By Shamus Johnson
I sit in Knowing the Spring Courtyard and look out onto the landscape that surrounds it – a beautiful patch of land on a hill overlooking my city of Seattle. I think of Chongqing, our sister city 6000 miles away, and imagine someone sitting in a Garden like the one ours will be someday. A beautiful garden on a hilltop. It seems to be taking such a long time, but our small community of volunteers and friends of the Garden won't give up. We have faith that one day, not so far off, we can invite our Chongqing friends to visit the Garden, for this is their Garden, too! A gift and a bond that we feel very strongly here.
I sit in Knowing the Spring Courtyard and look out onto the landscape that surrounds it – a beautiful patch of land on a hill overlooking my city of Seattle. I think of Chongqing, our sister city 6000 miles away, and imagine someone sitting in a Garden like the one ours will be someday. A beautiful garden on a hilltop. It seems to be taking such a long time, but our small community of volunteers and friends of the Garden won't give up. We have faith that one day, not so far off, we can invite our Chongqing friends to visit the Garden, for this is their Garden, too! A gift and a bond that we feel very strongly here.
There's a new addition to the Garden landscape – a statue of a carp, the Dragon Seeker. For now, it is swimming through a sea of dirt, but soon it will be surrounded by peonies sent to us from the friendly city of Luoyang. It is our goal to see the carp turn into a dragon and to be placed in a more significant, more auspicious spot, a final resting place after the long journey upstream.
We all share a vision of the day our Garden will be a beacon to the city of Seattle, and beyond. A destination for garden lovers and families. A spot to escape from the noisy bustle of the city. A place to renew and calm our souls, surrounded by a bit of paradise. Our garden keeper, Bob Seeley, is a careful and caring keeper. Together, we will see it through. I look forward to seeing you here someday soon. We will meet you at the gate.
"The fish has swum very far and for a very long time. It must be so happy to rest now that it has found its home at the Garden..."
Shamus Johnson is a longtime volunteer with the Garden who has pondered the mystery and voyage of the carp landing on the edge of the Courtyard. The carp is fast becoming the Garden's mascot, symbolizing our continuing effort to move forward. One of the first things Bob Seeley, our new garden manager, did was to release the giant carp from its captivity. To read more about how the carp came to the Garden, please see a previous entry: The Mysterious Carp.