Читать книгу The Twelve Gifts from the Garden - Charlene Costanzo - Страница 18

A Bamboo Concert

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

—Bruce Lee

During today’s garden stroll, I stop where the Wedding Arch Path meets the Bamboo Corner. The paths here are not actually named. They don’t bear signage the way many trees and plants do. But, out of necessity, my husband and I have named a few. “Where are you?” he asks, calling my cell phone from the beach. I look around, wondering how to describe where I am.

“I’m on the Dockside Pool Path,” I tell him. Another time he tells me he’s on the Avocado Path.

Where Wedding Arch Path meets Bamboo Corner is one of my favorite locations here. I’ve stopped to give my full attention to the bamboo concert that’s happening in front of me. This group performs regularly but at unscheduled times, like impromptu jam sessions. What moves this group to make music is the wind, of course. As the stalks sway, they knock and clack; the leaves swish. I’m soothed by this natural percussion.

I sit on a nearby bench to listen. I watch. The bending bamboo reminds me of a fourth-grade girl in a school in Soldotna, Alaska. After reading The Twelve Gifts of Birth to the class, I asked the students to name one of the special abilities that make up their unique mix of talent. One hand shot up ahead of others, so I called on that child.

“I’m flexible,” she said.

I’ve visited hundreds of classrooms and talked with thousands of students and I had never heard that response. My first thought was that she did yoga. Instead of simply, and wisely, asking her to tell me more, I went with my interpretation and asked if she did yoga.

“Yes,” she said. “I do. But what I meant is that I’m good at accepting change and adapting to it. I’m willing to change my thinking and how I react to things.”

Yes, a fourth grader said that! That insightful girl has become a touchstone for me. Like the bamboo in this garden, she is strong and flexible. She’s able to bend without breaking in both her body and mind.

Nature’s lessons are everywhere. I see the flexible aspect of strength in the bamboo and in the Alaska student.

The wind picks up and so does the music. The swishing, clacking, and knocking get louder. The bamboo bends lower. Along with keeping the concert going, the blowing wind keeps the no-see-um bugs away. I decide to stay and listen. And think. How accepting of change am I?