Zen and the Art of Time Management: A Dentist's Japanese-Inspired Gates

"Garden projects keep me off the psychiatrist's couch," says dentist Kent Sellers. Pressured by a rigid schedule, he craves slow, contemplative tasks on days off — like designing and building Japanese-inspired gates for his tea garden.

One gate, made of Russian olive branches and twigs from trees cut along Denver's I-25 during sound-barrier construction, features wood with abundant joints and curves. "When I pulled over and saw these, I knew they were perfect." Sellers doesn't replicate a specific Japanese style; he lets the wood dictate the design. Each junction is hand-screwed, making the gates labor-intensive — but sometimes, time is not an issue.