Sweet

Last weekend we visited the Ladew Gardens in Hartford County, MD; it is considered my many the be the finest topiary garden in the United States. It also has a number of other gardens on the grounds - somewhere around twenty in all. During our visit our paths crossed and recrossed a threesome; perhaps a husband, his wife, and his mother? They were on the house tour with us, were in the cafe for lunch the same time we were, and we saw them throughout our walk through the gardens. 

Watching Eagles

Today we visited Norfolk Botanical Garden; while we went to see the roses, we were also treated to an eagle. The area surrounding the eagle's nest is roped off so as not to disturb the eagles - though there were crows who apparently can't read because they were harassing the female eagle.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

This morning we went to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. I decided not to take my camera because I didn’t want to have to think about anything except enjoying the gardens; I wish I’d taken the camera so that I could show you what I’m writing about.

Glass and steel, steel and glass; steel and glass, glass and steel. Trees and flowers and birds and the occasional snake are not enough; fragrances are not enough; honey bees are not enough; we must have glass and steel, and steel and glass to filter and distort our perception of Creation.

The conservatory was populated with glass flowers interspersed among living flowers and trees; were they Martians? A quiet pond surrounded by Iris and interesting trees had a giant steel and glass cube in the center of the pond with glass figurines atop it; were they refugees from Neptune?

We walked by plant beds intertwined with poison ivy, past signs indicating the species of plant that were lying on the ground or leaning like a liquored-up sot; is this neglect or is Lewis Ginter so enamored with its “art” that it can’t see the nature for the art?

Whether what I’m speaking of is your idea of art or not, its reasonable context is the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts or Bush Gardens or King’s Dominion, take your pick, but it is not a botanical garden. If you need an example of Postmodernity then welcome to Lewis Ginter.

Of course gardens from time immemorial have had sculptures and structures integrated within them, but they have been integrated to enhance and not to distract; they played a supporting role, not (for the most part) an intrusive one and certainly not one that demanded center stage.  After all, the delight of a garden is that it is a garden.

Below are some photos of an earlier exhibit at Lewis Ginter, perhaps I should go back with my camera…but I have little motivation. 

 

The Inward Passage

A few years ago Vickie and I took a cruise through the Inward Passage, from Vancouver to points north into Alaska. There isn't a lot of "action" in the inward passage; it's pretty serene with generally placid waters. Visiting a cold climate is different than visiting a hot climate, the skies, the clouds, the plants, the animals - though we did visit a rain forest in Alaska - yes, a rain forest.My skin lets me know whether I'm in Alaska or in the Caribbean, my body interprets my surroundings and goes into "hot climate" or "cold climate" mode.

I think there are times when we experience an Inward Passage in life; perhaps some of us more so than others. Our loss of Patrick has me in one of those Inward Passage experiences; contemplating the fragility of life. It is as if the cold horizons of Alaska's mountains and glaciers have found their way to Midlothian; the waters surrounding me are cold.

For an Easterner the vast spaces of America's West have engulfed me; the geographical perspectives of our continental East and West are quite the contrast. And for one who lives in the Lower Forty-eight, well...the endless regions of Alaska are to our West what our West is to our East...almost. For when I see the Rocky Mountains I know that on the other side of them is the Pacific; but when I see the mountain-vastness of Alaska I'm not sure there is an end to the rock and ice and snow.

But the Inward Passage has its own perspective, and it is not a perspective of largeness but rather one of intimacy; it is not an experience of speed and exhilaration, but one of contemplation and measured pace. Of course on the other side of the mountains that line the Inward Passage is vastness; but within the Passage a man or woman still has proportion to Creation.

Now I know that people die every day, I have told my congregations more than once that the death rate in this country is 100%. There is a vastness about the number of people who die everyday, a vastness that defies comprehension; but there is no vastness about Patrick dying; he was part of my life, he was part of my heart, seeing him throughout each week was as natural as breathing, thinking about him and praying for him and his family was to my heart-life what water is to my physical life. I don't count the number of times I drink water, I didn't count the number of times I thought about Patrick. Of course I still think about Patrick, and I still pray for his family...but it's not the same, is it? I know I won't see him this afternoon, or tomorrow, or the next day. There will be a Day when I will see him, but that may be a while longer - who really knows?

If you know what loss is then you know something about the Inward Passage. I hope you also know that our kind Heavenly Father wants to be with us as we traverse the Passage, for after all, He is our Shepard and if we have come to know Jesus Christ we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23).

The Parson’s Cause – A Tip For Richmond Locals

Here’s a tip for something neat to see if you live in the Richmond area.

On Saturday, June 19, Vickie and I went to the Historic Hanover Courthouse to see a reenactment of the damages portion of the Parson’s Cause trial. It’s a historic case that was argued in 1763 – in that very courthouse - and which some view as fanning the flames of revolution. 

If you’ve ever been to St. John’s Church for the reenactment of Patrick Henry’s, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, this is just as good. In fact, the man who played Patrick Henry (Mike Wells) in the Parson’s Cause trial also plays Henry at St. John’s.

Admission is FREE, though you are given an opportunity to drop contributions in a basket on the way out. I think the production lasted about 45 minutes, but it seemed like only 10 because it was so well performed and the legal issue was interesting. In fact, I’d read about this case previously but couldn’t quite understand it prior to seeing the reenactment; now it is much clearer.

Additional presentations are scheduled this summer, you can go to this link for more info:

http://www.parsonscause.org/