marlene mountain
as is
2001

5/26

big job

this area is directly behind the 'dream home' in the painting. to the
right of the 'little middle pond.' fucked up by a bulldozer guy. last
summer i began covering it with leaves, limbs. seeds, etc to heal it.
about every morning i'd fill the back of my rusty, dusty, trusty 83
toyoto pickup with that good stuff and somehow toss it as far up as i
could. i got good at throwing branches so they would land
horizontally. then i'd throw more stuff from the woods above. a big
job. that's me on the top of the area which is quite steep to walk
around on straightening non-horizontal branches. i finally concluded
it's a bit dangerous so i'm working on less steep places this year
planting day lilies, irises and other wonders. to be a good ridge-
runner one has to have one leg shorter. or maybe it's one leg longer.

i call these places 'hillslides' as often eg the backside of the dam
when i plant [sitting down which is the only way i can manage] and try
enriching the 'dozed clay soil too i and the bucket of water and the
bucket of transplants begin sliding down the hill, sometimes over the
lilies i've just planted and mulched. anyway it's my life's work.

[never let a bullnoser--as it's/he's often called locally--anywhere
near.]

won't see the fruits of my labor so it's labor i've chosen to love


to the tune of 'off to see the wizard'

we're off to mm's land to see the mountains and pond because because
because because because because [as many as i can get by with] nature
is grand.

rewritten for little josh

6/2

patches

i wrote a short description of the painting but it vanished before it got posted. if i remember right i said i hope the painting [adobe illustrator] doesn't look like i have a bfa and ma in painting. i try to avoid that. the onions are planted in the lower right patch and on the edge of the dam on the left above. now there are tomato, squash and pepper plants too. the painting only shows about 1/2 of the flower patches--the others to the right. i have the most fun making the patches;

hardly a garden just an excuse to touch the body of earth

i call this whole area 'the healing garden' and have been working on it for 3 years. the blue streak is a bit of water in a wetland which runs into the little 'pond' where the infamous frogs made such a racket this spring. newts and 2-year-old tadpoles and all sorts of wonderful creatures. every few days i get to see deer and grouse and turkeys or their footprints in the patches.

the 2-peaked mountain shape/house/dream home is a regular theme in my painting series.
the lower blue is 'rock spring branch' which runs through the land to the creek in front of the house.

home from the garden i've forgotten the garden haiku

actually i try to avoid haiku there.

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