The Greenhouse Move: Maybe Soon?

When I took a tour of the greenhouse this afternoon I loved photographing the plants and flowers that had sustained through the long winter and spring.

 I think these plants are ready to go back out to the outdoors. I am thinking that maybe soon, but not too soon. The Kenworthy Ivy is blooming! Mother Nature is still messing with our weather I do believe!

The plants I propagated are growing nicely.

The geraniums look ready for planters. Hurry sun!

I Live By This Water: The Drawdown on Lake Roosevelt

A shift in the landscape east of the Cascades during the 1930s took place between the rocky cliffs of the Columbia River with the construction of Grand Coulee Dam.  As the turbines began to produce electricity, the Columbia River flooded the land behind the dam creating Lake Roosevelt.  I live by this water. When this man-made lake in northeastern Washington was formed, it covered orchards of trees, foundations of homes, and sacred burial grounds. The fishing weirs built by the Colville and Spokane Indians to catch the native salmon disappeared. Living by water I sometimes forget this lake used to be the Columbia River so many years ago. The drawdown is a reminder.

As the snow melts and the trees begin to bud we watch for the signs of the drawdown from our deck. The shoreline across the lake shows up more and more with the sandy beach getting wider and wider. Long, narrow sandbars appear close to shore as the level of the lake drops.  The commuters at our local school begin talking about having to drive all the way around if the water gets too shallow and the ferry can’t operate.

While walking the shores of the changed landscape I begin to understand what creating Lake Roosevelt did to the native people. Two thousand tribal members were displaced. Homes and businesses were lost.  As my students walked along the path of old Inchelium last spring and stood on foundations of old buildings and marked the places where family houses had been, they too began to understand how the mighty dam and Lake Roosevelt affected their people. Elders sadly explained how there was an attempt to move all the bodies from the cemetery. Some things couldn’t be salvaged.

 I live by this water and love watching the sun rise and reflect on the blue lake, but I also look forward to driving closer to Canada and seeing the river in its natural form at the headwaters of the Columbia.  Eagles, moose, deer, and coyotes also continue to live by water close to the shores of Lake Roosevelt.   Bald eagles are at home along the shores of the lake as they dive for fish in the deep blue water. The native people have found new places to fish.  New land was found for the cemetery.

I live by this water.  I hope to visit the remains of Old Inchelium again with my students as we celebrate the beginnings of a town moved up a steep mountain and rebuilt.  I will walk quietly along the shore so as not to disturb the deer drinking in the shallow water.  I will listen to the stories from the elders to gain a deeper understanding of what is sacred.   As the bald eagle circles above the pine trees by the lake, I am reminded of a renewed sense of respect I feel for the lake and land around me. I live by this water.

Maybe I'll Get to Fill Those Planters With Flowers

The makeover of the new island in the middle of our driveway is close to complete. There used to be two small islands in our very large driveway, but we removed the large trees, then took out the islands. 

 Later it was decided (pushed very hard by yours truly) that we needed to do an extreme makeover of the driveway again. First we got nice light brown gravel.

Then we found two beautiful trees that will provide shade eventually, change colors in fall, provide berries and not just shed needles and cones.

Next JEJ knew he wanted to build a rock wall. He has built beautiful rock walls around our gardens,so why not another? The hard work began.

After that somehow he moved the barrels from another garden and stacked them with the dirt still in them.

I added a few more items and he brought in a load of bark. The finishing touch will be beautiful flowers cascading down from the barrels. Thanks JEJ. Great job.

Maybe Spring

 The theme for NaBloPoMo this month is "Maybe". Maybe I will be able to do a post a day again in May!?!

I am thinking today as I look out on the lake that maybe spring has finally arrived her in the inland empire. The sun is shining, the potatoes are planted, flowers are blooming, and the ants have arrived in the house. Here are some signs of spring at our house.

 Forsythias are blooming,

 potatoes are planted,

 tulips are in bloom,

and the Lucy Garden is ready for outdoor dining. Yes, maybe spring has arrived.

I Did It! Thirty Posts in Thirty Days

I did thirty posts in thirty days. I hope I sprouted interest in poetry with my April posts.

One Art

One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn't hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went. The art of losing isn't hard to master. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. --Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.   by Elizabeth Bishop