Picture perfect day, with a strong wind. Walk anywhere near the shore where the wind can waft inland but the breeze can linger, and you will enveloped in ambrosia, the sweet perfume of a multitude of milkweeds. Rather like being in the poppy fields of Oz.

And here is reindeer moss, which grows everywhere nothing can possibly grow. The sandy lands by Sandy beach are covered with it, and, with the lack of rain, it is now desiccated. Step on in and it will crunch, crisper than Pringles. But, give it a little moisture, and it becomes a sponge. It's actually a lichen, and yes, we do need rain.

And here is a passage, regarding land ownership and property improvement that I find expresses my ideas exactly:

"On the other hand, I am going to shape this small corner of nature into a vision of what I believe will best glorify its inherent qualities, a sculpturing of the land—heresy to some who would leave nature to her own devices—gardening on a large scale, subjective landscaping for beauty's sake. And, as I like to see as far as my eyes allow, I remove what is diseased, repetitious, or ugly: catfaced, topless, rachitic, stunted, and otherwise suppressed trees that compete with specimens that would otherwise grow strong and relatively straight. To offset this inclination to prune, I plant five times as many trees as I remove, so that one day, unless I go broke in the process, no matter where I stand I will see only what pleases me. When I want ugly I'll drive into town."

—Guy de la Valdene, Quail Farm

A topic on which I plan to have more to say.