Winter Redux
December 7th, 2005I’m going to again close the year with another’s words, those of Isamu Tanaguchi. He was born in 1897 near Osaka, Japan and lived in the US during the era of Japanese internment camps. Since history repeats, his words seem very timely. They also reflect the theme of these newsletters - parallax.
Mr. Tanaguchi’s interest in gardening was developed as a youth under the supervision of his great uncle who gardened for a hobby. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17, returning only once to Japan to bring back the bride his family had selected for him. The couple farmed in Stockton, California and later raised cotton and vegetables in the Rio Grande Valley until his retirement in 1967 when he moved to Austin where his sons had been educated at the University of Texas, and began work on the Oriental garden. The garden is his gift to the city of Austin. It is located in the Botanical Gardens in Zilker Park, and I hope you have a chance to visit. It is the one place in Austin that feeds my soul.
The Spirit of the Garden by Isamu Tanaguchi
In viewing a picture it may seem to express a deep maternal love or it may impress you as the stern expression of the paternal dignity. The perception results from an inner communion between the spirit of the observer and the spirit of the picture. In the same sense, even the common pebble on the path or the grass trodden upon by man or run over by a wheel, in its own individuality attempts to communicate with the heart of man. Therefore, if a man possesses a pure or sensitive heart, the pebbles in the grass can reveal their beauty to his eyes. When a man with such pure appreciation in his peaceful mind tries to compose with stones, grass, and water in order to create one unified beauty the formation is called a garden. In this context, the garden is the embodiment of the peaceful coexistence of all the elements of nature.
Throughout the evolutionary progress of mankind on this earth, we have experienced a struggle of existence in which we have lost the sensitivity of our humanity. Today we have reached a point of crisis in our existence,
