be assured that they are the only center of their attention. If you are in love with an introvert, make sure to respect their need for private time, don’t interrupt them, and don’t force them to make quick decisions about your lives together.   "  Lifehack, here. 

Priceless, above.  Ask me to make a life decision?  I'll get back with you.  The extrovert thinks I'm crazy not to answer within the conversation, I know he's crazy thinking I should answer that fast.  Now, I have another answer, "Go get your dopamine somewhere else."     

 
Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, here.


Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, above, here.

Now I know, quotes above & similar types are  a division, in the macro, between those needing dopamine or acetylcholine.
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Cannot imagine needing dopamine so badly.  On the outside looking in, pure curse.  Hilarious, I'm sure living the life of an introvert would be a curse to the extrovert.
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More, finding the Lifehack article made me realize, majority of my clients are introverts.  Some, more than me.  I find them enriching.  Of course.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO T

Serendipitous Focal Point

Approach, below.



Obvious, below, pair of urns as back drop to the bench.  But wait. there is more.



Look what happens, below, with one of those urns from above.



When I'm designing gardens on site or in my office, this 'game' always happens.  Designing historically, and receiving serendipities, above.
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Makes me laugh out loud, every time.
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The serendipities are sign posts, "You're doing this right."  More, knowing my Muse is in league with the same Providence as, above.  They're all having a party while I'm working.  This 'work' my party ticket.
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Work a poor word for my livelihood.  One meaning includes, "...the absence of pleasure."
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Anyway.  All of the above merely letting you know when you get it right, you'll receive party tickets too.  Along with a gorgeous garden.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO T
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Pics from Ben Pentreath.

Double Axis: Focal Point Technique

Double Axis.  A focal point must have a focal point at both ends of its axis..
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Amazing, the things they do not teach you in school.
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Focal point bench, below.  Sitting in the bench, you must create a focal point in the opposite direction, bottom.




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Got it?
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Do it.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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Pics from Ben Bentreath.
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And most think Garden Design is some sort of voodoo, its practitioners thinking up la-ti-da maybe this/maybe that a bit here a bit there.  Nope.  Garden Design is pure templated known geography zero recreating the wheel its mechanics laid bare for all the world to see.  See.  Therein lies the problem.  Pure seeing.  My best epiphanies about garden design came years after looking, not seeing.  The map is not the territory.  Gardens that do not satisfy are exactly drawn from the known map.  Beautiful gardens expose the territory here, and other realms.  Want that?  Get you some.  Bemused I am about how befuddled I was before seeing the territory, trying to follow the map.
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Best compliment ever, recently.  A Canadian client said I was PECULIAR.  Ok, thank you.  In truth it's peculiar to me, trying to live by the map.  Been there done that.  Once you hop off the map, into the territory of your life, there is no going back.  Why would you?  Got it?  Do it.  Want it?  Get it.
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Warning.  Not for the faint of heart.  Leaving the map, for your territory, is exactly where the ancient mapmakers, before knowing the world was round, foretold at map's edge, Beyond this point there be dragons.  Remember the dragon, breathing fire at all who would take his virgin girl.  Every scale of his hide a 'Thou shalt not'.  That fact is living according to your life's map.  Killing that dragon is living in your life's territory.  Got that?
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From, In the Field,

"The privelege of a lifetime is being who you are.

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What you have to do, you do with play.

Life is without meaning.
You bring the meaning to it.

The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.

Being alive is the meaning.

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The warrior's approach is to say "yes" to life: "yea" to it all.

Participate joyfully is the sorrows of the world.

We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree.
The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess.
We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.

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We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.
If we fix on the old, we get stuck. When we hang onto any form, we are in danger of putrefaction.
Hell is life drying up.
The Hoarder, the one in us that wants to keep, to hold on, must be killed.
If we are hanging onto the form now, we're not going to have the form next.
You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs.

Destruction before creation.

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Out of perfection nothing can be made.
Every process involves breaking something up.
The earth must be broken to bring forth life.
If the seed does not die, there is no plant.
Bread results from the death of wheat.

Life lives on lives.

Our own life lives on the acts of other people.
If you are lifeworthy, you can take it.
What we are really living for is the experience of life, both the pain and the pleasure.
The world is a match for us.
We are a match for the world.

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Opportunities to find deeper powers with ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
Negativism to the pain and ferocity of life is negativism to life.
We are not there until we can say "yea" to it all.
To take a righteous attitude toward anything is to denigrate it.
Awe is what moves us forward.
As you proceed through life, following your own path, birds will shit on you. Don't bother to brush it off.
Getting a comedic view of your situation gives you spiritual distance. Having a sense of humor saves you.

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Eternity is a dimension of here and now.
The divine lives within you.

Live from your own center.

Your real duty is to go away from the community to find your bliss.

The society is the enemy when it imposes its structures on the individual.
On the dragon there are many scales. Every one of them says "Thou Shalt."
Kill the dragon "Thou Shalt."
When one has killed that dragon, one has become The Child.

Breaking out is following your bliss pattern, quitting the old place, starting your hero journey, following your bliss.
You throw off yesterday as the snake sheds its skin.

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Follow your bliss.
The heroic life is living the individual adventure.

There is no security in following the call to adventure.

Nothing is exciting if you know what the outcome is going to be.

To refuse the call means stagnation.
What you don't experience positively you will experience negatively.

You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path.
Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path.
If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential.
(note: this is what the Holy Grail is all about... not some cup --dv)
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The goal of the hero trip down to the jewel point is to find those levels in the psyche that open, open, open, and finally open to the mystery of your Self being Buddha consciousness or the Christ.
That's the journey.

It is all about finding that still point in your mind where commitment drops away.

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It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.
THe very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center.

You find the jewel, and it draws you off.

In loving the spiritual, you cannot despise the earthly.

The purpose of the journey is compassion.
When you have come past the pairs of opposites, you have reached compassion.

The goal is to bring the jewel back to the world, to join the two things together.

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The seperateness apparent in the world is secondary.
Beyond that world of opposites is an unseen, but experienced, unity and identity in us all.

Today, the planet is the only proper "in group."

You must return with the bliss and integrate it.

THe return is seeing the radiance everywhere.

Sri Ramakrishna said: "Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond."

If you want the whole thing, the gods will give it to you. But you must be ready for it.

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The goal is to live with godlike composure on the full rush of energy, like Dionysus riding the leopard, without being torn to pieces.


A bit of advice given to a young Native American at the time of his initiation:
"As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm.
Jump.
It is not as wide as you think."

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Joseph Campbell & Bill Moyers, "JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE POWER OF MYTH

Ep. 4: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth — ‘Sacrifice and Bliss’

June 24, 1988

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In the fourth episode of The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell discuss the role of sacrifice in myth — including a mother’s sacrifice for her child — and the need for all of us to find our sacred places in the midst of today’s fast-paced world. In this clip, the two discuss where heroism can be witnessed in modern society.

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Watch, or read the transcript, here.

Landscape Design: Squares & Rectangles

Plain, below, functional, cubist, calm.  Oddly, playful.  More than a style for gardeners, a style for anyone not 'wanting' a garden too, content with the foundation plantings/lawn/annuals miasma.



Pic, above, here .


Pic, above, here.
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Gardens of squares & rectangles. Myriad materials, stone, gravel, lawn, bushes, trees, decks.
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Peter Fudge created the garden at top, at their website, enjoy clicking thru the playfulness of squares & rectangles.
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Fudge owns Squares & Rectangles.  So much so, he gives it away to all.  Sign of a master.  Copy, first rule of Historic Garden Design.  No confidence for that?  No worries.  Copy Fudge exactly, each site is unique upon this Earth, creating each garden one-of-a-kind.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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Miasma.  Nice day being able to write miasma, I must be sure to use it in conversation today too.

Forest Bathing

Nice sentiment, below, but too small.
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Long before cell phones, I knew what gardens provide.  More, I think tapping into my garden is what addicts hope to gain from drugs, alcohol etc.
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Going into my garden I forget what time it is, what day, hunger does not exist, and cuts/bruises are only noticed showering, later, when garden time is over.  Obviously, more than 'gardening' is going on.  Scientific studies are showing biological changes to our bodies taking place in gardens/Nature.  More than accounted for in placebo studies.
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Experiencing joy when time/hunger/Earth no longer exist is an experience of eternity here & now, says Joseph Campbell.  Do you experience this too, in your garden?  Wendell Berry takes these thought further.


Pic, above, here.

More than science proving Nature bathing changes us, I've noticed another strong change.


Pic, above, here.

Pace.  The pace of Nature & gardening are the pace of our bodies in relation to Earth.

 
Pic, above, here.

I do my best thinking, while in pace with Earth.  More, in that body/Earth pace, are the riches of eternity now.

 
Pic, above, here.


Pic, above, here.


 

More than myself, my home, above/below, must be bathed in Nature.



My home, above/below.





When I met Penny McHenry, she invited me to lunch the next day.  Driving into her property, above, my car was bathed, in hydrangea blossoms, both sides.
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Decadent blossoms, weighted & caressing & touching my car from front to back fender.
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More than meeting a new friend for lunch, already a gardener, I knew I had to have that.  Nature so abundant, cars, mine specifically, had to be bathed in blossoms.  Time passed, and without effort, or seemingly without effort, this desire became reality.
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If you've read this far, what is it you're wanting?
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Doing it?
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Hope so.  If not, why not?
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

What Simplicity Provides

Extreme simplicity in a garden creates the best focal point.
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Pic, above, here.
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YOUR LIFE.
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Myriad layers of simplicity allow for the depths & heights of your life.
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Oh my the well fought battle, above, for simplicity.
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"A woman with a closet full of clothes, and nothing to wear, doesn't know herself very well." , Bill Blass.
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What you choose to have, keep, allow in your garden, says so much about you.  Whether you think so, or not.
Garden & Be Well,  XOT

Binding House to Site: Focal Point & Enfilade

A current client, 14 acres, and well tucked into their property, built a new home to look like a historic home.  At the first visit I fell for the ruse, thought they had renovated an antebellum home.
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The lane leading to their gravel drive is a single lane gravel road along an active train track.  Open & wooded their land has all the right drama including level and a few slopes.
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First salvo with their property is the approach at the train track, flow for cars & feet from entry to house, barn, dependencies, orchard & potager.  More importantly, currently past age 50, no detailing care with maintenance, ever.  Not a consideration & won't be tolerated.  Staring down age 80 makes simplicity, simple.
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All of the above is 'easy'.  They're all necessities, and historic templates are well trod as guides.  What bothered me most is the house not being tied to its site, well sited, it has no strings attached to the garden.
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Walking the grounds about the house, with their pack of older rescue dogs, her specialty, the tie that binds house to garden appeared.  Better, it's within an enfilade, travels past the entrance court, past the entry lane, up a slope, lands upon a pasture flat, and continues up another slope finally ending at the orchard+meadow.  What are the chances of this great gift?  Woo-woo.
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The focal point within this perfect enfilade, at present, has a single florescent pink flag staking it.  More, it can be a stone slab on a tree trunk table, a statue or urn on plinth or etc.  Whatever, the focal point must be within a dias, level with the ground, of stone or brick.  Hope you already know why.  Answer is above.  
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The tractor must be able to easily whiz around the focal point.  At speed.


Pic, above, here.

 
Pic, above, here.
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She will love getting the focal point right.  He will love whatever she does, eventually.
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He will be the one installing dias and topper.  You know there will be some grumbling.  Her at the front door of their home, one terminus of the enfilade, yards away, cell phone in hand, "Move it 6 inches to the right, get it level."
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His grumbling will include me, sad for the day he ever heard my name.  This phase doesn't last long.  Glad I know that ahead of time.  Men are predictable.  It takes that first party, after the garden is installed and suddenly they knew how to do their garden from the beginning.  Fine with me, I get to be the Mary Poppins Gardener, arriving when the wind changes, leaving as the wind changes again.  In my carpet bag, knowing where to site focal points & enfilades, hedges, etc....
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Sighting A Hedge for Screening

Hiding a view, the closer your plantings the faster the hiding.
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Neighbor's house, below, is quite close already, the design/placement of planting close, an automatic.
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If the neighbor's house were 100' away, still site the evergreen hedge where it is.  Not near the property line.  Especially if you want to have early morning coffee on the terrace, in your gown.


Pic, above, here.
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The closer the hedge, the faster the screening.
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Put that in your memory bank.
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You may not need it, but a friend might.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Placing large evergreens for screening recently, 'husband' wanted them in a certain spot, near the property line.  I mentioned a spot closer to his home, providing much faster privacy for his screened/roofed porch. Which was his focus.  He paused long, "That's where my wife said to put them."  Sweet moment, she loved it when I told her.

Middle Class Cost Saving

I did something recently that clients do when we're installing their garden.  Used my middle class skill set to 'save money'.  Oh yes, gonna save money.  Most jobs, clients increase the scope of the project within 24 hours of starting.  What?  Their money tree was bare when they signed the contract, no more funds.  Poof voila, the phone call, "Let's add the entire backyard, and that middle section of the front yard we took out, and go ahead and put in irrigation.  Also didn't mention, around the garage, let's do that too."  Seriously.  From no more $$$ to all that?
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Within working our jobs we'll be off site getting materials or lunch, return and the client has taken a man, or 2, off bid items, for just a little clean-up here/there.  We cannot absorb those costs anymore, hourly pay, social security, workman's comp, vacation, sick, bonus.  Sonny/Cher said it best, The beat goes on.
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Enlarging the project, after starting, pricing for plants won't be the same, it's not the same for us, plus the extra overhead of delivery.  But let's get back to my personal middle class 'cost saving'.  It happened here, below, in our dining room.



Our home built ca. 1900, with a central hall, 9' wide x 50' long, 3 rooms off each side.  Originally our home was meant to have doors shut during certain seasons.  Four fireplaces, central hall door shut, warm rooms, cold hall.  So.  In the dining room, above/below, why not close the doors?  I knew it would save greatly with the HVAC bill.  Brilliant.  Yes?



A hint of the central hall, below.  Do notice, all the doors are open.  This story is after the disaster of middle class thinking.






Off topic, above, Mr. Salmon Tureen.  He reminded me of a salmon spawning river, inches wide, deep into an Irish estate I studied during a historic garden design trip.  Had a dinner party, and a guest that lives nearby asked me if I bought it at XYZ shop.  Yes.  She had her eye on it for months.  No worries, she can borrow him.



More off topic, because it's easier than the middle class cost saving blunder.  Blue/white china is to the left of the fireplace, colored china is in the walk-in closet to the right of the fireplace, built-in shelves, obviously meant for survival with rings here/there on the shelves from glass canning jars thru the decades.
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Symmetry of clients using their middle class thinking to save money, and mine, is rather a pay back, every terrible pun intended.
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Here is my best middle class cost saving brain.  I shut the doors to the dining room, and guest bedroom, and their air-conditioning registers/intakes.  Yep.  The rooms are large, with 11' ceilings.  Why not shut them?
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Several weeks later, the air-conditioner quit.  Late Friday afternoon, of course.  Do you know how hot/humid it is in rural middle Georgia in summer?  A client owns an HVAC company.  Pitifully called, described what the a/c did before dying.  He mentioned it may be 'frozen' and I should turn off the a/c, and turn on only the fan.  Then, told him of my middle class cost saving, shutting doors/vents. Quite polite, he said it probably played a role.
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Blessedly, doing as told, which I can do in a pinch, the a/c worked again.
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Their man arrived Monday to check the unit.  Aside from ancient HVAC, he had a picture from his work on the unit under the house.  Within the unit, insulation had pulled away, covering the cooling coils.  Go me !!!  Middle class cost saving.  
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Decades of clients & their middle class cost saving thoughts.  Mine, a rather nice bookend.  Oh my, where my best thinking got me.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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Have not painted the dining room yet.  We can't decide on a color.  Neither of us with a strong emotion for any color to even suggest.  Red until inspiration arrives.  Will replace the chandelier with one that is historically correct.  It's on the list.  The List !

Tiny Garden Respite

Probably slapdash, below.  Yet fine tuned, inherent.  Barrel & half barrel collateral from their Vins & Liqueurs.  Even the colors echo from building to barrel.  Sited in equal asymmetry as the architecture, and function.  Finally, the trinity of pots/plants on the table, each a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, yet matched disparateness.


Pic, above, here.

Adore how little the 'garden', how great its statement.
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Furniture in-the-garden maximized to function, yet warm invitation to comfort & hospitality.  Table/chairs echoed just inside the door, repetition.  And those fonts.
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A sliver between building and road, yet a respite from those worlds.
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An odd affliction, adoring  little-giving-much.  Especially potent when it's woven into a livelihood.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Before-After: Grave Site Garden Design

Hardest job I've done.  He hired me, the 1st time, about 4 years ago.  Now, he's under the black frames, below.
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He & his wife became the fun couple on Facebook.  Always together, mostly in the Caribbean during winter, home a few days, perhaps a quick trip to France, perhaps etc.  The clothes, the food, the conveyances, myriad events, their precious dogs, smiles, fun times, fun bearing witness.  Glad someone is 'living the life'.  More to it of course.  His hard work at a company he built over decades, and his earnest stewardship of more than 200 employees.  His funeral at the largest church in town, standing room only.  Graveside service, below, filled the cemetery curbs with cars.
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For too many weeks after the funeral, she's had to come to this barren patch.  Alone.  Nothing.
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She asked for their cemetery plot, 6 spaces total, rectangular shaped, to look like their backyard.  I designed/installed it, but hadn't been back recently.  Made an appointment to see her, at home.  Terrible appointment, both crying throughout.  Thru the tears, I got what I needed to exactly design their grave site.  On the upper deck, from their kitchen/family room, she said, "This was his favorite spot in the world to be."  In addition, "We love the Caribbean and want it to look like that."      



Leaving a lot of the story out, he was murdered, by his grown son.  She was home when it happened.



More than wanting to design their cemetery plot to remind her of their backyard & Caribbean, I know she has the murder trial ahead of her.  His grave site must step up to the plate & nurture her during darker days to come.
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Designing their backyard, they had asked for a Caribbean theme too.  And we put in a pool.  A portion, from the outdoor shower to the pool, thru a patch of lawn, has a checkerboard square.  Travertine surrounds the pool.  In addition I spent several sessions vision questing Caribbean cemeteries online.  She wanted the same travertine at the grave.



Our mason poured concrete, above, for the travertine.  I knew the grave site must have her palm trees, and his beloved red Japanese maples.  Turf for the checkerboard, and the small amount of groundcover, Big Blue liriope.  His eyes were the color of the Caribbean, stunning.  Sourcing  plants, below.



Studying Caribbean cemeteries it's obvious the pair of colors to use, green-white.



Ok, next, the seriousness of designing a garden for a nationally owned cemetery.  Layers of rules, and constraints.  I was given the name/number for the manager of the cemetery.   In addition, I wanted the garden design for the grave site to be malleable to input from her sister & brother.  No children, she's being supported emotionally by her siblings.
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A few days after giving her the garden design, she called & said it was good.  That's when I called and introduced myself to the manager of the cemetery.  Told him the constraints she had given me for the garden design, and more importantly, I was a team player.  Whatever the cemetery needed, I could abide by.  Happy to make changes.
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Sent the plan to him as an attachment, and a couple of weeks later, received approval.  Total approval.   Amazing, the plan went to their national headquarters, and passed, zero changes.
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During construction, met with the cemetery manager on site.  Graveyards are not what they used to be.  The section we worked in has irrigation for each grave.  You want, you pay.
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More, he said the room with casket display was being remodeled as a party room, with space for caterers.  And, more people are choosing cremation, causing his industry to change.



Cemetery allowed us to make a cut into the curb for entry, above.  Pair of red Japanese maples will be pruned into a bower arching over the entry.  Boxwood edging will be pruned to knee height.  A bench is on order, and soon, annuals will be planted at the entry.
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She will augment cemetery maintenance for the grave site with private.
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As hard as this grave site remains for her, cannot imagine the days she has yet to unfold, in the court room with his murderer.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T