We are a landscape of all we have seen. . . (another photo-essay walk around jeanz place)

We are a landscape of all we have seen.
-   Isamu Noguchi

 (Above: The view from the small hill across the driveway.)

Come, my friends, take a walk with me this mild day in May and let us see what wonders we can find here at "jeanz place" in the wild hinterlands of Northern California...

The first thing one might notice is that the delicate, tropical-looking, white flowers of the humbly-named "soap plants" are just beginning to show as they do 'round about this time every year:

The fibery root tubers of soap plants, as their name suggests, were used by the Native Americans as tiny "pot scrubbers" and paintbrushes. I suppose the more lofty name of "paintbrush" had long since been applied to other species of plants in the area and so these prolific beauties were left with the only other descriptive name that was left.

Still -- it seems a pity since their name doesn't even hint at their tremendous beauty...

Some things arrive in their own mysterious hour, on their
own terms and not yours, to be seized or relinquished forever.
-   Gail Goodwin

As we explore the now-dry, diminutive "run-off" or "creek" nearby, we encounter a delightful, magical -- albeit tiny -- "visitor"!

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly
Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky...

-- Dante Gabriel Rosetti

He looks like he's made out of turquoise, doesn't he? And, just because he's so striking, we'll give him a second, closer look:

I've long attributed the presence of fairies to the little run-off. I suppose one of them hitched-up their ride to this twig to await their pleasure... :o) Can't see the reins? Of course not, silly Gatherers! They're invisible! Only their masters, the fairies, can see them... ;o)

And, on the way back up the hill -- what's this? Another visitor?

O cricket from your cherry cry
No one would ever guess
How quickly you must die.
-   Basho

Frittering away the sunny days again, Mr. Cricket? I would've thought your fabled encounter with the ant would've taught you better use of your time... ;o) Your camoflage, however, is exquisite!

One may find the most breathtaking colors here -- even in the most humble of objects...

In this case, fungi growing on a downed branch of one of the oak trees. (I think a room decorated in these same colors would be stunning!)

Behold the tremendous gift for architecture of the spider! Intricate... Precise... Elaborate... All hail Spider Woman -- spinning the birth of the universe! Oh-say-yo! Go in peace, Iktomi!

With six small diamonds for his eyes
He walks upon the summer skies,
Drawing from his silken blouse
The lacework of his dwelling house.
-   Robert P. Tristram Coffin, "The Spider"

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

-- Chief Seattle

A couple of my own flowers are blooming that I think you might like to see...

I was raised by the song
Of the murmuring grove
And loving I learned
Among Flowers.
-   Friedrich Holderlin

One is my variegated, miniature rose:

The flowers are nothing to write home about but, you can really see the rose's kinship to the berry world in these flowers -- for, indeed, they both of the same family of plants...

Along the way, we encounter one of my little garden signs -- a leftover from the days I ran my own little nursery out of my home in Sebastopol. I suppose the sentiment was rather too lofty for most to appreciate or, perhaps, Bacon is an acquired taste...

I think it's weathering quite well considering it's been out in the elements for some ten years, or more... :o)

Another rose I'm quite proud of that I grew from a small cutting of its parent vine which graces the entrance to the "Caretaker Cottage" at Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Farm in Sebastopol  CA (National Register of Historic Places) -- Burbank's "Blushing Beauty":

 'Tis a pity that I cannot convey the amazing bouquet of the aroma of this rose to you all -- it is truly wonderful!

Flowers are nature's jewels, with whose wealth she decks her summer beauty.
-- George Croly

Let us take a quick peek up at the top of the hill behind the ole singlewide and see what that has to offer...

Oh, my goodness!

We met your cousin just a few moments ago in the "fairy creek" down the hill! :o)

These fortuitous encounters with so many dragonflies seem more than mere coincidence to me... Hmmm... What message could they be bringing to us?

Here is what http://www.dragonflydream.com has to say about that: 

In North American Indian lore, the dragonfly is the essence of the winds of change, representing the messages of wisdom and enlightenment; and communication from the elemental world. The dragonfly possesses the ability to see through illusion. They bring prosperity and harmony. The dragonfly totem teaches skillful action while maintaining a free and joyful sense of being. The dragonfly brings the light and color of transformation into your life.

Quite nice, indeed! A little "prosperity and harmony" is always welcome! :o)

Speaking of "transformation"; the transformation of day into night has begun out here in the wild hinterlands of northern Sonoma County...

Behold the third and final act of the day:

With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me and about me, I walk,
It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty...
-  Navaho Night Chant, "Looking Far West"

As always, my wonderful Gather friends, your company has been a delight... 'Til next time -- from the ole singlewide here in the wild hinterlands of Northern California --

luv,

jean