HERE AND THERE

Zet and I spent a few days in the Rio Grande Valley this week, where I'd scheduled performances on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday night. Both shows were wonderful, but also mentally challenging for me for a number of reasons, as was the disturbing news of yet another mass shooting in California and the swirl of Election Day results virtually guaranteed to exacerbate the ongoing divisiveness in American politics. 

 

BEING PRESENT 

     I found myself feeling deeply perplexed and puzzled by a variety of personal, professional and political questions as we packed our bags and headed home. Fortunately, we had a chance to visit a historic mansion called Quinta Mazatlán, where we were immediately immersed in the magical spell cast by twenty acres of botanical garden, focused on the native flora and fauna indigenous to the Valley.  Although it is located in the heart of the booming metropolis of McAllen, Quinta Mazatlán is not a manicured, showcase garden, but an eyepopping maze of meandering footpaths leading through an overgrown tangle of thorny brush, mesquite trees and cacti. The sheer ruggedness and harshness of the vegetation is breathtaking; it's hard to imagine such a foreboding landscape being home to a rich, complex network of plants, insects, birds and animals that exists nowhere else on the planet except the Rio Grande Valley.

 

FEELING GRATEFUL

     Strolling slowly and stopping often, I could feel my mind soften, heart open, face muscles slack and relaxed. At the deep cellular level, my body was soothed by what poet Wendall Berry has termed, "the peace of wild things."

    All too soon, it's time to leave this magical place. As we exit the thorny brush, I read one last sign, explaining the various kinds of plants and animals, and their interrelationships with each other and the environment. The bottom line reads "All is one... one is all" - and the truth of it ripples through every cell and fiber of my being, as we turn and head back home, grateful for this reminder.

With gratitude and blessings,

     Rudi Harst

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