Fall and Rainfall
Yesterday, after group meditation, Robert and I headed up the mountain to hike Aspen Vista trail and see some fall color. We hiked up and up, each bend in the path revealing trees with slightly more yellow in their crowns. Dappled sun filtered through the golding leaves, gently warming the air.
Occasional gaps in the forest gave us views of solid patches of yellow and orange higher on the mountain. After about 40 minutes of hiking we turned around before making it to the sections with the best leaves. We should have brought lunch on our hike, but at least we had it in the car.
While we were on our hike, the landscaping crew was hard at work installing more of the piping to catch water off the roof and connecting to the cisterns. Last week we had plenty of rain, but the pipes weren’t yet connected. This week, starting this evening, more rain is predicted. Today they are working to install basins to collect the water. We should be able to start filling the cisterns tonight. (Photo below: The pipes now connected to the cistern on the other side of the green basket filter).
This morning we talked with Shasta, our designer, about ideas on how to soften the steep slope created by the cisterns. (Photo below: the steep slope on the downstream side of the cisterns with erosion grooves from last week’s rain).
She proposes a few terraces planted with currant bushes and gooseberries. As we were talking, Reese spied a couple of wax currants nearby clinging to the side of the hill and later another closer to the house with tiny bland fruits. These must be quite drought hardy because we haven’t given them any help this unusually dry summer.
As I am posting this we are surrounded by dark clouds and the crew has gone home after another full day of work. We should be able to collect some rain over the next few days even if no further progress happens on the landscaping this week.