Pacific Northwest Gardening: How has gardening changed for you over the years???, 1 by Soferdig

Soferdig wrote:
Gardening is the use of my right brain and it fills me with anticipation of creation. I love the labor and with all the rocks in our garden it will never end. Lifting rocks, composting, hauling manure, and soils where ever I find it keeps me in shape. I can labor at 57 still over 10 hour days and it makes me, a diabetic, happy and healthy. Like Pixy I have several projects going at the same time so I break up the muscle pain with different stages of labor. Collecting rocks on weekends allow Karen and I to share our hope of the next project. Then I can plan on what I have as it collects to build the next stage of rock-work. This summer is my heated grotto to use for a sauna, green house, winter storage, and sunset viewing. I have planned this one for over 3 years and now have the materials. Can't wait! I will pour the concrete base and sink the slate-like flooring this first melt. Then the walls go up with the posts I have collected from driftwood beams from an abandoned pier near our yacht club. I have 3 windows I found in old construction to have the SW front glazed glass in small 8X6" window panes that "cottage like" the large 6'X6' window. On top of the grotto is soil and thick with compost to grow annuals around our metal/wood bench to sit in while viewing our sunset.
I first wanted every thing and tried to over zone plant and I have learned with toooooo many deaths to stick to Zone 5 and below so the plant remains. My zeal for Maples has matured into a wonderful autum magisty. We have learned to mix seasonal groupings so each window is blessed all year long with garden delights. Winter has become a daily bird watching and IDing all our visitors. My mom now sits all day with binos filled with wonder the many visitors to our dead snag I planted last spring. So I have become a ornithologist studying the places these wonders come from and why are they here. Pheasants have set up daily strolls to feast on the spilled seed from the feeders.
Study is the source of my continuing joy as I build a world for all that God put on our planet. Stone work, Botany, ornithology, geology, soil and compost building keep my right and left brain smoking. Now how do I move this river and waterfall to my yard?