I’ve fallen into something of a routine. One day of cutting and dragging trees/brush; one day of chipping; and one day of lining the path-to-be with rocks and spreading cedar chips.
The rock work would be quite the chore but for the fact I’m never more than an arm’s reach from a rock. Lots of rocks. Tomorrow is chipping day.
In the last few years I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the woods clearing brush and thinning scrub cedar trees. Just playing with the chainsaw as much as anything but the brush piles resulted in some paths so I’ve toyed with the idea of a walking trail.
With no shortage of rocks I decided to line the entrance and that work is just about done. Here’s a “before” look.
Yesterday we had a couple of big rocks moved to where they can be seen and appreciated. Took the landscape guy (Brad) about half an hour.
Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. — Zen proverb.
It’s been a few weeks since I showed you the other big rocks hidden on the north side of The Annex and I think it’s a little easier to appreciate the geology in the short (30 sec?) video below.
The other three sides of the house got more attention for some reason so I fired up my chainsaws and started cleaning some of the brush (Mostly wild Honeysuckle, brambles and dead cedar trees). The short clip below is a before/after look and not one tree was felled during this clean-up.
A couple of weeks ago I posted some photos of a big rock on our newly acquired property. The previous owners built their house around this formation. Since then we’ve discovered another big rock on the other side (and behind) of the house. Hard to see because it’s covered in about forty years worth of dead leaves, Honeysuckles, and brambles.
We still have work to do but Rock #2 is finally getting some love.
The 20 second clip below shows what the formation looks like before and after some clean up.
The Annex was designed as an earth-contact home with a big ass rock as the defining feature. It is a cool rock and serves (for me) as a reminder of the impermanence of my existence.
But those giant oak trees. For years the previous owner allowed ivy vines to cover these beautiful trees. Very damaging to the trees over time.
So my first task after closing was to cut the vines. The tree guy we use assures me the vines will die in coming months and within a year the dead vines and leaves will fall from the tree.
We’ve been calling the rock “Dwayne.”
I’ve struggled with worry and anxiety my entire life. Tried a little counseling. A mild anti-anxiety drug for a while. Lots of reading on the subject. And, in recent years, meditation. I suspect a professional would put me on the low end of the anxiety spectrum, if there is such a thing. At this point in my life, I don’t expect to ever be completely worry-free. I’ve learned to live with it. Continue reading
I recently had our propane provider move our tank from where it had been sitting for the past 30 years to a less visible (from the house) location. I noticed that the rocks that once covered the slope down from our driveway had rolled/washed/worn away and decided replace them. No shortage of rocks on our property. The red line shows my progress to date. This task turned out to be much harder than I expected. I have a wheelbarrow but quickly discovered that it’s easier to move one rock at at time, by hand. Doesn’t look like I have much hill left but that might take five or six hours. Searching for Zen? Here it is.
Update: May 6, 2015. Task completed.
Our house sets in one corner of a 3 acre lot covered by a lot of scraggly pine trees and rocks. But we really like it. Today I broke my “stay on the concrete” rule and took a walk.
I walked farther than the sat view suggests, but you get a sense of the terrain. I could still hear cars off to the south and a train whistle down by the river to the north. But those were distant sounds and it was mostly quiet. I was so still for a bit that a squirrel did cartoon double-take (“WTF! You’re not supposed to be here!)
I took a few pix but they didn’t capture the feeling. I know that hunters get this natural high when they go out to shoot something but it’s a new experience for me. I’ll do this again until it gets too cold, and it might be nice in the spring.
My take-away was how fortunate we are to “have” even a little piece of the planet we can pretend is our own. No ATV assholes or snow mobiles. Just some trees and squirrels and me.
