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Hamamelis Keeps Its Promise…kinda
Days after the snowstorm, the witch hazel in my garden bloomed. Sparsely. I was a bit disappointed. My expectations set too high, I realized a contrasting evergreen planted behind it would set off its few flowers better. Its second spring growing here I had hoped it would be covered thickly with brilliant yellow flowers. Last year it… Read more
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WitchHazel ‘Arnold Promise’ Still Wearing Its’ Winter Cloak
I’ve been feeling restless lately. This happens when winter merges into spring. The early March landscape in New England may be snow covered as it is as I write this or thawing to a condition we call ” mud season”. Spring thaws and freezes come and go, but mainly the gardens look a mess. The seed heads that look charming in the snow look… Read more
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Connecting Deep Land Experiences and Planning to Daily Life
A recent conversation transported me to a forest landscape in Maine. An unique opportunity to advise a client during the pre-construction planning phase took me on a six hour car ride to deep woods and a barely passable road–it was late March and the snow a lingering shadow. The building site sloped to a noisy… Read more
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Distant Sunrises
Ice Plant Blooming on Santa Cruz Coast (April) 2009 copyright Maria von Brincken Waking in darkness, the time of day some call the “hour of the wolf”– that time of legend when babies are born and people depart this world — my body programed to an east coast clock, I seized the gift of time offered before my scheduled meeting, and headed to the… Read more
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Sunrise Musings
The dawn that woke me mid-week felt different. At some level of awareness I noticed that the sky’s color, the greener foliage of the distant white pine and hemlock, and the sound perception differed from the day before. Later I realized it was a relatively “warmer” morning than the twenty plus degrees today. The sun’s angle wakes… Read more
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Its Melting!
Ah…the ice is melting! I write these words and instantly the image of the ‘wicked witch of the north’ screaming “I’m melting! I’m melting!” or a friendlier image of “Frosty the Snowman” melting with the song reminding us that “he’ll be back someday!”…It’s happened…in mid February the light shifts so that I notice it shinning thru… Read more