In a recent post I mentioned the Hawaiian concept of a place of refuge, safety and sanctuary: a pu’uhonua. The walled back garden, which I call the outback, is something of a pu’uhonua for me.
In October 2018, when I first met this little piece of Chihauhauan desert it was a wasteland of goatsheads thorns (Tribulus terrestris) and dust.
The fact that the back garden area was enclosed all around with an eight foot privacy fence was one of the (many) things which attracted me to this place and space.
While it is still very much a work in progress, I’ve been working, this week, on an outdoor cafe room in a slightly awkward western corner of the outback paradise - the original term means walled garden.
The area is shaded in the morning by the adobe wall of the house and the high privacy fence on the south. There’s a lot of shade until the sun gets on that wall then there’s a lot of heat both direct and reflected. These images were taken just at sunrise for best lighting for photography.
In winter when it gets sun it’s a beautiful solarium. To mitigate the summer sun I plan to install hardware on posts to string removable triangular shade sails across the space.
Last week Janis truck and I helped move some things for a neighbor and ended up coming home with a non functioning wheelbarrow and old shovel. These artifacts became the focal point for the beginnings of a garden area in this corner. I’m not sure if that decorative grass will survive transplanting. If not I know a plant nursery in Tucson, Arizona which is good for acquiring ornamental desert grasses
The space is a great place to display desert detritus, rocks, weathered wood and other rusty treasures.
Of course enchantment is everywhere.
Dragonflies and devils claws…. butterflies and zebras/moonbeams and fairytales are all she ever thinks about**
There’s still this corner of brush pile and stalks to deal with. It’s been piling up over the years, providing resources for birds and a myriad other beneficial critters, and now is perhaps becoming a fire hazard. I intend to create a solar heated shower in that corner.
With the apricot tree just coming into bloom, the view from Cafe Paradiso is divine,
It will only become more beautiful as more blossoms fill the tree with frothy bee magnets and the Iris germanica plantings begin to bloom.
Though Cafe Paradiso is unfinished, the outback has already provided sanctuary this week for some neighbour dogs and their people when two adjoining properties on my block burned down. The explosions, flames and toxic black smokey drama was very distressing for the poor canines. Humans too.
After I made my first ever 911 call in this country, the response from emergency crews was amazingly quick and very skilled. It included fire engines from at least three different fire stations, ambulances, law enforcement, electrical crews (the fire melted the overhead power lines) and a whole county of volunteer emergency responders. Thanks to these people, the fire was contained to two properties.
Gratitude today goes to all people everywhere who have trained, invested in skills and knowledge, and stand prepared to respond to emergencies like this one in a spirit of selfless service. I see you. I benefit from your service. I thank you.
Community matters. Even to this curmudgeonly confirmed solitary, it seems.
Above is what stuck in my shoes the first time ever I walked on this distressed piece of northern Chihauhauan desert. Below is the first tote of trash I hauled out of what has become the outback.
Persistence CAN turn a wasteland of thorns and dust into a sanctuary and a paradise. And resistance. Persistent resistance is key initially in the process of turning a negative into a positive. Then the rebuilding, restoration and creation informed by vision follows.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious
life?
Mary Oliver (1935-2019), from the poem A Summer Day
**from the song Little Wing (released 1967) by Jimi Hendrix
Well, she's walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that's running wild
Butterflies and Zebras
And Moonbeams and fairy tales
That's all she ever thinks about
Riding with the wind
When I'm sad, she comes to me
With a thousand smiles she gives to me free
It's alright, she says it's alright
Take anything you want from me
Anything
Fly on little wing
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