Karinaland River

Fairy Wand     Every year this  plant being  spreads its arms wider and wider, taking up almost the whole patio. My entrance door is protected :) Visitors have to pay attention now, figure out how to weave their way through long spiky leaves, four feet high. Some of Fairy Wand’s flowering stalks are reaching into the sky towering at seven or eight feet. Everyone asks for the plant’s name, all admire her. Over time her fuchsia bells unfold their skirts for all kind of bees, including big bumble bees and humming birds. Then the seed pods start to form slowly, hanging, dangling, dancing in the breeze. She gives a long-lasting show, her stages of transformation are manifold. This is what I admire about Fairy Wand. Carefully studying her every day gives lessons about the process of maturing, shapeshifting. Every summer this time, I can’t resist to write about her, she spreads so much delight.    So, when friends arrive, they can’t ignore Fairy Wand. They must fi...

Atman         The empty space, hot sun, and stars at night. Cleaning up in the garden, a gentle breeze on my sweaty skin. Presents are still trickling in, surprising me... touching me. A couple of days ago, Bob Ng, my cello teacher, sends me this beautiful note and audio gift:    “As I thought about the silence which must have settled on your garden after the chain saws and workmen had completed their task, I was inspired to record my transcription of "Atman" as a tribute to Mama Oak.  According to Google,      Atman is a Hindu word that means 'soul or spirit'. Essentially, it refers to the real person inside an individual. It is made of part of the spirit of Brahman, who Hindus believe is the one true ultimate God. Therefore, it is not something that can be seen or touched, but it is eternal and everlasting.     I'm sure that Mama Oak had an interior soul that is as real as the ones that we humans experience.  This song i...

  Transformation   Throughout my (almost) seven decades, I have engaged in the process of change as directly as possible. No battling or fighting – but rather  dancing  with :) no matter what hardship. This guiding melody forces me to listen to whatever life is  gifting  me. To be sculpted & tempered with as much consciousness as I can muster. Desiring to learn, be present, be molded by the forces bigger than us. Growing – inner and outer transformation.      Mama Oak’s transformation – evaporating into another Gestalt? – is a joyful and exhilarating dance and adventure, lasting three days. My allies, natural curiosity and courage, help me to be present with all my senses, body and mind. The kind, and extremely skilled crew of six and the foreman Luis allow me to be around the whole time of this very dangerous work. My agility and 360-degree awareness are the necessary skills. Observing, taking photos, knowing when to get quickly out of t...

  Good Bye and Celebration of Mama Oak’s Life and Majesty   On Saturday July 2 – our first true summer day this year here in Berkeley – about 30 friends, old and young – are meandering through the Open Karinaland Garden , up and down the stairs. Contributing delicious food, snacking, gathering in groups on the several levels of patio and terraces beneath the live oaks. It is a sunny hot day that ends in a balmy sunset, everyone is enjoying the views, bright faces of nasturtiums, intoxicating scent of my iridescent sweet peas, and the welcome shade beneath the trees. Mama Oak feels honored, celebrated, admired in her majesty and magnificence.     ...how I used to swing by launching from the terrace wall to fly high into the oaks...    (photo by Fern)     My longtime friend Renate, takes up my invitation prompting guests to wear a flamboyant colorful outfit. Her playful overalls from Creative Growth artist Lulu Sotelo, who is one of her favorites, f...

  Canopy and Underground Network      Most of us have heard by now about the mycelium, ­a network of highways and pathways that tree-beings use to share messages, information, nutrition, and knowledge. They communicate, send warnings – they care. The complex underground “nervous system” is mirrored by the canopy. In the course of more than one hundred years, my four live oaks and single cork oak formed a grove with  ONE huge  beautifully rounded   dome – a merged Canopy . Now, with Mother Oak gone very soon, there will be a hole  –––  what will come about? I am a bit anxious, and very curious to learn… nature’s evolution, wisdom and wonders.   imagine the oak in the middle completely gone... a crater will be left... As you have seen in the recent photos I took of Big Mother Oak, she really is bare and has shriveled, pulling her energies into the root system. Then last week, I notice a humble miracle happening right in front of my bedroom...

Solstice in Red   All flowers invite us to ponder the mystery of life, the unknowable that might bring us closer to beauty. Beauty as an  alive quality  which is transient, transformative, and awe-inspiring because we humans can’t quite grasp it. Within this mystery, layers of vibrations reveal a depth, a shimmering being-ness that shines bright in its delicate beauty. And the fleeting song pierces – we are left with a fluttering in the heart...      may we protect   the always unknowable   mystery of life Since childhood up till now, I get lost for eternal minutes in the face of a flower, her presence consuming me. Growing up the red poppies at the side of the fields my favorite, but I am equally intrigued by forget-me-nots.   Mohnblume .  Showy flowers are of lesser interest. Vergissmeinnicht . Each has a distinct song. Diving deep into the mystery of a single tiny wildflower, face to face with the Big Mystery….   May we know true...

  Big Mother Oak     For the past fifteen years I have slept in her grand arms. Rested better than ever in my life. Beneath her majestic canopy, I felt safe and held as never before, cradled by the majesty of this old Coast Live Oak. She has not come back with green foliage this spring. She is bare and shrinking. Ambrosia beetles are feasting on her sap in the lower trunk. She has decided, I have to let her go. A deeply meaningful process for me – difficult – outer and inner. She is pulling her energies back into the root system, giving it over to her little sister, brother, children, and her dear friend, the Cork Oak a few feet away, huge in size like her. My immediate question to Mother Oak is:   “What are you trying to teach me? What are you gifting me?”   Like my elders and mentors throughout my life, Big Mama Oak disperses her wisdom in slowly unraveling stories that will accompany me for weeks, months, and years, waiting to be fully digested and deciphered...