Return to the Garden

Basho was a famous Japanese poet.  Take a few minutes a step into his world:

Lori G. (c) 2008

If you need a bit of a breather from the hustle and bustle of your day, take a virtual stroll through my friend Grace’s garden.  It will truly soothe your soul:

Lori G. (c)  2008

Madrona is a vernal marsh which means that it is dry as a bone in the summer and fall, but when the winter rains come, it fills up and becomes quite lovely. The amazing thing is that it is smack in the middle of a urban setting. There is a giant shopping mall across the street.

Sometimes our continuing existence on this old world seems so hopeless when I listen to dire news reports on global climate change, the pollution of the our planet, and the rape and destruction of the natural realm. But, I had reason to be cheered this weekend when I heard a news report that the US Department of the Interior is proposing to remove the Brown Pelican from its endangered species list.

Forty years ago you would almost never see a pelican. Extinction loomed on the horizon for this magnificent creature, due primarily from the use of DTT pesticides. Today, there are over 600,000 pelicans, enough to insure the survival of the species. I see one nearly every time I go to the beach now. Sometimes, I step out on faith and tell myself that maybe, just maybe, things might turn out okay for this old world after all. We can only hope.

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To read the details, clickHERE.

The image is of a California Brown Pelican, a subspecies of Pelecanus occidentalis. Yes, this bird let me get close enough for this shot. A very special moment for me.

Lori G. (c) 2008

Lori G. (c)  2008

The Palos Verdes Peninsula is a rocky outcropping that marks the southwestern edge the Los Angeles basin. Rising from this urban plain, the peninsula pushes into the Santa Monica Bay. Twenty-six miles to the west is Santa Catalina Island, one of several that comprise the Channel Islands chain. Every winter 20,000 California gray whales make their annual voyage from the frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska down the west coast of North America to the warm lagoons of Baja California in Mexico. The pregnant females will give birth and nurse their calves until they are big enough to accompany the adults back to Alaska by the end of May. The route these great animals will take passes between the peninsula and the Channel Islands. Captains of whale watching boats make a good living escorting scores of people into the bay to seek out and snap pictures of the mothers and their young.

Near the lighthouse at Point Vicente, there is an interpretive center providing a natural history of the peninsula and the sealife that dwells in bay. After driving by the center many times, a couple of days ago I decided to stop to take a look for myself.

After I exploring the center’s exhibits, I went out on the observation deck. Four people were on the deck, each sitting in high-standing deck chairs which they had brought along. Being December, it was very cold and windy and these four were bundled up in parkas and gloves. Each held high-powered binoculars. They were silent, each scanning the sea with their glasses. They were definitely prepared and looked as if they had done this many times before.

“Excuse me. Do you see any whales?” I asked.

One of the four, a woman, put her glasses down and said. “Not yet. But they’re out there. They’re out there.”

She fell silent again. She put her binoculars in her lap and just stared at the sea.

It struck me that they seem as if they were in some sort of meditative state. And why not? They were in a sunny place, staring at a scene of unparalleled beauty, listening to only the sound of the surf on the rocks below the bluff. I could not imagine a place more tranquil.

They did not seem fazed that they could see no whales. In fact, if they saw none today, I don’t think they would be disappointed. Just sitting, as if waiting for some royal personage to make an appearance, was enough. If they did see a whale, it would be as if they touched the face of the Divine. If not, still, they would not go home empty.

They were in a chapel built of sky, wind and sea. And like the whales, the Divine was out there, waiting to be experienced.

Text and Images: Lori G. © 2007

This is the Korean Friendship Bell, a 7-ton cast bronze bell, given to the US by the Republic of Korea at the time of the U.S. Bicentennial, to honor Korean War Veterans and the friendship between  our two countries. (You can read about the details of the structure’s design and construction here. ).

The structure is beautifully situated on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This place is another one of those little gems (which we all have in our respective communities) that both calms and invigorates me whenever I am there. The day I took these pictures was cold and extraordinarily clear, and the structure sparkled under a blinding white sun. The only sounds were the flapping of pigeon’s wings and the distant sound of children playing. It was like stepping out of time to a place of absolute stillness.

The park is adjacent to a military installation, and, in fact, if you look down the bluff, you will see the ruins of WWII battlements. It is quite ironic, actually. But it is a physical reminder to me that one CAN find peace and tranquility, even when surrounded by signs of conflict and war. Amazing, really.

Let me just end this by showing you some more images. May you find peace and tranquility as you meditate on these images.

Lori G. (c) 2007

Los Angeles artist, J. Michael Walker, has spent the last several years of his life researching the names of the 103 L.A. streets named after saints. From his research he has made a collection of ink and seriograph images along with poetry depicting the saints in unique and contemporary contexts. The culmination of this project will be an exhibition at the Autry Museum early next year and the publication of a book entitled All the Saints of the City of the Angels: Seeking the Soul of L.A. on Its Streets.

What I find intriguing about this project is the artist’s attempt to find the spiritual essence of a place, or, rather, to find his spiritual essence within a place. Perhaps this search is one in the same.

Whatever direction the search, I think it is critical that we, in order to be fully human and whole, need to find that place of “sacredness” where we can encounter and experience the realm of the spirit. This special place can be a physical locale, an established place such as a temple, church or sacred grove, or a mundane place that we have made “holy” for ourselves—a park bench where we rest and feed the birds or a cozy chair in front of a fireplace.

How do you find this place? May I suggest taking a few moments to consider a few questions. Ask youself:

What would my sacred space be like? Is it a real place? If so, where? Is it an imaginary place? Pretend you are describing this imaginary place to someone. Does the space ever change? If so how? What or who populates the space? What can I bring to this space to make it special? What do I take away from it?

Once you have established your space—either a physical place where you can visit or an imaginary one that you visit in your mind’s eye, make it your practice to get to that place as often as you can.

Wherever you go, find yourself there.

Blessings.

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Some sources for inspiring you in your search for a sacred space:

The All the Saints of the City of the Angeles Project

Sacred Cartography (at the Soul Food Café)

Sacred Sites: Places of Peace and Power

Lori G. © 2007

The images above were taken by me at the San Fernando Mission, established in 1797. The mission resides on a street named after this saint.

For me there is a certain comfort in knowing that there is some intelligent design in the universe which we can see in nature.

Lori G. (c) 2007

South Coast Botanical Gardens, Palos Verdes, California.