Recently, now that the weather is warmer, whenever I can, I've been fiddling around the yard, pulling up little shrubby trees and planning the garden. I’ve been wanting to expand my vegetable garden but not quite sure how. For the past few years, my vegetables haven’t been doing as well as they did. A friend suggested cutting down the trees surrounding the garden. Vegetables don’t like any shade when growing. At first I was hesitant, was going to cut down only a few, just to let in more light. But then it seemed to have a mind of its own and I trimmed the woods so that now the land is exposed and spacious.
My neighbor Mike cut down a lot of the tall but ugly trees that stood behind the garden. There must have been at least fifty scraggly trees back there. Mischievously, I love to tell people I’ve been clear cutting my land, but really, it’s definitely a necessary improvement in many ways. It's strange, having been here over twelve years, enjoying the feeling of living in the woods, the seclusion, but now wanting to open up the landscape, let in more sunshine.
It feels like an outer manifestation of what I am feeling inside. A desire to move out into the world. It’s reflected in my artwork as well. I’m not sure what other people see, but I feel there is a stronger expression, more need to take chances, try new possibilities. I’m having photos taken tomorrow evening. That always gives me a better opportunity to see what I am actually doing. With his bright lights and focused camera view.
Meanwhile I have a lot of landscaping to do. I will have to build more rock walls to contain the dirt for the garden. Then buy the dirt and plant. The back of my house, the studio side is now exposed and I’ll have to do some landscaping there as well. Paint the door and maybe build an arbor over it. Many possibilities.