The Zen of Gardening

     With the growing season starting to wind down I was thinking about how much I enjoy gardening. If your a gardener you get it, if your not you don't. The IT I'm talking about is in the title of this post. The technical term for Zen is: a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.  

     Another way to look at it is a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind. I think probably most westerners view it as feeling peaceful and relaxed. I know I certainly feel that way when I walk around my garden. But as you know a garden doesn't BECOME all by itself.

     Many people view yard work as just that, work. I consider it a form of creating. To take dirt and make something of beauty. I have numerous posts on my blog about different areas of our yard that we have transformed.  Was it a lot of work, yes, but for me the pleasure I derive from my garden far out weighs the work that went into it. 

     What started out as nothing but dirt and weeds is now an oasis. With over thirty trees where there were none.  Flowers, shrubs, fruits and vegetables to delight all the senses.

     We get lots of compliments on our yard. Everyone marvels at how large it is and how beautiful. But the majority of people say the same thing; "I'd love this yard but it looks like too much work." Yes it is probably more work then most people would like, but it isn't near as much as you might think. My husband has a riding lawn mower which cuts down on mowing time. We use mulch to reduce weeds and retain moisture. We don't work in the garden everyday, depending on the time of year maybe 2 -3 times a week. Probably our busiest time is early spring; cutting back and cleaning beds to get ready for the new growing season.

Spring time in our yard

     Most of our plants are shrubs or perennials so the only planting we do in the spring are some annuals in pots and our vegetable garden.

     And of course at the end of summer what is better then the harvest. 

     Gardening can be good exercise. You can burn 150 to 200 calories in 30 minutes. Volley ball is 93, tennis 260, basketball 258, jogging 300-450. I was never very good at sports so I never became attached to playing any.  I do enjoy swimming (250) and bike riding (150). But mostly I walk (150-200) and garden for exercise. But what I like most about gardening is how I can get lost in the moment of whatever I'm doing; whether it's planting, weeding or pruning. It truly is a togetherness of body and mind.  

     Fall brings the beauty of changing colors but also the work (exercise of raking leaves).  And then winter covers everything with a blanket of snow giving the garden a quite beauty.

     Then it all starts over again when the daffodils tell me it is officially spring.

     If you feel the need to garden, not just work in the yard, then you feel       the zen.

A thought to ponder: "The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul."                                                                                       Alfred Austin

Participating in:Share the Joy, Through My Lens, Nature Notes, Share Your Cup, Grand Social

The Road Trip that Wasn't

      We bought a used popup camper and fixed it up (the make over will be my next post). I spent at least a month planning our itinerary and making reservations. On October 13th we took off on a road trip to the Oregon coast. It didn't quite turn out as planned.

     The first night of our trip we stayed at a motel. Mainly because it was a long driving day and we were just trying to get there.  The second night was to be our first camping night. We would be staying at a hot springs in Oregon.  We got there, found our spot and got everything ready to raise the camper. There was a pop and nothing happened, the camper wouldn't go up. We found the cable had busted. The people at the campground were helpful in trying to find someone who might be able to fix it. To make a long story short, after talking to several people, we were unable to get the camper fixed in a reasonable amount of time. So I had to call and cancel all our reservations and then figure out our best route home. We thought we should try and salvage a little of our trip.

     So we headed back on highway 26, with a short side trip to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center.

     From there we went on to spend the night in Baker City, Oregon at the Geiser Grand Hotel. We had stayed here once before and loved it. This time we stayed in the Cupola room on the third floor. To read more about the hotel see my post:A Bed Time Story. 

   

     The next day we continued on through Oregon and into Idaho, enjoying the fall colors along the way.

We made a stop at the Chief Joseph Memorial

      We continued on a two lane highway, sometimes steep and curvy.

We spent the night in a small town in Idaho. The next day we woke up to fog but  continued on, following the Lewis and Clark trail.

     There was plenty of beautiful scenery to enjoy even if the day was wet and overcast.

     My husband was sure I found every two lane highway between Oregon and our home in Wyoming. But we did finally reach an interstate in the big sky country of Montana.

     We stopped for the night at one of our favorite places, Chico Hot Springs. The hotel has been there since the early 1900's. It's a rustic and relaxing place to stay and they have a four star restaurant. You can find out more about this great place here: Chico Hot Springs.

     After a nice dinner and a relaxing soak in the hot springs pool, the next day we headed home.   I kept checking the weather on the Oregon coast and found that it rained pretty much the whole time we would have been there. So I do have that to console me. So our 16 day trip turned out to be 7. It wasn't the trip we planned but we tried to make a little bit of lemonade from our lemons.

P.S. Our camper is now fixed. We'll try again next year.

A thought to ponder: "One of the greatest blessings in the world is to be able                                   to be happy even when things in life are not going as                                       planned."

Participating in:Grand Social, Seasons, Share Your cup, Share the Joy

Waterfalls Galore

     As I mentioned in my last post we recently took a trip to the Colombia River Gorge in Oregon. One of my goals for this trip was to see lots of waterfalls. And I wasn't disappointed. The first day we drove over the mountain to Cody, Wyoming and through Yellowstone Park, staying the first night in West Yellowstone. We did stop to watch Old Faithful.

     The next day we stopped to view our first waterfall. Mesa Falls is off the main road on a scenic byway a little north of Twin Falls, Idaho.  We got there fairly early and were the only ones. It was pretty chilly but we still enjoyed the view.

     Our next stop was Twin Falls where we viewed the Shoshone Falls. There wasn't as much water going over as usual. Partly because of the time of year and also because they were doing some work on the dam.

     The next stop for waterfalls was the Colombia Gorge. You can drive along the old Colombia Gorge highway and see numerous wonderful waterfalls. The road is curvy and somewhat narrow but well worth the trip.

     We started toward the west end of the highway at Vista House. It was very windy that day, in fact I almost got blown off my feet. But we did have a great view of the river.

      Our first stop was Latourell Falls. I spotted a Pika (member of the rabbit family) having a snack. He didn't seem a bit bothered by all the "looky lous".

     Our next stop was the Bridal Veil Falls. Most of the falls are fairly close to the road. This one we had to walk about a half a mile to view. 

Wahkeena Falls

     The next falls that we visited is the main attraction of the scenic byway. In fact we barely found a place to park. I'm glad we came in the fall, I guess in the summer it is bumper to bumper cars. Multnomah Falls is a total of a 611 foot drop. The walk up to the bridge is fairly easy and affords another angle to view the falls.

    

     The last falls on our route was Horsetail Falls. 

     The weather was nice, the scenic route beautiful and the waterfalls magnificent. And to top it off I had two wonderful traveling companions.

     The next day we did the Hood River Fruit Loop. This was another fun scenic drive with fruit stands, lavender farms, antique shops and wineries to stop at along the way. Here's the web site where you can learn more:Hood River Fruit Loop.

     Road trips can be a fun adventure. It's nice to be able to take your time and stop to see whatever catches your interest. Most states offer free printed guides of the most interesting things to see and do in their state. It's worth taking the time to get this information. That way you can get the most out of your trip, where ever you might decide to roam.

A thought to ponder: "Look at everything as if you were seeing it either for the first or last time."                                                                    Betty Smith

Participating in:Grand Social, Share the Joy, Mingle Monday