Bucky, Memories and Summer Heat

It's 91 degrees outside according to my smart phone app and high temps will continue through Tuesday. I thought I would first mention the 85 Bucky statutes situated throughout the Madison area. I have not seen all 85 and so far these are my two favorites.

Here's "One Leg Up" Bucky on the Library Mall and in front of the 60-year-old Hagenah Fountain. This one reflects the tradition of periodically placing thousands of flamingos on nearby Bascom Hill. The fountain is at the intersection of concrete pathways between Memorial Library and the Wisconsin Historical Society, and across the street from Memorial Union. The Library and the State Historical Society are still some of my favorite buildings as they were when I was a UW student during the 1960s.  Ann and I spent a few hours Friday visiting the nearby new Alumni Park. A stunning space that commemorates the contributions of alumni. A must see when you visit Madison.

Here's "Blooming Bucky" located on Henry Mall. Ag Hall is in the background. Wonder if "Blooming Bucky" would like to relocate to Prospect Gardens? Not going to happen.

My office before retiring was in a building to Bucky's left  overlooking the Mall. I loved the eight years when I led the evaluation unit of the Environmental Resources Center.  I learned how to phrase survey questions asking farmers about manure spreading behaviors, a very touchy subject for them.

Often from Spring through Fall around noon, I walked through Henry Mall on my way to Allen Centennial Gardens, one of my favorite campus gardens. I took refuge while enjoying lunch in the splendors of the gardens. Sometimes, I would stop in nearby Babcock Hall for ice cream or frozen yogurt.  Another must stop for anybody visiting Madison.


Enough of this nostalgia. Today's work session started early with comfortable temperatures and tolerable humidity. At about 8:00am, and on the way to the Gardens we stopped at Aileen's nearby home to dig up Purple Cone flowers. Thanks Aileen for this gift.  This last winter was tough on these usually hardy and showy prairie plants. Aileen's donation replaced some Purple Cones that failed to survive.

Surviving, and in bloom are the Columbines, pictured here. These are the offspring of the first Columbines planted nine years ago.  May they continue to thrive as the years slip by. However, they will quickly fade away because of the impending 90 degree days.  "August like" heat is with us.

 Also, among the winter survivors are these Prairie Smoke. These were planted about four years ago. The charming, nodding pink flowers give rise to feathery, smoky-pink seed heads that decorate the plants into mid-summer.

A neighbor, Percy, donated several clumps of the originals. Most disappeared except for this one. Once again these Gardens confirm the unpredictability of gardening and of life itself. Change and impermanence, paradoxically, are the constants of life.

These flowers remind me of how my Grandma Julia was a gifted flower and vegetable gardener.  Peonies and iris were just a few of her favorites. At this time of the year, Grandma Julia would be preparing the ground for her large vegetable and fruit garden.  Her garden fed our large family well into the winter.

Here is today's crew.  Ann my wife took the picture and once again provided the homemade treat, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars. We just finished enjoying these goodies. Thanks Ann for the treat and your hard work in the hot sun.  Pictured on the first step starting on the left is Mulch King Bob, Eli, me, and in the back starting on the left are Steve, Eric, and Laura.

Eli is finishing seventh grade and is already developing a fondness for gardening.  He told me he will be attending a gardening camp this summer.  Eli joining today's crew confirms the passage of time. I recall baby Eli being carried by his father, John,  in our old neighborhood.

Eric is an Americorp member at Madison's James Madison Memorial High School.  When I was his age, I completed a teacher practicum in 1968 at Memorial. Memorial just opened that year and I was assigned to a senior Economics course.  I only had one college level econ course and remember stumbling through a lesson that included the "demand curve."  Those seniors tolerated my ignorance.   

 While the crew weeded I spent time preparing and planting beds. A special "thank you" to all for diligently pulling overgrown and unwanted tall plants.

Plants pictured here are: Black-eyed Susan, Lavender Hyssop, Lance-leaf Coreopsis, Wild Columbine and Prairie Dropseed. Many of these still remain to be placed in the Gardens.   Perhaps on Monday, I will plant them. The prediction of 96 degree temperature means getting up early to plant in the cooler morning.  Heavy mulching and frequent watering will be required.

 Here's the before planting picture of two beds. Before planting much time was spent on the removal of roots and rhizomes of the dreaded Bishops Weed.  Rest assured, that despite my persistence, some still remain and will rise again.

Here's the planted and mulched beds.  Mulch King Bob assisted along with Steve. Now I await the magic of Mother Nature with the assistance of vigilant me. These will need watering as this summer heat continues.

So another Memorial Day is just about here. Images from past Memorial days when I was growing up near Pulaski, Wisconsin flood my mind. World War Two vets from Pulaski's American Legion sold red paper poppies during the week before Memorial Day. On the appointed day, we made the six mile car trip into the nearby village. One year we made the trip in a very rusted out 1954 Chevy.

We silently watched the somber parade of American Legionnaires including members of the Women's Auxiliary dressed in white uniforms, white stockings, white shoes and with blue capes and white nurse-like caps.  The high school band led the parade.

The parade made its way to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary cemetery. We followed. Flags on the veterans' graves fluttered in the warm breeze as a smaller contingent of Legionnaires assembled. The appointed one played Taps. The melancholy sound waffled over the hushed assembly. A gun salute followed. Sometimes, the shots would not be synchronized because one of the vets responsible for the salute was slow on the trigger. He pulled the trigger after the others fired. Nobody seemed to mind that the salute was imperfect. At least nobody laughed, that I can recall.

I just Googled to learn if  Pulaski still has a Memorial Day Parade. Sad to say that it seems like there is no parade.  However, the 40th annual Polka Days, attracting thousands,will again be held from July 19th through the 22nd, my birthday.  I most likely will not be one among the thousands who come from throughout the Midwest.  Although sometimes I am tempted to go because when I was young I loved to polka. However, the July heat is a disincentive to attendance. Also, I like celebrating my birthday with a play at the outdoor's American Players Theater in Spring Green. Oh, the choices I have before me.

Equanimity and Prospect Gardens

Sun and blue skies are with us once again after several days of rain. Equanimity is on my mind.  In the Buddhist tradition, equanimity is one of the four heavenly abodes or benevolent states of mind. The others are friendliness, compassion and joy. These heavenly abodes contribute to a sense that heaven is nowhere else but right here on this earth. Equanimity, often referred to as "balance" in Buddhist teaching, is defined in Webster's dictionary as "mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation."  Wendell Barry's poem "The Peace of Wild Things" exemplifies equanimity.

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethoughts

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

I experienced equanimity as Ann, neighbors and I tended the Prospect Gardens on several days from May 5th and through yesterday, May 14th. As I noted in my last blog entry one of the gardening challenges (not quite despair) is the invasion of Bishop's weeds coupled with rip-rock.  I am happy to report that my relationship with Bishop's Weed has attained a level of balance. 

Several new beds now exist as a result of removing rocks and filling in with fresh black dirt. These are relatively free of Bishop's Weed.  I say "relative"  because one never knows if all the roots have been removed. Bishops Weed can regrow from severed roots, so a new crop may arise. Meanwhile, I celebrate the spaciousness of my mind regarding the future of Bishops Weed while enjoying the stark beauty of the new beds.  On May 26th the beds will be replanted.  

These two beds were especially challenging. Bishops Weeds covered the area with roots deep into the earth and burrowing underneath surrounding rocks.  

Work involved removing rocks and dismantling and then resembling the terrace wall dividing the two beds. I started at nine and finished at about 2:30 pm on May 8th. As I worked I had little sense of passing time while enjoying breaks for conversations with several neighbors who were passing by.  Dianne, a neighbor, provided welcoming bottles of cool water. I look forward to the upcoming replanting.  I suspend expectations about the eventual outcome once these beds are replanted . Gardens have their own way.

On May 5th, several neighbors joined Ann and I.  Here's a few pictures revealing their hard work, generosity and our comradery. 

 Here's Ann N. taking a stand as she trims some shrubs.  Thanks Ann for once again joining the crew. Your expertise, humor and energy contributed to equanimity.

 Steve and Tom tackling the weeds around, in and above the raspberry patch. I overhead a pleasant discussion between the two as they weeded. Thanks Steve and Tom.  This was Tom's first visit.












Tom is a member of a small group from our church, First Unitarian Society, that I also belong to. Our little group meets twice a month with a focus on meditation and Buddhism.

Tom and I started reading Robert Wright's "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment."  We met at Colectivo to discuss what we read and other topics not related to the book that emerged during our enjoyable discussion.

Here's Hanns preparing to tackle Bishops Weed in this area of the gardens.  Thanks, Hanns for helping out.  I enjoyed his sense of humor, which is indicated in this picture.  Here he is acting out plunging his hand spade toward the patch of weeds.

Here's most of the crew: Steve, me, Tom and Laura and Ann N. Not pictured is Ann B., Hanns and Bob affectionately knows as the "mulch king."  We are enjoying Ann's homemade Toffee Squares. Thanks Ann B. for the delicious treat and for your hard work in the Gardens.

Laura cleaned out the overgrown strawberry patch. Thanks Laura. The weeds survived the winter while only 12 strawberry plants made it into spring.  I will be refurbishing the bed with strawberry plants from a friend... another Ann... and her thriving gardens. (She will be distinguished as Ann V.)

On  May 14th, Ann B., Bob and I rescued and transplanted grasses from the site of the nearby former Associated Bank. The bank moved to the first floor of a new apartment building several blocks further east on Monroe Street.


Following the recent Madison trend, another apartment building with 60 units and businesses on the first floor will rise on the site. Demolition of the bank we used since moving to Madison in 1986 is now underway.

Here's Bob digging up the grasses.  A special thank you for coming out on a wet Monday morning. The site has other wonderful plants that wait their fate.  My urge to rescue more is high while being realistic that my time is limited.  I also realize that Prospect Gardens don't need the type of  potentially available plants.



Here's the new home for most of the transplanted grasses. They will grow to be  least four tall and hopefully spread. I look forward to their growth. They should also help stabilize the site and prevent erosion. Go to it grasses!










I end with two pictures that contributed to the mental state of equanimity that gardening  enhances. The Gardens' Red Bud and Cherry trees are blooming sending out beauty in all directions. Their beauty and serenity quiets the mind.

May you and all being everywhere, both the two legged and four legged kind, experience equanimity and feel heaven on earth as spring continues to unfold.

Blessed Be. Shalom. Amen.