Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Wabi-sabi

A whopping three inches of rain fell yesterday in Seattle. When I came home from the store, the old fig tree trunk seemed to glow in the watery, greenish light. It looked like a rain forest. Mosses are ancient plants, even older than ferns, and there are twelve thousand species. 

People around here wage a never-ending battle against moss in their yards. On the other hand, moss is essential to Japanese Garden design, lending a feeling of antiquity and and calm.

The Japanese say "it takes a wabi heart to recognize sabi beauty." Wabi is about recognizing beauty in humble simplicity, to open our heart and detach from the vanity of materialism. Sabi is about the passage of time, and seeing beauty in the way all things grow, age, and decay.

I keep meaning to photograph all the different moss and lichens growing on the "ancient" surfaces in this yard. Up close, moss looks like an incredible miniature forest.

Ha, it rained so hard my crow stake fell over when his bucket filled to the top with water. Of course his head landed on soft moss. Fortunately, we're drying out and by the weekend should be warm and sunny. The garden will seriously take off.

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