A pair of young, wiry men work over
my front yard for several days with
hands both strong and gentle,

lifting this earth that was once part
of their homeland—long before their
existence or mine as a native Californian—

for the 27 years when Alta California
was part of the new Mexican nation,
independent of Spain. It did not

take long for new conquerors to
decide that this vast land with its ripe
central valley, perfect for ranching

and crops, needed to be overtaken,
even before they knew about the gold
in these here hills. And they did—

people with pale skin like me—
as the Spanish did from the first
peoples who populated this place.

Many generations later I watch these
landscape artists, listen to their lilting
voices in Spanish as they work

for one more white lady, remaking
the small space I think of as mine
into a lovely swath of river rock

beds into which I will plant annuals
come spring. On a foggy Saturday
morning a trio spreads elephant gray

volcanic rock mixed with soft black
and iron-rich rust that once burbled
up through the earth in liquid form

before cooling into rough bits.
They install smooth slate called
Indian Paintbrush after the plant

as I think of the people who literally
paved the way for my existence,
the ancestors of this land,

along with my own young
parents who migrated west to
make a better life, to raise

California girls, we natives of
a different sort who owe our
comfortable lives to those who

sculpted this land. Like these
men who comprehend un poco
of my too-fast English, as I

struggle with their lyrical Spanish,
men whose wheelbarrows
clatter over chunks of ancient rock.

Who smile shyly when they summon
me to look at their finished work,
who acknowledge my muy bueno

and muchas gracias with a
gentlemanly tip of their ball caps
and a soft chorus of de nada.

•••

With thanks to the team of terrific professionals from JDL Land Management in Sacramento who remade my front yard into a thing of beauty. And to Lindsey Holloway and Chuck Dalldorf who highly recommended Gabriel Garcia and his team… as do I!
(Top photo: Dick Schmidt; photo below: Jan Haag)