memorial day

every word

i've ever written

is in these words.

 

every day

i’ve ever lived

is in this moment.

 

it's enough

just to sit on a

dusty bank of weeds.

just to sit on a

dusty bank of weeds.

                                           -paul motoyoshi   may 28, 2011                                                                            

murray-inu

Outdistance the ball

    only our last dog side kick

   out lives the master

                                              - Ishi

the captain said 'no dogs in the garden.'

the exception to that rule has been every dog who visits.

and of course, murray was exceptional.

sending our heartfelt thoughts to our friends who said goodbye to their long cherished pup.

Practice Reconciliation

Yoga Journal - Yoga Meditation - Make Peace

forest blooms

Ebb and Flow

Low Tide

By MIN JIN LEE

Published: February 23, 2012

Almost a year after the tsunami, the survivors are still unmoored.

true heart

Veil against the moon

Shadows of the Master play

across the cold ro

- Ishi

read about paul motoyoshi 

winter garden shadows

despite the 'great snow and ice storm'
which traumatized 

public transportation in the pacific northwest last month,
the winter has been quite mild on the island.

 the extra warmth and light encourages the plant life

 but also keeps the hummingbird feeder from freezing.

www.calm

 amidst the blowhard bluster of current political debate

i find it so heartening to read about lael brainard

who is calmly negotiating on the world stage.

and there's a book by susan cain titled 'quiet: the power of introverts

in a world that just can't stop talking'.
pico iyer has written a lovely piece for the nyt
'the joy of quiet'

i had been thinking about starting .calm,

as a way to distinguish information, business, ideas,

people and places that have an approach that is quiet and 

thought provoking.

as well as innovative and vibrant.

perhaps i'll have a cup of tea instead.

 

civil rights pioneer

January 30 marks 'Fred Korematsu Day" in California

Remembering Japanese American Civil Rights Pioneer Fred Korematsu

pearl of wisdom

what will have heart and meaning is not always apparent.

the boots with puppy tooth marks of a furry friend long gone. 

the pancake spatula with which my mom made many a saturday breakfast.

a handmade postcard with birds from my friend karen

a tiny box with 2 blue eggs from my friend zoe.

a metal hinge from my friend bea.

a few days after jack died

i was surprised to find a pearl in my coat pocket. it was from a christmas cookie

they gave us at stanford hospital where he went daily 

for radiation treatments.

it is a sweet treasure.

peace on earth

this lovely presence greets visitors to bamboo.

a quote on the wall reminds us that

PEACE. it does not mean to be in a place

where there is no noise trouble or

hard work.

it means to be in the midst of those things 

and still be calm in your heart.

thanks for sharing, yasmin.

winter moonlight haiku

December's moon
     conveyor of old souls
   Yuki embraces you

-Ishi

teachers come to tea

the captain says 'build a tea room, they will come".  bless-ed are we that our community is rich with interest  in japanese aesthetics and tea ceremony in particular.  this confluence of energy included a local student of the uresenke school in seattle, who conducted an informal ceremony with the captain and  3 honored guests, each with a particular appreciation and understanding of the culture and art of tea. the lovely wagashi (traditional japanese sweets) were made by chef tokara-san at her shop in seattle.

the soto-m0n (the entrance to the outer garden)

acer palmatum dissectum 'red dragon'

the yoritsuki (the guest waiting area in the outer garden)

autumn comes to tea

 

warm haiku

My saki cup
        suspended in the furo
        my warm pleasures equal

     - ishi

Tea at Koken

october haiku

 October skies

    spitting rain, 

    helping my quest

     gathering wet black stones

     -ishi

the neighbor's gate

the neighbor's gate is a beautiful focal point from the tea room  as well as an entry in and out of the garden for the neighbor's who share the northern border of the garden.

the bamboo is thriving and the upper water feature is expanding to include the natural beauty of the fir, maple and fern. deer and birds seem particularly drawn to the secluded spot. the curiosity of the wild creatures means we are having difficulties keeping water plants - they are either chewed, drowned, uprooted shortly after placement so a special watering pool will be part of the future design.

roots and regeneration

a visit to the nursery always inspires but the yerba buena nursery is unique in displaying native plants, a beauty often overlooked or displaced by more fashionable plantings.  the textures, patterns and subtle color palette of grasses, succulents, and pines is more soothing than any spa treatment i can imagine....

seeds of resolution

"any polarity contains within itself the seed of it's own resolution."

growing things

in the kitchen, i had the first salad from my april planting.

in the tea garden, the iris have begun to bloom.

in the greenhouse, the maples have been transplanted  to gallon containers

stone haiku

stones of a tea garden

defy entropy 

only temporarily


-ishi

Artists for Japan Jam Fest

Kobo at Higo in Seattle sponsors  Saturday June 18  12 - 8:30pm

                                            Jam Fest

forest floor

'tis the season to be mossy which falls somewhere between the foggy spring damp and the bright heat of the longer days. as in the pacific northwest forest, the forest floor in the redwoods on the mountain remains green throughout the year but this is the time for moss and lichen to spread tendril wings. moss is one aspect of the tea garden we would like to encourage and cultivate so i am in the midst of field research. some one has to do it.

since i began transplanting the maple seedlings i've become hyper-aware of the micro landscapes living underneath the tree canopy, between the cracks, crevices and roots in the older growth forest floor. ornamental grasses and fern sprouts are also abundant. so  today, my grand contribution to the scheme of things is a representation of the forest floor in a terracotta saucer. a mobile micro - forest.

as the greenhouse grows

once i started paying attention i can't see the forest for the seedlings. so by day's end i had 30 tiny transplanted japanese maples in the greenhouse. this being a sudden and spontaneous collection,  they have names like hobbit garden maple 1, address sign maple, driveway buddha garden maple. perhaps as they grow i will learn their botanical names. perhaps a few will make it to the periphery of the tea garden someday as it develops.

little signs of big content

apparently the seeds are content in the greenhouse! teeny sprouts broke ground sometime yesterday and glow against the soil like little neon signs. such a tiny yet satisfying event.

april haiku

April's setting sun 

finds the shoulder of Buddha 

waiting patiently

                        - ishi