Big Easy Urban Jungle

We dwell in an‘urban jungle’ called New Orleans.  However, my favorite place to be when I’m here is far from the concrete jungle, it is sitting in Nancy’s delightful garden uptown.  All the photos throughout this blog, except when noted, are of Nancy’s garden so you will understand why I spend so much time over there.   This is a photo of me at Nancy’s pond, which shows the aftermath of our most recent  hurricane with the prop holding up the Jacaranda tree behind me.  But you can see that the garden very quickly recovered from the wreckage of the storm.

Photo of plant containers and the backdrop features the firespike or Odontonema, the mainstay of Nancy’s fall garden with its dramatic red blooms.

 You will find urban gardeners all over New Orleans, especially in the Garden District, but my friend, Nancy, is a gardener ‘par excellence’.   We share a passion for gardening, nature and natural history books and, kindly, this past autumn, Nancy loaned me books by Andrea Wulf, Diane Ackerman, Nancy Ross Hugo and others who write prose about the natural world.

Oh those beautiful nasturtiums!

As fellow nature lovers, you will love Andrea Wulf’s fascinating story, ‘Founding Gardens’.  During this contentious election season and looming fiscal crisis, I found interesting parallels reading about our Founding Fathers and the political process today.  More to the point, I learned that the one shared passion of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison was – you would never have guessed – horticulture, as well as gardening in its largest sense.  Horticulture meant independence and self-sufficiency in the new colonies.  And the garden came from the heart.  All the Founding Fathers deeply loved the sublime majesty of the American forest, and they also deeply embraced nature in general; Washington actually created his garden with all native American plants.  Wulf even speculated that, one day in Philadelphia, the squabbling delegates to the Constitutional Congress may have broken their deadlock, and found a kind of shared destiny, while some of them meandered together around the famous garden of John Bartram!  Perhaps today our current elected representatives should all get together and chat, while wandering the wonderful woodlands and gardens of our Founding Fathers.  Perhaps a sense of shared destiny will actually inspire them to get something done…

In this day and age, it sure is a lot easier to correspond, though it's still hard to smuggle back the seeds to Costa Rica...

Photo of Longue Vue 

Nancy and I spent a fun afternoon recently wandering around the Longue Vue Gardens together.  A lovely place to meander for an hour or so.  However, we prefer woodland gardens, and you can find that effect in many gardens today – where nature simply comes right up to the house.  New Orleans has many lovely public gardens – City Park, Audubon Park and many others, but I prefer sitting in Nancy’s garden best of all.  Her garden just continuously changes over the year as different plants predominate, reflecting the seasons circling around in New Orleans.

 Oh the scent of Nancy's yellow rose!

Nancy volunteers for the Urban Gardening Program at the Samuel Green Charter School located in an area of low income families.  Alice Waters inspired the ‘edible schoolyard program’ and you can now find ‘edible schoolyards’ all over the country.  I went with Nancy one day to help the kids work in their garden – to share perhaps some planting tidbits and give encouraging words along the way.  But on the day we volunteered, the whole school was all geared up for an ‘Iron Chef’ competition!  The 7^th grade kids had teamed up with several local chefs for a schoolyard cooking competition, most of which was recorded by local newscasters, as well as by lots of parents and other people with cameras.  Sadly, however, I had not brought my camera, so there are no pictures in this blog.  The secret ingredient for this schoolyard ‘Iron Chef’ competition was – apple!  Wow!  These kids were not only learning how to grow things, but also how to design recipes, measure ingredients, and then prepare their fruits and vegetables.   That’s analytical and creative abilities all together!

kitchen garden at Longue Vue

I was thinking what a great idea it was that the school could use their own freshly grown produce to cook in the cafeteria.  However, Nancy informed me that, lamentably, the school’s contract with their food supplier stipulated that they could not use the school-grown vegetables, unless they could prove that they could get all their supplies from the garden.  This was, of course, not possible, so they were not allowed to use their garden edibles, and had to buy everything from the food supplier.  I asked, “But can’t they sneak those beautiful Brussels sprouts into the kitchen to give to the cooks – or help them cook that day?”  Nancy didn’t think so – our agricultural industry regulations are at work here.  I have no doubt though, that at least some of the garden produce goes home with the kids, so they can cook and enjoy it in their own kitchens…

The Big Easy Urban Jungle is filled with the sounds of music.  Unlike the forest symphony, most sounds in New Orleans are created by humans.  All sorts of music fills the air - jazz, rock, blues, classical and naturally, opera!  This is a photo of mezzo soprano Deborah Domanski with her husband, Michael Gelb, posing back-stage after the Sunday performance of Rossini's Barber of Seville.  Deborah performed Rosina - the klutzy, funny, lovely, lyrical ward of Doctor Bartelo, performed by Thomas Hammons.

Every day in New Orleans is another parade, another second-line, another chance for the marching bands to show us how it's done.  Today is Thanksgiving day.  You will find parades across the country but you can't beat the Bayou Classic in the Big Easy.   Marching bands and floats brought everybody out in the streets.   Just awesome.  We went back inside with dozens of beads tossed to us from the floats. 

A couple of weeks ago, we went out in the street to see the Bicentennial Military & Veterans Parade marching through the streets of New Orleans.  We saw military trucks, tanks and scores of servicemen, past and present, marching in perfect time to the order, “Left, right…”  And they were so coordinated.  Also the bands came marching by, playing army tunes, marine tunes or tunes of whichever other branch of the military to which they belonged.  The ROTC and Cadets also marched by – not nearly so perfectly in unison but having lots of fun.  Our apartment is located toward the end of the march, so perhaps that explains why one guy from the National Guard suddenly dashed out of formation and ran into the bar next door.  He soon came back out with a plastic cup brimming to the top with beer, and all his team mates gave him a big cheer.  However, apart from that funny incident, all the other groups marched with fine discipline.  Those parading past in trucks did not throw any beads, sorry to say.  But, even without that incentive, the crowds came out and shouted over and over again, “Thank you! Thank you!”

Oda al Tigre

Luis Poveda wrote this poem about Jaguars (or Tigers – the words are used interchangeably in Costa Rican Spanish)

Aprovecho para enviarles un

bellísimo poema que le hice al mítico y maravilloso Jaguar.

                       







Oda al Tigre
                Oh Jaguar,
                eres mágico
                silencioso
                mítico,
                por eso
                las etnias primigenias
                siempre te han venerado,
                eres un Dios para ellas.
                Eres extremadamente ágil,
                apareces y desapareces
                como por encanto,
                         -fuerte-
                como un huracán ,
                cuando ruges
                los animales de la selva se crispan,
                es oir tronar
                con rayos y centellas;
                pero cuando ronroneas
                eres dulce,cariñoso,
                y te encanta jugar
                con las sombras,
                con ramillas y guijarros,
                pero más con la luna,
                cuando es media noche
                en noche de luna llena
                y tienes sed,
                vas a tu poza preferida
                y la ves rielando
                ondulante y juguetona
                serena e inlcanzable,
                y sigues jugando y jugando
                porque guardas
                en tu corazón
                el encanto
                de tus cachorros.
                Cuando matas
                matas por hambre
                para tí y para tu progenie mimada;
                no por vicio y degradación ...
                lo haces como un sagrado acto
                de natural sobrevivencia.
                Tus ojos,
                tus bellísimos ojos
                son fulgurantes,
                profundos
                hipnotizantes.
                Y a veces
                desde lo más recóndito
                de tus genes ancestrales,
                te transformas en Pantera,
                y hasta la noche
                se inclina ante tí.


                                Luis J.Poveda De Álvarez

Tai Chi in St. Louis: Relax and Smile

In St. Louis, there are a large group of very nice people practicing Taijiquan.  
This is a photo of Sifu Justin's advanced class with he and Herb Paran holding portrait of GrandMaster Feng and Master Zhang Xue Xin (2011).

Relax and smile, that’s what you do first, Justin said.  Then stand tall, feel the crown of your head floating up, and now relax and sink and start to sit, as if you’re about to sit in a chair.  Feel it in your thighs, not your knees.  Keep your spine erect, and tuck your tailbone in naturally as your head floats up.  Relax your neck and shoulders; relax all your joints.  Shift gently left and right, allowing your energy to flow from your ‘dantien’ – that is your center – a kind of rolling ball located in your lower belly below your belly button.  Everything flows out through your ‘dantien’ in two circles – they could be small or very large but it all comes through your ‘dantien’ ball.  Some imagine a silk worm, lazily spirally out from your center and silk-reeling.  Put your hands over your ‘dantien’ and breathe deeply there; then relax some more.  Nothing should hurt.  Keep your shoulders over your hips, and keep your knees over your shoelaces.  Shift your weight on one leg before moving your other leg, and then shift.  Shift your weight back and forth like a slinky. 

Raise your hands up to the sky and bring the energy down into your body.  Let the energy flow down from your head, neck, chest, and down to your center - your ‘dantien’ - and feel it roll around inside you like a ball, as you breathe energy all through your body.  Allow excess energy to flow down your legs, like warm honey into the earth.  Retain some of that energy in your ‘dantien’ and bring in more, as you lift your arms up to gather energy - ‘qi’- to collect and cultivate into your core.  Here you are doing the all important ‘Qigong’, for health, and for truly understanding the ‘internal’ of the internal martial arts.  Breathe sky and earth energy throughout every cell of your body, and energize yourself with vibrant health.  All 'Taijiquan' – ‘Tai Chi’ – and for that matter all healthy life, begins with ‘Qigong’.  If you don’t have time to do anything else, do your ‘Qigong’ – this is the key to a long, healthy life.  Breathe deeply, align yourself, center and settle, relax and smile.  This is a time for health and renewal.  Then, when you are ready and have more time, carry the ‘Qigong’ into your ‘Tai Chi’ or any other practice.  If your day ahead is too busy for more time practicing martial arts or sports, then carry your ‘Qigong’ into your day.

Tiger and Justin

Some call ‘Taijiquan’ a moving meditation using happy concentration - a kind of awareness with intent - we ‘Tai Chi’ students call this, ‘yi’.  Your attention moves your energy, and your energy moves your body - ‘yi' moves ‘qi’ - and then, when the body moves, it is connected to, and coordinated perfectly with, your center – core – ‘dantien’.  All ‘Tai Chi’ students practice for health and for a long, vibrant, centered life.  One of the first things a student learns is to relax more and settle down, feel the ball in your ‘dantien’, and move through life in an easy, settled and sensible manner.  Few students learn ‘Taijiquan’ today as a martial art but that’s how it first started back in Chen Village.

Photo of Sifu Justin's and his senior students , including Cis Hager, pose woith GrandMaster Feng and Master Zhang at private workshop at Pema Osel Ling Buddhist Retreat Center, Santa Cruz (2001).  
Justin explains the lineage best:

  “Yang Lu Chan was the first to bring the Chen Family out of the Chen Village to Beijing.  He and his sons and grandsons over time modified the Chen Family Art to take out many of the more difficult martial movements and to emphasize smooth circularity over sudden changes of speed and power, making it easier to study.  This became the popular Yang Tai Chi form.  In 1928 Chen Fake brought the Chen Family Art to Beijing and taught Feng Zhiqiang.  Later Feng melded the Chen Taiji he learned from Chen Fake with the Qigong he learned from his other teacher, Hu Yao Zhen, thereby creating what Feng called the HunYuan style" (for more see:  www.stltaiji.com/documents/articlefinland.pdf)

Photo of Shifu Justin and Master Zhang

Others followed, and you can now find a ‘QiGong’ or ‘Tai Chi’ teacher pretty much anywhere in the world.  I started 10 years ago, practicing 'XinYi HunYuan Chen Style of Taijiquan', by Feng Zhiqiang.  I first started practicing 'Taiji' in Costa Rica with Patricia Mitchell, who studied with Zhang Xue Xin.  By the way, Patricia has moved back to San Jose from the beach and will begin teaching again in January.  I am very grateful to Patricia for all she has shared with me over the years – 'Taijiquan', 'QiGong', Yoga and Pilates.  Over the years, I have since learned that all 'Tai Chi' styles bring benefits and deeper understanding.  It doesn’t matter which style you practice.  ''Tai Chi' is an art that opens up through ever deeper levels throughout your life.  In Chen Village, they say everyone is a beginner.  The living ‘Tai Chi’ masters are in their eighties and beyond.  We students of Feng Zhiqiang’s 'XinYi HunYuan Chen-style Taijiquan', still mourn his passing.  His students carry his legacy and teachings all over the world.  You can go to San Francisco if you want to work with one of Feng’s top students, Zhang Xue Xin, 'Chen-style Taiji' 19^th Generation Master.  You can also go to St. Louis and study with Zhang’s high level students!

Photo of Justin, Herb, Tiger and Taijiquan group.

Photo of HunYuan conference with Herb and Justin

Photo of Sifu Justin and senior students (including his 15 year old son and Push Hands Champion, Jason Meehan to Sifu Justin's right) at the First International HunYuan Conference held in Beijing, China, 2007) with GrandMaster Feng his wife and daughter seated in front.
I went to St. Louis to study with a high-level ‘Taiji’ teacher from Feng’s lineage, Shifu Justin Meehan.  Justin recommended that I start my visit working with one of his students, Herb Parran, also certified by Master Zhang.  What a dedicated group of ‘Taiji’ students I found working with Herb in St. Louis.  It was a large group, with people of all ages and backgrounds, and many of them found time to work with me.  I even learned from a 12 year old boy!  Herb asked me to demonstrate my form to the group, and I trembled with nerves as I walked to the front of the class to lead them in the form.  Of course, I went through it too fast, with many mistakes, but the entire group followed me and, afterwards, applauded me with great warmth.  And then somebody else led the form again, and I gratefully fell back into the group and learned much from the fellow leading us.  Herb stood on the side observing everything; he’d carefully watched my form, and turned to say to Gerry - who’d just arrived to pick me up – “She’s got the choreography.”  That meant a lot to me when Gerry repeated Herb’s words later to me.  I really hope to someday work again with Herb and his wonderful group of students.  There was such a warm, positive energy in his group that this stranger felt, from the first moment of joining them on a rather chilly day in St. Louis.  I send big, fond greetings to Herb Parran and his ‘HunYuan Taijiquan’ group in St. Louis.

Photo of Sifu Justin and his disciple Zhardana Tiger receiving gold medal for form and Push Hands championship at 3rd International HunYuan Conference held in Beijing, China (Nov. 2011) (see them demonstrate together for GrandMaster Feng at www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnCrp_pZ5TE).  But my day wasn’t over yet.  I would finally have an opportunity to study privately with Sifu Justin Meehan that very afternoon.  I didn’t think we would ever meet!  He didn’t respond quickly to my emails from Costa Rica, requesting this or that detail about my trip to study with him in St. Louis.  We were ready to leave for the trip and Justin still had not given me any contact information for himself.  I began to wonder if he would write, whether - Justin Time - Justin Case - he still wanted to work with me…

I need not have worried.  We met and greeted each other like old friends.  I felt an open-hearted warmth from Justin from the first minute, and my previous agitations and speculations just melted away like whiffs of silly nonsense.  We only had time for two sessions during the weekend, and we used every minute of it to deepen my understanding and practice of ‘Taijiquan’.  Of course, we spent much time on ‘Qigong’.  As with Feng and all devotees of the internal martial arts, it all starts with ‘QiGong’.

Justin introduced me to one of his senior students, Tiger, who also agreed to work with me.  Tiger is a striking young woman with the grace and natural ability of, well, a Tiger…  She quickly taught me the mechanics of ‘push hands’, while Justin observed and corrected.  I was astonished when Justin managed to recruit Gerry to learn the ‘push-hand’ routines, so that I would have a partner to practice with back in Costa Rica.  Gerry and Justin got on famously, and even had fun grappling with each other.  Gerry, born and raised in the East End of London (which he survived…) has a natural ability to grapple, and Justin proved a willing opponent, all in good-natured fun.  Everybody was laughing.  Of course, Justin would not grapple with me.  He knows that I am not grappling material – I’ve seen what he can do on YouTube – tossing and throwing opponents up in the air.   But I am not at that level.  I still need to take it slow and relaxed, and try to feel the dynamic – feel the internals.

Tiger and Justin were a joy to work with, and I brought home pages of notes to improve my practice.  I hope sometime soon to host a ‘retreat’ with them in Costa Rica.

If you are interested in more information and lots of articles, go  to www.StLTaiji.com website.  

Meet us in St. Louis, Louis!

We did it!  We visited the famous Western frontier town, the historical city of St. Louis.  You’ve all heard the song, “Meet me in St. Louis, Louis…”

Here’s a shot that Gerry took of the Arch of St. Louis, ‘gateway to the west’, photographed from his perch on the largest mound of the prehistoric (at least, pre-American history…) settlement of Cahokia.  Gerry visited the Cahokia Mounds, while I practiced Taiji back at the hotel.

  He journeyed to the settlement with our new St. Louis friends, JoAnn Rivinus and Marc Vorih.  We are so grateful to them for showing us such warm hospitality, and for helping us in many ways during our stay.  We dined with them at different times over the weekend, and became good friends in the process.  We also thank our ‘old’ friends in Costa Rica, Bill and Cyndy Vorih, for introducing us, after I asked Bill, “So Bill, where are you from?”  He said, “St. Louis”, and the rest is history.  On our Saturday night there, JoAnn and Marc gave us a mini-tour of downtown Saint Louis as we joined them to hear the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler’s 3^rd Symphony.  Yes, that’s the one with six movements, and it was stirring and moving – an outstanding auditory story of how nature evolved, moving from plants to animals to man.  The rousing, final movement has the whole orchestra playing with tremendous crescendos, as Mahler describes God as everlasting, flowing through nature, plants, animals and mankind.  Even Gerry roused himself from his stupor (slumber?) to listen to that movement.

We are now back in New Orleans and looking forward to the upcoming opera, Gioachino Rossini’s, ‘The Barber of Seville’.  There are only two performances: November 16 at 8pm; and November 18 at 2:30pm but you can still get tickets by going to www.NewOrleansOpera.org

We’re really excited about it because our good friend, the mezzo-soprano Deborah Domanski, is singing the title role of Rosina.  She recently performed the same role, with Thomas Hammons as Bartelo, in Detroit.  And now they are together again, with the incredible musicians of New Orleans, director Matthew Lata and conductor Robert Lyall.  Deb told me that singing Rosina is like champagne!  She is a very warm, kind, striking beauty, who sings like an angel.  You can learn more about Deborah at www.DeborahDomanski.com.  Please, join us, if you can!

But I have digressed from our delightful romp around St. Louis!

JoAnn Rivinis Vorih, a Project Manager at Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), our new friend, and Barry Hammel, MBG Botanist with an office at InBio in Costa Rica, helped arrange our tour of the world-renowned Missouri Botanical Gardens; a place I know well as a botany student, because I have used www.tropicos.org frequently over the years to research the vast plant database found at Missouri Botanical Gardens.  I’ve also consulted www.missouribotanicalgarden.org many times over the years, and have looked forward to meeting some of the people behind the scenes of the oldest botanical garden in continuous operation in the USA.  The garden, library and herbarium were founded in 1859 by Henry Shaw, who, inspired by a visit to Chatsworth in 1851, decided to give the people of St. Louis a garden to rival the great gardens of England.  

Andrew Wyatt and Gerry Kirk at Mobot

So, we are exceedingly grateful to Andrew Wyatt for guiding us around the Gardens (including ‘behind the scenes’) and for explaining the marvelous projects to reintroduce endangered plants back into their native habitat all over the world, as well as to Doug Holland for giving us a fascinating tour of the Peter H. Raven Library, known as one of the world’s finest botanical libraries.  Doug also introduced us to the Herbarium, one of the world’s leading research resources for specimens of, and information on, bryophytes and vascular plants.  As of Jan 1, 2011, the collection contained 6,231,759 specimens - and specimens arrive daily!  We were actually there to see it!

Andrew and I at Mobot

What astonished me most about MBG was the breathtaking beauty and design of the extensive gardens.  Gerry and I have visited gardens all over the world, especially in England, but I have not seen anything to surpass Missouri in terms of beauty and diversity.  You can spend many, many hours wandering the curved paths observing the massive collection of native, exotic and rare plants, all beautifully combined in a manner that is visually pleasing.  The plant groupings drift and blend together in a most charming and natural manner.  Many ‘example gardens’ provide guidance on how to do this at home.  We wandered through vegetable gardens and orchards, perennials, bulbs, grasses, hothouses with tropical plants, cacti, shrubberies and ornamental gardens, which just flowed from one to the next, all beautifully maintained by an army of employees and volunteers.  The Japanese garden was the largest and most breathtaking I have ever seen, and the woodland garden also amazed us.  We were very fortunate to visit the gardens with MBG VP of Horticulture, Andrew Wyatt.  Originally from England, Andrew braved the cold, rainy weather to show us the gardens and explain the research and educational programs they carry out.  All plants in the gardens are identified with name-plates, so you don’t have to flip through field guides to identify a plant, and there is also a ‘plant help-desk’, manned by volunteers, to help people diagnose their own plant problems and to answer questions.  And if you just want to ‘do your own thing’, you can head over to the MBG bookstore where there is an amazing collection of books for sale on pretty much everything in the plant world, including a large section on cultivation and practical gardening.

 Over at the Herbarium, we chatted with a jovial botanist, who has discovered more than sixty new species, as well as one new genus!  Samples of plant species from all over the world land on his desk to be sorted and classified, and he revealed to me that some botanists even send in specimens labeled with the wrong Family!  I gasped in shock!  But I also understand that tropical plant classification is hellishly difficult.  Even well-known botanists sometimes get the Family wrong; I sure do – to my shame.  Barry Hammel told me that on-going investigations at some institutions are looking for ways to help identify plants using DNA.  Here at the MBG herbarium, it’s the job of the botanists in the Herbarium to sort through the massive mess of specimens, excluding repetitions, making corrections, and finally giving the specimen a name.   Once again, we are grateful to Doug Holland, historian, botanist and librarian, for guiding us through the extensive collection of the Library, which includes amazing ancient and rare volumes.  What an incredible world in which to do research!

Missouri Botanical Gardens is not a garden to miss if you are a nature lover.  It ranks along with Kew and New York Botanical as a center for research and collection and, in terms of sheer beauty of nature, Missouri is second-to-none.

And, on top of all that, the founding of the Missouri Botanical Gardens is also an interesting example of the historical connection between St. Louis and New Orleans.

The Mississippi connects the two cities, and there has always been a shared destiny among people living along that great river.  Merchants, vagabonds, contraband and cargo, legal or otherwise, has flowed between St. Louis and New Orleans continuously over the centuries.  The two cities suffered the great flood of 1917 together, as told brilliantly by John M. Barry in ‘Rising Tide’.  The rise and fall, and ebb and flow, of industry, commerce, politics and nature’s fury have often connected the two cities.  During our visit to St. Louis, we heard a fascinating story connecting New Orleans and St. Louis.  Apparently, Henry Shaw opened a business in St. Louis in 1819, selling hardware and cutlery he shipped down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Shaw prospered from this great distribution connection, and retired in 1840 at the age of 39, so that he could engage his time on his great passion – gardening. His dream was to open a large botanical garden to the public and to bequeath a trust to ensure that it would continue to carry out botanical research, science education, and remain an oasis in the city of St. Louis, after his death. He corresponded with many botanists to help with his endeavor, especially Asa Gray, George Engelmann and Sir William Hooker of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew; in fact, he patterned much of his Botanical Garden after Kew.  He worked closely with Engelmann, who suggested that the garden be more than a public park, that it become involved with scientific work like the great botanical institutes of Europe; and he went to Europe and brought back specimens and books for Henry Shaw’s herbarium and library.  When he died, Shaw bequeathed the country house, his city house (which was moved to the Gardens!) and all seventy-five acres of gardens to a trust.  And now, over two hundred years later, the Missouri Botanical Gardens has a dedicated staff, including numerous volunteers, which would make Shaw very proud.  He would definitely nod in approval at how his gardens have been improved and enlarged over the years, and he would really appreciate the massive Herbarium and Library - much beloved by us plant lovers in the tropical world.  And he would unquestionably smile with pleasure to see the Rare Books Room, containing the precious botanical books collected by him, still intact and lovingly cared for.