Wallowing in the Sunset
Today was a big day for me in my deck journey. After nineteen weeks of work (that is 126 days or over four months), we moved all the furniture out onto the deck. The glass railing doesn’t go up until Monday, but the railing people have said the deck furniture should not interfere with their work. We have guests coming on Tuesday, literally right after the railing is finished being put up. In fact, while all of the tile will likely be down and perhaps even grouted (since it represents only about 10% of the surface and most of the work is cutting less than grouting), there will likely be some stucco repair on the seven lower columns where the house meets the deck that is not yet done. I can live with that. In fact, having the furniture in place again is 90% of my personal feel-good with the other 10% coming from the railing. I think I can keep myself rom falling of the deck at this point, but I can’t let Betty out there or small children for that matter, so Monday will get me all of that. The finishing touches will get done quickly, but they do not interfere with much of my pleasure of the deck.
I also had Joventino and his pal Cesar working on the property for ten hours today. They spread seven superbags with ten yards of bark mulch under the deck, on the garden beds and down on my Bison Boulder grass beds. They had a little left over (mulch being a difficult material to estimate with perfect accuracy), which they put on my back of garage beds where they can represent a reservoir if I need more mulch anywhere. They then spent the rest of the day clearing and planting three wildflower meadows that I had designated (with red spray paint). That will give me something to water for the next few weeks and with any luck we will have some lovely new wildflower fields in three distinct parts of the property. The last of the duo’s time was spent cleaning up our lower pebble paths (I’ll need to touch them up a bit myself over the weekend) and pruning several yucca trees. The net result of all this work is that the entire back area, that which can be seen from the deck and that which cannot be seen except from under the deck all looks wonderful.
Once the furniture was out on the deck, I took the time to arrange it as it had previously been arranged and set out all the recently cleaned cushions. I also went about reconnecting the fire pit to the new and fresh propane tank. I replaced all the lava stones and added a full contingent of new blue fire beads to add some sparkle to the fire pit. This is not a necessary item, but it does add to the pleasure of looking at the flames dancing on the glass beads. As the afternoon wore on and there was little direction or observation I could add to the deck project or its surroundings, it caused me to grab a Diet Coke and go out and plunk myself down in the big soft seating chair with the ottoman. I sat there between 6pm and about 7pm and just enjoyed the sunset. I didn’t take reading material and I didn’t have my iPad to write some story or other. I just sat and enjoyed one of the very nice aspects of this property, the ability to wallow in the sunset on any given day.
The spectacular nature of the sunsets from this hilltop are the stuff of legends. We all know that sunsets over the Pacific are epic, but from this hilltop they are especially amazing. We are about twelve miles as the crow flies East of the ocean. Between us and there are nothing but green boulder-strewn hills that roll naturally and belie the population density of Southern California where we live. We actually have a thin slice of reminder to that reality if you look closely down one of the ravines into the valley where Rt. 15, the major North/South inland artery runs. There you can see the traffic as it flows north and south, just enough to conveniently remind you that we are apart from the hubbub and yet close enough to make getting from here to there convenient. There are several houses off on the distant hills, but these are simply small dots of civilization of other people who are striving to capture the same or similar views as we enjoy. When we are down on Rt. 15 and we look up at our hillside, we are always proud that our home blends better with its surroundings and stands out less than other homes that are positioned to capture the Pacific sunsets. We feel that in our small way, we are one with nature more than not.
Our home, being made of stucco and colored to look like the surrounding rock boulders was well designed for this hilltop. It is a one level home, but from the downhill side looks much grander and bigger than it really is by virtue of the extended downhill foundation (where our utility rooms reside). It sprawls north and south along that hill with the sort of curved and angular style that seems more random and consistent with the hill than in conflict with it. We do have two palms between the house and garage that stick up a bit, but that is far less than the homes that have surrounded themselves with palm trees. Most of our landscape is much more indigenous and local with live oak and manzanita, which are both artistically windswept in their shape and very much in keeping with the chaparral landscape. This perch makes me feel very much in place when I sit and enjoy the sunset from my new deck.
In the morning, this view can vary quite a bit, less because of the landscape and more because of the atmospherics of the area. One of my favorite aspects of the hilltop is that the morning mist can often be seen lingering in the valley as the day warms. It gives an ancient and heavenly feel to being on the hilltop. And to the East, since this is, indeed a 360 degree hilltop, we can see the sun rise in one of its secret hiding places where it appears at various times of the year and then rises to shed light on us through the cactus gardens in the front of our property. We end up actually feeling the movement of the planet as it turns on its axis and bakes us warmly from early morning to late day. We spend our days seeking alternate sun and shade literally as the world goes by.
I know that sounds “over the top”, but these are the things that come to mind as we sit in our repose and enjoy our surroundings. Sunrise in the living room through the big East-facing picture windows and the mist receding to the West off the hills and into the ocean. Lunch under the palapa of the patio with the flitting of hummingbirds and the babbling artificial brook that flows into the bubbling spa set amongst the boulders as nature almost intended. The work of errands from under the shade of the yawning shadesail over the Tortilla Flats of the driveway. Afternoon in the Cecil Garden sitting on an Asian teak bench and looking out through a flowering vine-covered trellis towards the sea with budding bonsai hidden in every nook and cranny of the nearby boulders. And late afternoon on the deck, shielded from the harshest sun by yet another palapa that leaves the view to the West unobstructed over the whimsically adorned back hillside where the Bison Boulder rests and the Joshua Tree stands strong. As the sun sets and the landscape lighting comes on to highlight all the elements we have placed and nurtured, we give thanks for our good fortune to be able to share this hilltop for a brief moment in time. What could be more appropriate as we age out of this fine world than to have a spot where we can enjoy the grandeur of the Earth, the power and beauty of nature and the insignificance of man?