sustainable spirituality

On Monday i wandered over to the water garden. It had been raining heavily in the Portland area. I wondered how the garden was doing. I found that the stream was flowing heavily and the wet land was flooded almost to the over flow pipe. This is the first time in years that water has flooded to that point.

Today is March 19th . The weather is fine warm and sunny. I went into the water garden and discovered the flowering cherry trees in full bloom. Notice how much bigger the lupin have gotten. The song birds are every where they flit and fly from bush to tree. The currant are in bloom they put off a distinguished odor. The pond is also coming top life. The monkey flower near the mouth of the stream are just starting to bloom. I can hear the sounds of some brave pacific tree frogs. They will soon start croaking.

There are many examples of art in the water gardewn. as theflowers bloom the beauty changes.

The water garden is blooming now. The scent of the flowering currant is every where. The daffodils are are coming in strong. Even the calfs foot is in bloom.

For the past 2 weeks i have been teaching biology back at DaVinci. Its been interesting getting back into the routine of teaching. We are studying cells and protists. This week I ventured into the water garden to check on the plants. Unlike the rest of the country the ground is warming up around here. The daffodils are about to bloom and the lupin are returning from a winter retreat. I love the shape of the leaves on the lupine. They are like inverted umbrellas catching the dew and rain. Lupine are scattered around the pond and along the paths. By May they will be 2-3ft. tall with spikes of purple flowers. Here are some pictures.

The plants are stirring and growth is starting to open up. The earliest things are the buds on the flowering currant. They will soon turn into pink flowers that drip from each stem. Since it is so wet here in Oregon the mosses are moving from a leafy stage into a spor stage. On the ground in the wet land is an interesting plant called colts foot. I guess it resembles a young horse in its infant stage. What do you think? Finally the nine bark is pretty now with its split bark against the twigs.

It is starting to warm up in Portland. The garden has daffodils around the pond. They are starting to poke out through the soil. In addition to bulbs the flowering currant is starting to open its buds. the flowers are pink and white . they are the first things to bloom in the garden.