Honest Scrap Awards

I've been "it" (not as in the "it" girl, but as in "tag, you're it!") for over a month since Jenny Peterson tagged me for Dan Eskelson's brainchild, The Honest Scrap Awards. I figure it's high time I get to my duties. So, in no particular order, ten truths about myself that people wouldn't learn from my blog or twitter:

1. The first is that this is my other blog! I mostly communicate through the blog of the the Therapeutic Landscapes Network, of which I'm the founder and director. Since that's the vehicle for the TLN, I don't feel comfortable posting personal stuff there. Luckily I just happen to have this other blog in my back pocket...

2. I live in a converted gymnasium. It was built in 1900 for a private boys' school, and it's brick with shiny wood floors. I work in a small building in the garden, which you can see some pictures of on my design website.

3. I work as a museum guide at Dia:Beacon, a large, beautiful art museum. I take people on tours and try to get them to be as excited about the work as I am.

4. I'm not great with indoor plants. My husband is. When the rosemary is outside in the garden, I take care of her. When we bring her inside for the winter (zone 5), J. takes over until spring.

5. I love snorkeling. I haven't been somewhere warm and snorkle-able in a very, very long time. There is this whole other world under water, and when I can be not terrified of sharks and other large swimming creatures with big sharp teeth long enough to enjoy it, I am just absolutely enchanted.

6. I do not have a favorite color.

7. Even though I'm a big advocate for spending time in the garden "doing nothing" - just being, taking in the light and sounds and smells and other sensations - I'm not very good at it, especially in my own garden. I sit still for a few minutes, then I notice something that should be weeded or pruned or moved...

8. My profile picture is six or seven years old. I think I look pretty much the same, at least from that distance and at that scale, but like Lisa Gustavson, I'm not wild about having my picture taken. Still, getting a more recent picture of me is on my to do list. Promise!

9. I love Hostess desserts. I don't indulge very often, but every once in awhile, I can't resist the temptation of the Hostess Cupcake (chocolate), or Ring Ding, or Yodel. I draw that line at Snowballs and Twinkies, though. Those are just wrong.

10. I love jigsaw puzzles. It's become a yearly tradition that I get one or two for Chrismukkah. Puzzles teach me a lot about how I want to live: Work patiently; look at things from more than one angle; take a break and then look again. Also, unlike real life, with puzzles - assuming all of the pieces are there - everything fits neatly together in the end. I find this comforting. I also like the impermanence of puzzles: I put it all together, make it whole, leave it there for a few days, and then take it apart and give it to someone else to enjoy.

And now, I get to tag seven more people for this illustrious award. The magic wand is now passed to:

1. Andrew Keys, of Oakleaf Green

2. Bethe Almeras, the fabulous Grass Stain Guru

3. Alana at Momku, because I want to see her make this into a Haiku. Or she can use her blog, LetterB.

4. Liz McLellan at Hyperlocavore.

5. Stevie at GardenTherapy

6. Christina Salwitz, or Arcadia1, the indomitable (and why would you want to try?) Garden Coach.

7. The Shibaguyz!

Enjoy!

May

Things were in full swing in May. But I still took time to photograph - and more importantly, smell - the snowbells (Styrax japonica) that bloom outside of the guest apartment window. This tree also happens to be between the door of the house and the door of my studio (which is in the garden), strategically planted in that location so that when I walk by, the wafting fragrance forces me to stop, bury my nose in the blossoms (watching out for bumble bees) and get a little tipsy from the sweet scent. Delight.

April: Serviceberries in Bloom

One of my favorite things about our garden is our five serviceberries that we planted in our rain garden. A rain garden is a small detention pond that catches runoff, in this case from our roof, and holds it there while the water slowly seeps into the ground rather than flooding our neighbors:

I have written several posts on the Therapeutic Landscapes Network Blog about these trees, including one called "Serviceberries Make Me Happy." And they do. They flower early, with delicate white blossoms that only last for about a week or so. The leaves emerge soft and downy, like little pale green rabbit's ears.

Faulty camera

My camera started misbehaving in April. Early on, if it was acting up I could just shake it or wait a couple of minutes and it would calm down and take normal pictures again. This is our front yard, with the coral maple all bright spring green and the white redbud (yes, I know, funny name) blooming in the background. The sculpture is by our friend Eric Tillingast.

After awhile the shaking and waiting didn't work and I thought my camera was dead. Luckily (sort of), Canon was very nice and they fixed it, cleaned it, and sent it back to me. So much for my excuse to buy a new camera...

Hudson Valley Light

People are always going on about the Hudson Valley light. Having moved from Santa Fe, New Mexico, another place known for its enchanting light, this one aspect of the area doesn't usually strike me. But on this day in February, close to sunset, the light really was pink. This is not my faulty camera (I know you won't believe me when you see the next post, but it's really true!); the light was pink and made everything else pink as well. It's a terrible picture, but at least you see the light, and our witch hazel in bloom.

Big Bambu and (what used to be and what we Beaconites still refer to as) Tallix

In early spring, before the Starn brothers re-opened Big Bambu to the public, our friend George (who is now running for City Council at Large and for whom everyone should vote) let us wander around the giant (former) Tallix space. I told him I wouldn't publish any of my pictures of the sculpture, and I hope the Starns don't mind my posting a couple snapshots from their studio. Above is a detail of this notepad:

And here's a detail of the ropes that the climbers use for climbing and to tie the sculpture together. You can see a little of the actual Big Bambu in the background:

Outside the Tallix building is pretty great, too. Here's a pallet on top of a marble base on top of a piece of plywood. So Beacon.

I think this lady got left behind:

One of the things we loved and still love about Beacon is its industrial past, and its grittiness. Especially on a cold, blue-light February day, this blue building and other structures looked very, well, blue:

And another thing we love about Beacon is the fact that our friend George can take us for a quick peek at a sculpture in progress by world-famous artists who just happen to be using Beacon for their project...pretty cool.

Catching Up

This is one of my latest pictures, taken in August. August marked our four-year anniversary of living in this fair city. Today is September first. The dill is from Common Ground Farm, our CSA. The tomatoes are from our garden. But we need to back up a little bit...

This always happens. I get all excited about a project in January, in my slow time of year, and then April hits and work stomps out all of the extra non-paying creative stuff I do. Luckily, I get to be creative in work, but still. I've been missing this blog. Today I got a nice note from someone who found A Year (or two, or three...) in Beacon whilst looking for information on Dia:Beacon. I have no idea how she found me; I just tried googling Dia:Beacon for websites, blogs, and images and this blog was nowhere to be found. Nevertheless. I'm going to play hooky for an hour or so and catch up a bit. A fellow Beaconite, Gary, has a lovely blog that's mostly images (actually, it's only images), and he has inspired me to say less and show more.

So, working backwards from early spring, here are a few posts:

Speaking of Gary, his wife Virginia makes beautiful pottery. These pears happily occupy the bowl that she gave me and J. as our wedding present.