So I’d been all week seeking some pathway out of the chaos and rancor, some mode of reconciling the angers, shoutings, the sneerings with the longings for some sense, some refuge of comity and just plain normal.
A retreat to the shelves for daily visitations with old friends D.T. Suzuki and Thich Nhat Hanh. With my now broken-binded and discolored edition of “The Dhammapada,” supposedly the Buddha’s very own words, purchased in the University of Redlands bookstore on October 26, 1977 for the princely sum of $3.45. (The date had helpfully been stamped on the opening page.)
Took an extended whack at stitching their voices in with Samuel Beckett and his waiting, his emptiness, his desperate circling around words that would not come, ideas that would not cohere, relations that would not form.
Came up empty myself.
Then a Sunday morning suggestion from my partner in this whole enterprise, with a gentle and tentative, “Want to go to the woods with me?”
Followed seconds later by, “Maybe Duke Gardens?”
Yes, let’s make a definite of Duke Gardens.
And so we did.
The perfect answer, as such inspirations most always turn out to be, to the conundrums of the wider world, none of them likely to go away anytime soon, but which can be put away for a day, this day, this moment, this sabbath, come to think of it, with all the weight and beckoning and capacity for rest and renewal that word implies.
Join me?
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Deep appreciation to the photographers! Unless otherwise stated, some rights reserved under Creative Commons licensing.
Elizabeth Haslam, whose photos (except for library books) grace the rotating banner top of homepage. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizhaslam/
Library books by Larry Rose, Redlands, California, all rights reserved, contact: larry@rosefoto.com
All Duke Gardens photos by Andrew Hidas https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewhidas/
Wonderful post!! The pictures say it all, and even Jerry Garcia’s voice sounds good!! (not a huge fan, but this mellow tune is a classic.) While in the mood for “what we can do to elevate our worldview”, we bumped into a super sweet British TV series called Trying (thanks to the NYT rave review) and fell in love (being adoptive parents ourselves may have helped, but I think most folks will find Trying well worth a look! Here’s the kind of review the pros are giving it: “Tone and Style: Critics praise the series for trading cynical, bleak humor for earnest optimism, warmth, and dry British wit. Reviewers note that instead of exploiting infertility and the adoption process for cheap punchlines, the show treats heavy emotional hurdles with profound compassion and everyday humor!”
The photos of Duke Garden are not only stunning, but reminders of the necessity of taking a deep breath, even for an hour or two, from the ugliness of taking an axe to Washington D.C.’s cherry trees to make room for a golf course or selling off a portion of Yosemite National Park to a private company with its plan to scar such beauty with a road bricked in greed. A walk in a garden is a joy. After I’ve done my own gardening, I feel better, especially when I’ve finished the weeding. Speaking of weeds…
Beautiful! Made my Sunday!
Kevin, always looking for tips on good film/TV, so thanks for that and we will check it out!
Robert, take ‘er easy on those weeds—my approach has increasingly become short swaths of weeding to get the best of them before they get the best of me! (And my back…)
Deanna, glad to be part of that Sunday—cheers!