"The Mummers' Dance", Taken from the liner notes to "The Book Of Secrets". By Loreena McKennitt An' in the Springtime of the year, When the trees are crowned with leaves, When the ash and oak, and the birch and yew, Are dressed in ribbons fair. When owls call the breathless moon, In the blue veil of the night. The shadows of the trees appear, Amidst the lantern light. We've been rambling all the night, And some time of this day, Now returning back again, We bring a garland gay. Who'll go down to those shady groves, And summon the shadows there. And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms, In the springtime of the year. The songs of birds seem to fill the wood, That when the fiddler plays, All their voices can be heard, Long past their woodland days. And so they linked their hands and danced, Round in circles and in rows,, And so the journey of the night descends, When all the shades are gone. "A garland gay we bring you here, And at your door we stand, It is a sprout well budded-out, The work of our Lord's hand.

Aloes and Gazaneas in full bloom at Rivenrock Gardens, all this with very little work, organic really is the way to grow! California Alligator Lizard. These little rascals are really fiesty, and can grow to a decent size. They are harmless however, and do a good job of keeping insects down, they are really good to have around.

Tao Teh Ching By Lau Tzu Renounce vain learning; it withdraws from the Inner Life. How slight is the difference between the yes and the no. But how great is the distinction between the good and the bad. What all people fear, is indeed to be feared. How great is their desolation! Alas! That the barrenness of the age has not yet reached its limit. Yet the multitude of people seem happy; so happy, as though partaking of great feasts, as though visiting the terraces in the Springtime. I alone am still, and give as yet no sign of joy; like a new born babe that cannot smile at its mother. I alone am forsaken, as one who has nowhere to lay their head. Other people have enough and to spare, I alone seem as one who has lost all that he had. How foolish and empty am I: so dull and so foolish. Other people appear full of light. I alone seem wrapped in darkness. Other people are all alert, I alone seem dim. I am as homeless as the vast ocean, rolling on and never resting. Other people all have their gifts, I alone seem without power and devoid of any merit. Yet lonely though I am and unlike other people, still I revere and seek the Mother-Deep, the All-sustaining Tao.

Red-Hot-Poker growing under Monterey Pines at the entrance to Rivenrock.