The garden at Bear Creek, North Carolina. The arbor was created in January 2007 out of cedar culled from the property. I was visiting the farm then, when it was just barely cleared, and I helped my dad gather the cedar wood and hoist the logs up. The four-armed wooden pergola rising now in the background of this week's rite was envisioned by him - and is now being designed and built by artist/craftsman Farrell V. Moose and his brother Seamus, also out of cedar. It's been amazing to watch them work, to witness the structure - the sight, scent, feel of it - slowly rise up out of the center of the garden, right over the well.
I send out this rite especially to my friend T, whose father passed away this week, and her family. I am hoping for solace in the beautiful backyard garden in Mystic, Connecticut.
