Special Birthday Issue

The Big Reveal and My Interview on NPR

Today, Wednesday, August 28, is my birthday.

In keeping with my annual tradition, I am revealing something new today in this special birthday issue. (Last year, I did a month-long retrospective of my art and music instead of a reveal.) There will not be a mailing/post this Friday.

You now get to see the biggest creative project I have pursued so far this year.

My Japanese-inspired garden.

Folks in my neighborhood got to visit this space last Sunday during a birthday garden party my household hosted, but now, the rest of you get to see what I have manifested.

My garden is nestled at the bottom edge of a hillside and shaded by an enormous 200 to 300 year-old Beech tree. I started clearing the land late last summer and into the fall not having any clue about what I was doing. Each step of the way has been thoughtful and embedded with intention.

My garden has a Japanese name. I call it Komorebi, which means “sunlight filtering through trees.”

Without further ado . . .

The Elements

• The Grounding Centerpiece
  
  A Red Dragon Japanese maple tree serves as the singular grounding element for Komorebi. It now stands inside a rounded region of stones that exists as the centerpiece of the entire space. I wanted to focus my garden around some sort of circular presence. Life, with our collective existence and ancestry, runs along a perpetual plane.
  

  

• Shade
  
  Because of its location, Komorebi is mostly in the shade for part of the day. This means my plants get a respite from the scorching summer heat on the hottest days. This scenario allows me to have both sun-loving and shade-loving plants. (The plants featured in my garden—potted and otherwise— so far are lemongrass, purple elephant ears, three varieties of small Japanese maple trees, four different bonsai trees, three types of ferns, an Indian rope plant, Artemisia, hostas, moss, Wandering Jew, Creeping Jenny, a Jade plant, ornamental sweet potato vine, and a golden charm thread branch Cypress.)

• Understated Colors
  
  The color story for my garden is more like a quiet fable than a bold adventure. Shades of purple and dark reds abound. The only exception is an area of greenish chartreuse from the Creeping Jenny my Mom gave me from her garden that mirrors similar colors in the golden charm thread-branch cypress across the way.
  

  

  
  

• Shapes

  
  I wanted to showcase a variety of plant shapes. The wispy and whimsical silhouette of the small Red Dragon Dragon maple in the centerpiece and the wide arches of lemongrass in a separate corner, for example, assert themselves. Four bonsai trees each contribute angles and curves of their own.
  

  

• Stones
  
  I have been enamored of stones these past few years. This was inspired by a neighbor whose house was laden with all kinds of stones that were part of a large collection. Until I visited his house, I never knew the extent to which stones could possess so much raw beauty, richness, and character. The dominant stone in my garden is slate which I have spent the last few months collecting from our creek. Marble rocks and various pebbles are also present.
  
  

  

  
  

• Flowing Water

  
  A common element in Japanese gardens is water. When a pond or lake is not present, banks of sand raked with patterns and curves are created to symbolize the ocean. In my case, I do not have a water feature and cannot use sand because of all our animals who traipse through everything. For now, I am being creative with stones and using them to embody flowing waves and currents.

  

  

• Seating
  
  My garden is intended to be a space where humans coexist peacefully with nature—where there is balance and a sense of calm. Early on, I knew I wanted a seating area, and now there are two of them. In the central seating spot, I have two cedar Adirondack chairs that flank a small table. They are cradled underneath the canopy of a Dogwood tree. (These chairs were made by a local artisan, and they fulfill a long-held desire to someday have beautiful Adirondack chairs of my own.)

  

  
  The second seating area is higher up on the other side with two wooden chairs (gifted to me by MaxZine) under the shade of a few small trees.

  

  
  I have always loved seating that is shaded by trees, and that is the only kind of seating I wanted in my garden. The view when you look up always makes me smile.

  

• Monolithic Structures, but Tiny.
  
  Building on my growing adoration of stones, I wanted to have areas that had monolithic structures and sensibilities similar to places like Stonehenge or even the Washington Monument. Since my garden is less than a third of an acre, I do this on a much smaller scale and use triangular and cube-shaped stones I found along our creek.
  

  

  
  

• The Softest Earth
  
  For ground cover, I am using mulch that was given to us by contractors from our local power company. (There are layers of cardboard and landscape fabric underneath to keep the forest at bay.) This mulch is soft to walk on, and as a nontoxic, organic material, it will biodegrade and blend with the forest eventually.

  

• Pathways
  
  A key design element in Japanese gardens is a pathway that represents a journey from one place to another. I built pathways that cross through Komorebi and that lead to the back pond. They give safe passage to humans and prevent damage to plants. Each path is shaped by the slate rocks I collected.

  

  
  

• A Happy Accident
  
  One unexpected outcome from clearing the thorny weeds and scrubby plants of the forest has been the growth of moss. There is now a large swath of it that is continually expanding. I love moss so much.
  

With Gratitude

I owe an immense debt of gratitude to a handful of people.

First of all, to my partner MaxZine, thank you for helping me find plants and teaching me the best practices when planting trees and plants of all kinds. Your guidance with navigating the weather and the effects of the seasons has been invaluable. The fact that you are a skilled and seasoned gardener is such a marvelous gift.

To my dear friend Xyla, we spent a long afternoon earlier this summer visiting several local nurseries until we found the right tree. Thank you for the gift of the Red Dragon Japanese maple. I was born in the year of the fire dragon, and 2024 is also a dragon year. This tree is a symbol of my life, my creative fire, and your kind friendship.

Thank you to my best friend Laurel for the larger Japanese maples you gave me. They were the first new plants that made it into Komorebi in the earliest stages of clearing and jumpstarted this whole project. You also gave me a wonderful book about Japanese gardens that has been my guide through this journey. I gained a stronger grasp of Japanese gardening philosophies and design principles.

To my friend (and band member) Joe Allen, after a large tree fell in your backyard, you suddenly had more wood than you needed. Thank you for giving me some of it to use for my garden and for helping to load it into my car after every visit.

To my Mom, who is the original inspiration for this garden, thank you for being the template from which I have built my life. The garden at your house is one of my favorite places in the world, and it is so charming and beautiful, just like you. Elements of your garden are present in mine. I live to honor and echo you.

The Future

My garden will be an ongoing love affair. Each step will be made with the intention that Komorebi’s maintenance must be manageable and sustainable over the long term. In the next year, I plan to invite a small forest of moss to grow in a cool and shady corner. Some new and shapely trees will be planted this fall that will contribute forms and textures of their own. Another corner will invite butterflies and bees to feast to their hearts’ content.

May the future be bright with sunlight filtering through.

My Interview with NPR

A few days ago, a journalist from NPR (National Public Radio) interviewed me about the letter I received from the TN Voting Division and the voter suppression that is happening in various parts of the country. You can hear me talk in the latter half of this radio piece that aired during last weekend’s installment of Weekend Edition. Click below:

LISTEN

Happy Birthday To Me

Each day now, I drink my coffee in the mornings while sitting on a comfy Adirondack chair in my garden. I hug my husband and hold my cats in my arms as often as possible. I make sure each day holds its own sweetness, especially on days when tears fall.

This next year, I plan on performing music for more audiences and giving myself permission to take up bigger space than I have in the past, while continuing to cultivate Komorebi and the other gardens I keep. The work will be constant, valuable, and full of unbridled intention.

Thank you for visiting here and roaming along with me.

---

UPCOMING SHOWS FOR FALL 2024:

RNBW Collective at Lipstick Lounge
September 17, 2024
Nashville, TN

New Heights Brewing Company (All Filipino Showcase)
October 8, 2024
Nashville, TN

BoroPride (Mainstage)
October 12, 2024
Murfreesboro, TN

The French House
December 1, 2024
Nashville, TN

---

Last Sunday, I hosted my first ever birthday garden party. Family and friends came out to celebrate and tour our gardens. I felt so much love. I am generally not into birthday parties for myself, but this was so fun.

---