Señor Juan Aguayo

 "You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one." -John Lennon

* * * * *

I love writing Yelp reviews. So when my landscape contractor, Juan, asked me if I would write about his work for me this past week, I was delighted to oblige. Here's what I said.

^ Señor Aguayo lays a mean stone patio.

For years, I've dreamed of having a stock tank pool built into my back yard. And over those same years, several people have told me what an expensive, impractical dream that is. Still, I've carried my vision forward, trusting that someday, somehow, I would find someone to help me make that dream come true. 

Enter Juan Aguayo. In the past few years, I've put Juan's considerable landscaping skills to good use: trimming trees, building a small deck, laying a walkway, installing a storm drain. Every time, Juan's work has been right on the money - an excellent product for a fair price - and so I decided to tell him about my pool dream and see if he might help me find a way to bring it to life. 

Juan immediately saw the possibilities for this project. 

He listened to my ideas and remembered my asks. 

He proposed alternatives and patiently debated back and forth with me. 

He brought his keen eye, attention to detail, and commitment to aesthetics to the project design. 

He identified construction complexities and technical details that I had not thought to consider. 

And after several hours of conversation, I gave Juan the green light to begin. 

This was an anxious time for me. It's no small thing to trust your dreams to someone else, to trust them to capture your vision, and to bring it to life. 

^ Juan's two teenage sons work for him and both lent a hand to this project. 

I love to support a family business.

 But that's exactly what Juan and his team did for me. 

Oh sure, Juan does all the little things right too. He shows up when he promises to show up. He keeps a safe and clean work site. He manages his team well. He communicates with me and keeps me involved in daily decisions. His financial systems are transparent and fair. He got the job done on time and on budget, and left my newly transformed backyard as neat as a pin. 

Yet what Juan accomplished is so much more than all that. I trusted him to re-landscape my backyard around the stock tank pool of my dreams, and he knocked it out of the park. If Juan can make my landscaping dreams come true, he can do the same for you. Give him a call.

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Photo credits to Alan Aguayo

* * * * *

I'm a lake lady and I need water. 

Follow along as I try to make my pool-owning dreams come true.

Commitment

Pivot

355 Days

Mud Hole

Getting Stoned

Señor Juan Aguayo

Dumpster Diving Dog

^ Look at my delightfully well-behaved dog.

On our daily walk, she marches along through the sidewalks and lanes in back of the local high school, head down, nose ever alert, a well-bred and every so mannerly hunting dog to her very core.

^ Now our journey takes us alongside of the main campus. Notice the large planting beds filled with rangy green juniper bushes, prized for their year-round color and sturdy disposition.

The planters are also apparently valued by students as a handy place to toss their uneaten food and associated litter.

Now the average passerby would have no idea of the bagels, chicken patties, granola bars, and sandwiches that lie beneath these stately shrubs. 

But thanks to her sniffing super powers, Gracie does.

^ In an instant, she dashes across the courtyard, leaps up on the wide ledge and into the planting bed proper. She scouts around and through the branches until she zeros in on her first find.

^ And then she dives deep, until her head, neck, legs, and sometimes her belly, disappear into the shrubbery. She snuffles around until she finds what she's looking for, then comes up for air, chomping with wild relish on whatever disgusting food garbage she's found this time. 

^ Thrilled by her savory scores, she plunges again and again, headfirst into the prickly deep, until I come and haul her out. As much as I voice my displeasure at this activity, she doesn't care. Always entirely well chuffed with herself, Gracie resurfaces with a smile.

And a coat full of dried juniper twigs. Which are covered with sharp, needle-like prickers that stick deep into the shaggy fur of her ears, her legs, her chest, her belly. And can only be removed by snipping them out with a pair of scissors and the utmost care.

A process that can easily take as long as thirty minutes, not a single second of which does Gracie enjoy.

^ But when we are back home, and my girl has been properly fed and thoroughly brushed out, she is once again the very picture of well-mannered behavior. 

You would never guess by looking at her that Gracie is a dumpster diving dog. 

Getting Stoned

For a long time, I imagined my stock tank pool was going to be surrounded by a wood deck.

Not exactly sure why, but I think my childhood memories of years spent leaping off wooden docks into luscious lakes really locked down the notion that wood and water go together.

But last week, as my yard guy, Juan, and I were hashing through the particulars of my project, tossing design ideas back and forth, it dawned on me that Juan was anti-deck. Or at least, he was against my dream of a low circular deck  My fight or flight reflex clocked in, my debating skill roared into high gear, and I quickly lined up my strongest arguments as to why wood was the way to go.

But then, Juan spoke the game-changing words, "What if we did a stone patio around the pool instead?"

And just like that, I changed my mind.

Oh, beyond the sentimental yearnings, I'd had some practical reasons for preferring wood. 

Strong clean lines.

Smooth and warm underfoot.

And the composite product I planned to use spelled out no maintenance. At all. Ever.

But you know, all at once the idea of stone felt so right to me.

So obvious.

So organic.

So true to the rest of the yard.

So darn good.

So here we are, four tons of dark grey flagstone later. Juan and his team capped off a busy week by laying out the first of the stones around the pool. 

And I am spending my weekend staring out my kitchen window, looking past the clutter and the construction debris, enjoying the intoxicating sight of my new stones. 

* * * * *

I'm a lake lady and I need water. 

Follow along as I try to make my pool-owning dreams come true.

Commitment

Pivot

355 Days

Mud Hole

Getting Stoned

Señor Juan Aguayo

Mud Hole

On Monday, I shook hands with my yard guy, Juan, and promised to pay him a substantial amount of money.

The next day, he came and turned my back yard into a giant mud pit.

Yeah, I'm really not kidding. 

Step One: he ripped out every single blade of grass.

Step Two: he dug a giant hole in the middle of what was once my lawn.

The full effect doesn't look too terrible in these photos, but please imagine a drenching downpour liquefying every inch into a wobbly mass of muck, and you'll get a better idea of what I was staring down.

Now to be fair, I take full responsibility for this monstrous mess. This whole project was my idea. I'd dreamed it up, bit by bit over the years, and I was thrilled to finally have taken the step of turning it into reality. This is my pool dream coming to life!

 And I know perfectly well that in any creative endeavor, things are always gonna get worse before they get better. But just the same, I was having some serious second thoughts about the chaos I'd unleashed. 

What if my backyard makeover turned out to be a terrible, awful, no good, very bad idea?

I found myself mired in a pit of self-doubt almost as deep and desperate as the ever-expanding hole in my backyard. 

So, after a few agonizing days and restless nights, I gave myself some serious self-talk. 

I reminded myself to trust in the process - and in Juan, who has never let me down. 

I fought back the panic. 

I encouraged myself to stay the course. 

And I held my breath, waiting for 

the rain to stop, 

the mud to settle, 

and the beautiful vision I carried in my mind to begin to take shape in front of my eyes.

And today, it happened. 

The sun came out.

Soft breezes swirled over the fence.

And when Juan brought me out for the daily tour, I saw the pieces beginning to fall into place.

• My little stock tank pool now sits in his forever home, settled in at ground level.

• A gravel bed for the stone patio wraps around the pool.

• A rock retaining wall creates a level space on my otherwise sloped yard for the patio.

• New pathways lead to the pool area and wind around the perimeter of the yard.

For sure, there are a lot of details still to fall into place, and plenty of back-breaking work to be done. 

But I'm no longer gnashing my teeth and fretting about the eventual outcome.

My back yard is moving past the mud hole stage and is well on its way to making my lake lady dreams come true. 

* * * * *

I'm a lake lady and I need water. 

Follow along as I try to make my pool-owning dreams come true.

Commitment

Pivot

355 Days

Mud Hole

Getting Stoned

Señor Juan Aguayo

Harvest Hues

Fall has never been my favorite season. 

Every year come September, I feel summer slipping away and I want to scream.

Dry, brittle leaves fall from the trees and turn to sludge on the sidewalks,

brown shriveled stalks droop in my garden,

afternoons grow ever shorter as darkness closes in.

Every year come September, I have to work through my tantrums and find the good in this season of endings. 

The only thing that helps me cope are the colors. 

Yes, the changing leaves on the trees are lovely and your basic orange pumpkin is shockingly bright but honestly, they are not enough. I need to soak up the full spectrum of autumn in order to find my peace.

Last week, on a delightfully overcast day, my eyes feasted on the harvest hues at Gordon Skagit Farms, and my heart caught a fresh glimpse of what makes autumn special.

Here, let me show you.

 

^ Fall sunflowers against an elegantly overcast sky. Love those threatening clouds contrasted with the sunflowers' sunny faces. 

^ Velvety brown centers surrounded by brilliant ruffles of yellow.

^ Mossy greens made lush again from the early fall rains. 

^ Explosively gorgeous oranges, yellows, purple and gold. Gently fading leaves of a mostly green tree.

^ Weathered wood and rusty metals.

^ Pastel pink pumpkins and russet red flowers.

^ Pure orange delight, tempered by pinks and purples, a downed Douglas Fir, a cozy cubby, and a lovely grey backdrop. Ah, I'm starting to feel much better. 

^ But when it comes to fall's best colors, my dog, Gracie, has got it all going on. Wrapped in a red mahogany coat with strawberry blond highlights, she is a veritable poster child for fall's premium color palette. 

Her harvest hues are teaching my October heart to sing. 

P.S. This year, as she does every year, Gracie jumped up on the wall of this concrete pond and helped herself to a long, lovely drink of water. And everyone in sight stopped in their tracks to watch her and smile at her. She is a vision of autumn loveliness to be sure. 

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For more information and gorgeous photos of Gordon Skagit Farm, go to their website here. 

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If this story doesn't convince you to visit Gordon Skagit Farm, then I suggest you keep reading:

Gordon Skagit Farm

Bringing Gracie Along

Gordon's Pumpkin Soup

Gordon Skagit Farm Again

Harvest Hues

Olympic Sculpture Park

Summer Diaries | June 17, 2023

Go ahead. Ask me my favorite place to go in Seattle.

The place

most magical

most full of whimsy and joy

most likely to fill me with peace

most likely to make me smile.

And I will answer you in a snap.

Olympic Sculpture Park.

A green, grassy hill

That falls from city to sound

Full of sparkling art

I've been many times

Always fresh to seeking eyes

Go there with me now

Richard Serra | Wake | 2004

^

Enter the garden

Slip through the tall metal waves

Now I'm fully here.

Beverly Pepper | Perre's Ventaglio III | 1967

^ 

Mirrors or window

Reflect the world around them

Change the way I see.

Alexander Calder | The Eagle | 1971

^

Glimpsed from afar through trees

Delicate, dainty, divine

I wonder if she can fly.

Alexander Calder | The Eagle | 1971

^

Up close, she changes

Heavy, bolted to the ground

I trust she is safe.

Teresita Fernadez | Seattle Cloud Cover | 2004 - 2006

^

On grey, rainy days

These colors get bright and bold

And I feel sunshine. 

Tony Smith | Stinger | 1967-1968, 1999 

^

Secret hiding place

Surrounded by cityscape

I'm safe in the trees. 

Mark di Suvero | Schubert Sonata | 1992

^ 

Steel speaks to steel; as

One vessel chugs by, but the

Other waits with me. 

^

You bring endless joy

Sculpture, garden, sea, and sky

SAM, I will be back

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Information about the art was found here.

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My 2023 Summer Diaries:

Olympic Sculpture Park

Glossier

Bainbridge Island

Fort Ebey State Park

Evergreen State Fair

Mukilteo Lighthouse

Deception Pass

Glossier

Summer Diaries | Tuesday, June 20

If you use these skin care and beauty items, you will embark upon magical adventures featuring funky flowers, technicolor toadstools and mossy boulders, apparently strewn here and there by some recent glacier activity. 

And yet, at the same time, your aforesaid skin care and beauty items will remain neat and impeccably tidy.

Labels will always face forward (sigh) 

Products will be placed in graduating rows and columns (swoon) 

All will be designed in coordinating shades of pink with pastel accents (shablaam.)

That's the sound me falling over and breaking into a million happy pieces.

Maybe it's a flashback to my college marketing courses where I learned way too much about the way companies induce people to buy, but I tend to be a bit put off by overt branding exercises. 

But by golly, Glossier (glossié/gloss-ee-yay), you do it right. You make me want to buy your stuff, even though I know I won't be getting an actual trip down the rabbit hole. But ya know, in some ways, I do.

Your store is a fantastical wonderland. 

. * * * * *

My 2023 Summer Diaries:

Olympic Sculpture Park

Glossier

Bainbridge Island

Fort Ebey State Park

Evergreen State Fair

Mukilteo Lighthouse

Deception Pass