The Zen Bird

After spending a bit over three decades of my life trying to channel the exuberant extrovert most everyone expected me to be, I recently admitted to myself and a few others that I am really not that person, or at least not all the time. Although I enjoy my job as a teacher and occasional company of my many friends, my natural inclination is to seek solitude, silence, and serenity.

All was well until we moved to our current apartment on one of the busiest streets of our town. When we fist settled in, I lamented to all my friends about the street noise that prevented me from sleeping, relaxing, or just simply being at ease in my home. My eight-year-old son Alex gladly joined me in my efforts to create a serene, welcoming oasis in our fenced patio to offset the hectic rhythm of civilization.

We planted beautiful plants and flowers in big ceramic pots, hung delicate wooden wind chimes, and installed two comfy outdoor recliners to go with our improvised refuge. Those things worked out well, but I kept feeling like I needed to add something else to complete our treasured peaceful corner. Then I saw a “Zen Sand Garden” in one of the expensive landscaping catalogues. It was exactly what I needed, but it came with a steep price tag. Well, all the better I thought—instead of buying it I would make it ourselves. I sat Alex on my lap and told him that we are going to make a small Zen sand garden for our patio.

–What’s that?

–Umm … Well, we’ll need a big pretty bowl, some sand, a few rocks. Then we arrange everything to make it look nice. When we want to think about something, or just relax and calm down, we can slowly move things around in it. It’s a Zen thing, get it?

–Not really, but I can show you where some pretty rocks are!

Alex and I spend several weekend mornings looking for just the right stuff for our sand garden. We found a large clay shallow bowl at the garage sale and we brought perfect white sand in two big zip lock bags from our trip to Carmel Beach. Alex showed me his special pretty rocks spot, and we spent hours picking out our favorite few. Once we had all the components, Alex and I arranged them ever so carefully into what turned out to be a beautiful Zen Sand Garden.