Month: January 2019

Angel on Loan

Penny was our angel on loan.

Born to an autoimmune-disordered body she did not deserve, each battle waged against her diminishing self created fresh challenges. In the end, small victories were no match for the war raging within.

Had she been an old dog, we might have let her peacefully slip away much sooner. But she was a baby, just two years of age. We could see her whole life ahead of her – or so we thought. Sometimes, the universe has plans that we just cannot know. Try as we might to change the tide, we were only really borrowing time.

Was it worth it? Yes. She was cared for and loved by many including her once-and-forever feral boyfriend, Red.

He lives in sanctuary with us in housing that he and Penny shared. A May-December romance. Their age difference was wide but their hearts were one. Sadly, it is not his first loss and he will need our extra care and loving to see him through.

An angel was returned to heaven today with pieces of our hearts paid in interest due.

Nature’s Call: Effie Yeaw

In pursuit of new adventures, you sometimes lose sight of the jewels in your own backyard.

Effie Yeaw Nature Center sits inside Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael, CA – a treasure embedded among 100 acres of oak woodland along the American River.

It was named for Effie Yeaw, a teacher, conservationist and environmental educator who led natural and cultural history walks in the area once known as Deterding Woods. The Deterding family has a long history in the area dating back to the 1800s. Their ranch in Carmichael called San Juan Meadows became Ancil Hoffman Park. Effie Yeaw worked with citizen groups to ensure that this magical place would be forever protected from urban encroachment as the surrounding area was built up.

Today, the American River Natural History Association and Effie Yeaw Nature Center work collaboratively to provide educational and interpretive programs and information about the natural environment. Children and adults come to tour, learn, and explore. But Mondays, only the trails are open, and in January, the skies are grey and threaten rain which makes it the perfect time to visit.

Hawks, owls, pond turtles and even rattlesnakes call this home along with a deer, rabbits, hare, squirrels and rare sightings of coyote (not seen by us!).

Egrets, quail, and a host of birds feed at the river, on the ample berry brambles and on bugs hidden in giant oaks. And wild turkeys…everywhere!

Getting a late start, we saw fewer birds than expected. A California Towhee,

an Egret happily fishing for lunch,

and acorn woodpeckers enjoying their snacks. How do they hang on at that angle?

But SO many deer!

Resting,

feasting on the tender early spring grasses,

and roughhousing.

Rut season is in the fall, so this was more about a whos-who in rank.

Surprisingly, the middleweight conceded to the featherweight.

But before savoring the victory…

consider that it might just have been a case of nature’s call.

The American River Parkway has so much beauty to offer.

Effie Yeaw is one of its most precious gems.

Out of the fog

The world gets smaller in winter.
As the mist clears, tiny details emerge.

For a dog with seizures, the world can feel very small, indeed.
Scary, uncontrollable moments followed by a fog.
Most humans find them hard to handle.
It is easy to withdraw.
New diets and medications can make a world of difference –
but the most important ingredient is love.

Daisy is a seizure dog. To look at her you would never know.

Her person is drawn to these special dogs and has become quite the mentoring expert to others.

Rocky and Nalah were recently surrendered for their seizures.

We found them people who understand and accept these episodes as merely details of their special souls.

Among the muted greys and browns of winter –

Startling colors emerge.

Out of the fog –
A whole new life appears.

Unity

When a group of gardeners first answered the call to help create the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden, the design included a dozen or so beds, each devoted to a specific species or type of plant.

There were planned beds for iris, viburnum, daylilies, white roses, ornamental grasses, succulents, perennials, and even a one devoted to container plants. It was a design born of the individual interests of the volunteer gardens who would be dedicating their time but lacked something essential: unity.

The garden got underway based on this design, but as some of the original volunteers fell away, those of us who remained started shaping a different vision.

Through trial and error, we learned what worked best in the clay soil and the Valley’s extremes of heat and cold without a great deal of babysitting as the garden does not have daily keepers.

Native plants began to play a larger role along with drought-tolerant plants suited for our Mediterranean-like climate.

Gradually, divides of successful combinations were repeated throughout the garden giving the disjointed patchwork needed cohesiveness.

The repetition brought order to the chaos of the unconnected beds. Patterns of color, shapes and sizes bridged divides and created balance without the need for unnatural barriers or symmetry.

Now, species are echoed throughout with an overarching theme of greys, silvers, blues, purples, mauves, and white that perfectly support dashes of vibrant seasonal color.

There is also a better sense of scale with plants relating to others around them and the trees and statues that form the garden’s bones.

Foundational plants provide year-round color and texture: artemisia, lamb’s ear, ceanothus, barberry, agastache, lavatera, iris, lavender, Santa Barbara daisy, sage, yarrow, fescue, penstemon, rosemary, and grasses.

Spring bulbs, summer splashes of dahlias, California fuschia, coreopsis, annual and woolly sunflower, and glorious fall displays of aster and Mexican marigold ensure that the garden is interesting all year long.

The result of is a greater sense of harmony: every color in the rainbow is represented at some point in the season, yet the beds flow and fit together, and the whole is strengthened.

What a world this would be if we applied the same principles outside the garden.