May and Time

Another Memorial Day is history. It was a rainy day that most likely caused picnickers to seek shelter. Summer has officially begun. Kayaks and canoes have returned to the Lake Wingra boat house across the street, along with heavy carpeted logs for the log roller enthusiasts.

Ann and I headed to Klein's on East Washington and bought annuals for the six pots on our deck. A short intense shower pounded the greenhouse roof as we shopped and it stopped before we checked out. Beauty and color will once again enhance a space where I often do my morning Tai Chi.

The peaceful Buddha sits in front of the pink blooming geranium. The rock to his left is lava from Garter Lake, Oregon. Two friends, ignoring signs warning against removing lava, showed up with two lava rocks in the late 1970s when I lived in Portland, Oregon. They did not know of the Buddha's five precepts with one encouraging us to refrain from taking anything that is not freely given; i.e, no stealing.

These rocks now mark the passage of time.We packed them when we left Oregon in 1980 for Bloomington, Indiana and packed them again in 1983 for the move to Andover, Massachusetts after completing a Ph.D. at Indiana University. They were among the boxes in 1986 upon our return to  Madison, Wisconsin. Home at last. Yes indeed, if these rocks could talk they would tell you many stories about my life as it arced from coast to coast and back to the Midwest.

Tirupathi Chandrupatla, a professor of mechanical engineering at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, says this about time in his poem "Time Knows Time."

Time flows

Like the perennial river

Time rides the crest

Of a wave in the sea

Time's space

Its fourth dimension

Time's elastic

Keeps on bouncing

Time's a sponge

Absorbs all spills

Time sleeps

Time wakes up

Time walks

Time runs 
Time races

Time stands still

Time flies fast

Time has past

Time has future

Time never stays in the present

Time creeps

Time ticks

Time tricks

Sometimes good
Sometimes bad

Time's night

Time's day

Time's dark

Time's bright

Time's heavy

Time's light

Time's easy

Time's hard

Time blinks like eye

Time beats like heart

Time makes

Yoktosecond * large 

Time turns

Exasecond ** too small

Time lets one fall

Time makes one rise

Time's magic

Time brings one to life

From nowhere

Time makes one vanish

In an instant

Time's all

That we know

Time's everything else

That we don't.

Time Knows Time

* a septillion of a second

** A unit of time equal to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 second

Time raced through May; flowing through Ann's birthday, our 40th wedding anniversary, watching the migration of spring warblers, meetings with my First Unitarian Chalice group and another Buddhist inspired "Going Forth" small group, a long walk and lunch with my friend Dave, medical appointments and several days of tending Prospect Gardens. May's river of time also included work on a survey for our church and the haunting sound of an owl just before falling asleep next to Ann.

 Time with neighbors at Prospect Gardens was "bright", "light", "easy" and at the same time vanishing "in an instant."  In my attempt to capture time and chronicle Prospect Gardens events here are nine pictures, along with commentary. 

On May 15th we cleared a section full of weeds.  Here's Amy, a nearby Dungeon Monroe neighbor and Jessica, a recent UW graduate. Jessica is waiting to hear if she has been accepted to the Peace Core.  Thank you Amy and Jessica for your  good company, hard work and for sharing the passage of time on a warm and beautiful spring day, with fluffy clouds, blue sky and temperatures nearing 80 degrees.  Life is good.

The crew taking a break. Joining Jessica was her friend, another UW student, Lasea. Thank you Lasea and come join us again.

We achieved my unstated objective of clearing the problematic section. Two yards of mulch was also delivered in anticipation of covering the area after planting. I returned and replanted with plants purchased from a private party who advertised on Facebook.

The twenty-five minute trip to fetch the healthy plants ended at a 1960's ranch home on the far west side of Middleton and close to Verona. Never been to that part of the county before. Traveling west on Airport Road, I noticed how the rolling landscape, once filled with farms, was now dotted with small clusters of homes and some businesses. Urban sprawl with the boundaries of Madison, Middleton and Verona overlapping. Dane County is the fastest growing county in Wisconsin and it's noticeable.

The May 18th work session was rained out. A week later, May 25th, this crew tended the gardens. Thank you for being such a diligent and joyful crew.

In the front row starting from the left is me, Tom and Joyce. In back of me is Hanns, and to his left are Niha and Penelope. Niha and Penelope are high school students. Penelope was doing community service as part of the nearby West High School's English class. She will be writing about her experience as a class assignment.

Behind Penelope is Will, another high school student from nearby Fitchburg. Next to Will are Anne and David, Penelope's parents. Anne is a UW Botany professor, specializing in fungi.  Laura is to David's right(behind Hanns).

Eli, a middle school student, came later and after the picture was taken. Since his family is moving to Middleton this was probably Eli's last time tending the Gardens. Thanks Eli.  Come visit when your back in the neighborhood.

Here's Nick enjoying one of Ann's lemon bars. Ann, my wife, always bakes for the Saturday crews.  Lemon bars are a favorite and these were some of her best.

 Afterwards, Nick joined Tom who was busy mulching. The pile of two yards of mulch quickly vanished. About a wheelbarrow's worth now remains.

Thanks Nick for lending a helping hand. Please come join as again.  I like your cowboy hat which I once wore when living in Central Oregon, along with cowboy boots. When the heels needed to be replaced,  the cobbler looked at me and asked: "Do you ride a horse?"  After answering "no", the wise man said stop wearing the boots and explained why. And I did.


Tom returning from dumping a wheelbarrow of mulch in the section that Amy, Jessica, Lasea, Ann and I cleaned out on May 15th. Tom is an avid gardener and prairie enthusiast from the Brittingham neighborhood, west of Prospect Gardens and near the east end of the Southwest Path. He is the crew chief of the Brittingham Community gardens which I must visit.

Tom credits his father for his love of the outdoors, gardening and prairies.  Tom's father was once a game warden.

Will, Niha and Penelope in action.  They cleared the Gardens and adjoining areas of garlic mustard, as well as tackled areas covered with Bishop's weed. Their youthful joy and enthusiasm added so much to the day while reminding me that time has both a past and a future.

Gardens have always been integral parts of a community. Tending Prospect Gardens includes time to chat, as this picture of Laura and Joyce shows. One of the benefits of tending Prospect Gardens are opportunities for these friendly exchanges when we stop and strengthen our human connections.

One outcome of the two May work days is this  mulched and replanted section. The small green plants are the recently purchased purple cone flowers, spider warts and a blackeye susan. I will be watching them with some anxiety since this area has resisted past efforts at being transformed. Weeds and quake grass flourished and hopefully they are under control.  Yet gardens and weeds have their own life cycles.

The joys of tending Prospect Gardens in May also included finding, refurbishing and placing this birdhouse.  I found it on a trash pile in front of a nearby vacant home before it was sold. I reattached the roof, cleaned the dust off and applied a few coats of varnish. Let's see if nuthatches or perhaps wrens like this house as much as I do.

An older women who was cleaning out her home moved into a assisted living community. The birdhouse didn't sell at her garage sale, but the house sold, and now another younger couple joins the neighborhood. 

I end these reflections about May, Prospect Gardens and time with this observation about gardeners. 

"Aren't gardening people the happiest, friendliest, a
and most generous people you know? Why do you suppose gardening is the #1 hobby in America?  Gardening touches everyone in some way, be it beauty, color, solitude, food, memories, therapy, land value, exercise (some of the best), to attract wildlife or just the thrill of making something grow. It’s a great way to have quality time with your family and friends."

- The Gardener's Touch Sonya Robinson 

Saturday, June 15th , 9 to noon,will be another opportunity to feel the benefits of tending Prospect Gardens while experiencing some of Tirupathi Chandrupatla's insights about time: 

"Time flows

Like the perennial river

Time rides the crest

Of a wave in the sea"