Message from the Mountain

The hostas are an interesting plant with large green leaves and small flowers on tall stems. At first glance the flowers go unnoticed. Often people with abilities can go unnoticed because they are no…

With the summer heat reaching all-time highs, many people are retreating to air-conditioned places or cool spots in Nature, especially in the afternoons. I am reminded of the lazy afternoons as a chi…

The mid-summer day lilies are adding their light colors to the buffet of flower blooms. I consider people like flowers, who bloom when they share their abilities with heart based love for others that…

A heat wave is three days or more in a row of 90 degree or more weather. It is a time to limit outdoor activities, to stay as cool as possible, and keep hydrated. It is easy to forget when we are abs…

Every time I take a photo, I strive for perfection. Rarely does that photo turn out perfect, at least in my eyes. Perfection in life is hard to obtain, and I have come to realize that real perfection…

JUST BEFORE NIGHTFALL- Just before nightfall, when the setting sun has disappeared behind the mountains, it creates a backlight setting, silhouetting the landscape. As darkness envelopes it, we are f…

My favorite lily of the moment is a peach colored day lily. What I love about having a variety of lilies is that they do not all bloom at the same time. I am reminded of favorite flavors of ice cream…

As the parade of beautiful summer flowers continues, I am excited to discover the first of the phlox flowering. One of the keys to life is to feeling excitement and joy every day as you make marvelou…

It was a rainy evening when we heard a big crash that shook the house. Looking out the window we saw an old dead birch tree lying on the ground, a casualty of the weather. It was a reminder to always…

A viewer asked me the other day what it looked like when I looked back in the other direction from the seat by the orchard. It is a view of the entrance to the Cabin and the road approaching it and t…

The double orange lilies are beginning to bloom, and I am reminded of all the acts of kindness done for others that serve to give us pleasure as well as the recipient of the act. It is a great feelin…

THE EVENING SUN SHINING THROUGH THE GRASS – We sat on a bench at the top of the Lupine Field watching the setting sunshine through the tall grass. The scene sparkled as the grass danced in the breeze…

I am so grateful to have many different seats in Nature where I can pause, rest my body and my thoughts for a few moments and take in the splendor that surrounds me. The other day it was a view of th…

Looking for the best way to move our “stone mountain”, I thought of the settlers and how they cleared the land by making sleds called scoots to be pulled by oxen or horses. We used plastic sleds to s…

The other day we received a special package in the mail from a friend that loves to visit the land. She had been working on a cross-stitch deer for over a year, and the timing was perfect. It was ano…

The big truckload of stone we recently had delivered looks like a mountain as it waits to line our driveway. I am reminded of a distant relative, Edgar Welch, who literally moved a mountain, working …

In the spring of 1993 we had some drainage work done by the local high school vocational department. The next spring my wife’s father passed and that summer a wild rose sprang up where the work was d…

I now have red day lilies flowering at the Center. Each different color is special and each bloom lasts for a day. It reminds me of the power of the moment and how, when we not aware of that, we miss…

Eyes are full of stories, some happy and some sad. I learn a lot about people by watching their eyes. There are also beautiful eyes in Nature, including brown eyed susans. When you open your mind, yo…

Seven years ago we transplanted a dozen hydrangea bushes to the Center from another place where they were in the way of progress. It took some time for the plants to begin to mature. The waiting is o…