Tag Archives: The spirit of bamboo

Life is a Bowl of Cherries

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“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” 
― Henry James

A South Florida summer can be very, very hot and humid. Stepping out of an air conditioned home, a wave of heat will hit you like a ton of bricks and, if you wear eyeglasses, you’re momentarily blinded as the steam fogs up your lenses. But, if you’re lucky enough to have a yard full of trees, you can actually enjoy a summer afternoon outside, despite the humidity.

What a difference a tree makes!

Sitting under my grove of bamboo trees, I close my eyes to feel the warm, gentle breeze as it makes contact with my skin. Hanging on a nearby tree branch, the Woodstock chimes harmonize with the rustle of leaves ― the only music I need to hear.  I breathe in the smell of freshly cut grass. The lawn feels soft against my bare feet. The wispy, yet majestic, royal ponciana trees form a canopy over the entire house, dropping vibrant red flowers over the garden. I begin to crave something, but what? Cherries. That’s it. Cherries always remind me of summertime. I bought some from the market just the other day. As if reading my mind, my husband  (who has been watching me from the kitchen window, enjoying the sight of my serenity) brings out a bowl of cherries for me to taste. He sits in the chair beside me and together we savor the ripe fruit and silently enjoy the sound of quiet.

And here, in the northern hemisphere, summer has just begun.

“Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Our royal ponciana trees (with the red flowers)

Top photo (cherries) via dacha.com.

Bottom photo (royal ponciana tree) by Heather Joan Marinos © 2013 – All Rights Reserved.

The Sound of Quiet

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“That innate love of melody, which she had inherited from her ballad-singing mother, gave the simplest music a power which could well-nigh drag her heart out of her bosom at times.” 
― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles

A wise woman once told me that sometimes people have selective hearing – they hear only what they want to hear, perhaps because they  don’t want or don’t care to know.  This same woman told me that it was important that I learn not only to hear, but also to listen – because when we focus, our sense is heightened, enabling us to notice all the subtleties and nuances that we would have missed, had we not made the effort.   Her frame of reference was music.  As she spoke, her voice was quiet, soft and melodic.  She whistled as good as any nightingale.  She only whistled when she was sad.  It lifted her spirits up.  She sang when she was happy.  When she sang, she would close her eyes, her lids fluttering slightly. Her singing was perfectly tuned and simply lovely.  I have never forgotten her voice, nor the sound of her whistling. 

She gave me one more piece of sage advice, almost as an afterthought – but now, I realize that it was what she most wanted me to remember. 

“Each day, you must take the time to listen to the sound of quiet.  Just do it.  You will understand why, when you do.”

So, if I were asked to narrow down my most favorite sounds to five, they would be:

5.  The haunting rumbling of a distant train. (it appeals to my sense of wanderlust)

4.  The discordant sounds that an orchestra makes, in the minutes before the  concert hall is silent – before the performance commences.  (it fills me with anticipation, excitement and joy)

3.  The steady, low roar of ocean waves, as the tide rolls in – especially at dawn and dusk. (I am awed and humbled by its sheer magnificence)

2.  The gentle rustling of bamboo leaves, as the trees sway in the wind. (this, for me, is the sound of peace)

1.  The sound of quiet.  (when everything is silent, I am in complete harmony with myself,  and with God)

 

Image via businesssuccesshub.com.

Bamboo in Full Bloom

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

~ Bruce Lee (November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973)

The sound of rustling bamboo leaves can be heard throughout my house when the windows are open.  By day, I love to do my writing while  sitting in my side garden, surrounded by a grove of these beautiful, mystical trees.  And, at night, I can see shadows of the wondrously resilient  bamboo stalks as they dance with the wind, while weaving in and out of the moonlight. They fill me with a sense of quiet joy and complete serenity.

Back in October, I wrote a couple of posts about the bamboo stalk that was sprouting in my garden and how it was shooting up towards the sky ― higher and higher, as the days passed.  Within the space of just a few weeks, it  was well over twenty feet above my roof line.  Now, it looks like a majestic feather, swaying in the wind.  Below, you can see  my photos of  this amazing tree, as it has evolved.

In my October 7th (2012) post , The Spirit of Bamboo, I mentioned that this fast-growing stalk has inspired my husband and I to “keep raising our eyes in the same direction of our wonderful bamboo …. upwards, always upwards.”

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On October 28th (2012), I wrote Bamboo Rising, where I listed The 7 Life Lessons from Bamboo (by Sompong Yusoontorn).

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And here it is today (see photo, below). A symbolism of simplicity and humility, flexibility and strength. In the Asian culture, it is believed that the younger branches on the top of the bamboo stalk will never overshadow the older, larger branches below. This is so the sunlight will reach the elder branches. Conversely, the baby shoots are protected from the shade of the older branches, so that they may have a chance to grow. The dual symbolism is that the bamboo represents the young respecting the old and the old protecting the young.

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Awesome, isn’t it?

I’ll leave you with an excerpt from William Edgar Geil‘s “Ode to Bamboo” (written over a century ago). An American Baptist missionary and adventurer who was fascinated by China, Dr. Geil made history as the first person to traverse the Great Wall of China in an 82-day excursion. In his Ode, he describes his observations on the usefulness and wonders of Bamboo:

“A man can sit in a bamboo house under a bamboo roof, on a bamboo chair at a bamboo table, with a bamboo hat on his head and bamboo sandals on his feet. He can at the same time hold in one hand a bamboo bowl, in the other hand bamboo chopsticks and eat bamboo sprouts. When through with his meal, which has been cooked over a bamboo fire, the table may be washed with a bamboo cloth, and he can fan himself with a bamboo fan, take a siesta on a bamboo bed, lying on a bamboo mat with his head resting on a bamboo pillow. His child might be lying in a bamboo cradle, playing with a bamboo toy. On rising he would smoke a bamboo pipe and taking a bamboo pen, write on bamboo paper, or carry his articles in bamboo baskets suspended from a bamboo pole, with a bamboo umbrella over his head. He might then take a walk over a bamboo suspension bridge, drink water from a bamboo ladle, and scrape himself with a bamboo scraper.”

Bamboo rising

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Since my earlier blog post, The spirit of bamboo, the stalk (see my photo, above) has grown about ten more feet into the sky and is now sprouting bamboo leaves!  It is now approximately 20 feet above the roof line and continues to grow.  We are in awe. 

What’s equally stunning is the late night view, when the Belt of Orion (a constellation of three bright, evenly spaced stars — lined up in a vertical row) seems to be positioned (each night) to the right of the upper part of our bamboo stalk.  Unfortunately, my camera is not good enough to capture this beauteous nighttime wonder, but this photo (see photo, left) will show you what the constellation looks like at night (just imagine the bamboo stalk to the left of the Belt).

We have a grove of bamboo trees, but this one stalk simply keeps growing and growing.  So, I decided to do some research on the divine and symbolic attributes of bamboo.

And that is when I came upon The 7 Life Lessons from Bamboo by Sompong Yusoontorn:

These are very wise and true words, indeed. 

For the moment, however, let’s cast symbolism and meaning aside — instead, simply savour the beauty of this bamboo.  And without fail, each night, the trio of stars keep reappearing — twinkling brightly  alongside this statuesque stalk.  And again, and again, we are in awe.