The local birds are enjoying the fermented berries and this time of year you will hear or see a lot more birds FUI....flying under the influence. Each fermented berry they eat is liking doing a jello shot.....

Yesterday I was sitting in my office working on my computer listening to my iPod with my headphones on and I still heard a whop on the sliding glass door. I opened the door and found a male Junco had hit the window and was lying on his back on the deck and appeared to be gasping for breath, but otherwise motionless.

Our Golden Retriever had followed me out into the gardens, so I took him back in the office and about five minutes later came out to check on the bird. At the time he was now lying on his stomach and appeared motionless. I went back inside to grab some paper to pick the bird up, so I could take him out and bury him and was explaining to my wife what had happened.

As she followed me out to the back deck, we opened the door and stepped on the deck. As I stepped onto the deck, the bird turned over onto his feet and flew off to perch on a nearby tree about 20' off the ground........

Either that bird experienced some sort of divine intervention or was simply knocked out cold from his FUI and just regained his senses as we stepped out onto the deck......perhaps he is just up in the trees somewhere, leaning up against a trunk, trying to sleep those last few berries off.....

The two pictures above show the beginning of a 110' long stream, which we recently completed for a new client, with a 15' drop from top to bottom. The 10,000 gallon per hour pump fills the 4' wide stream with a water depth varying from 3" to 8".

The sound the rushing stream creates as it flows over the streambed and between the boulders varies from a soothing trickle in the small pool areas behind large boulders to a deafening rush as it drops 8' in a distance of about 30' .

The soft lighting on the stream and waterfall dramatically light the pondless waterfall allowing the clients to sit outside at night and relax to the sound of the water. The location of the waterfall and stream in front of the house certainly creates a unique approach to the front door.

There is also a large Koi watergarden located immediately adjacent to the back of the residence which is a wall glass.......
This picture of the rapids was taken the same day we turned the pump on, so the filters had not removed the quarry dust from the water. After about 3 days the water runs crystal clear as you can see in the picture of the waterfalls on the right above.

Every day this November has been a gift for us, in regard to making the completion of our garden construction projects much easier than if it were cold and blowing here on the Pocono Plateau.

This past October we were able to dedicate the first garden that http://www.healinggardens.org was involved with from beginning to end. If you have read previous posts, you will know what and why we started the healinggardens.org website. The dedication day was overcast and chilly, however, it was a great celebration of life and closure for me on the passing of my sister. It was difficult (not necessarily in a bad way) for me to work on the garden, I just shed a lot of tears as the garden came together. I found tears running down my cheeks as I drove the skid steer back and forth between the garden and the pile of large boulders I was using to create the structure of the garden.

Now, that the garden has been completed, I am keenly aware that what I do on a daily basis (create gardens for our clients) can have a significant impact with the development of healing gardens on others who are not exposed to gardens and gardening everyday. They discover the serenity of sitting in a well designed garden and simply relaxing or reflecting, if just for a few moments.

We are working with a couple of other groups in the area to see how we might help them develop healing gardens at their sites and perhaps also develop horticultural educational programs upon the completion of any of these gardens.