DURHAM NC — I came upon the Grace Garden in Durham accidentally while out for an afternoon walk in early April (2003). It startled me, coming upon this island of manicured formal beauty carved out of a patch of woods in a warehouse district. It is named for Grace Richardson, who worked at healthfood superstore, Wellspring, in Durham. Loved by many in her community, Grace died in an accident caused by a drunk-driver.

The garden is her memorial. Every day since finding it, I go by to thank Grace for her garden. Up front, a stone dedicates the garden to Grace Richardson, 1949-1999. Another plaque on a short worn-brick pillar says, "My garden is a school for my heart."

The lessons are written in the language of nature, flowers, grass, woods, streams, bugs, and trees. The Grace Garden lies across from several warehouses in unfinished Durham Central Park. Located off West Corporation Street, this is the heart of Durham's recently refurbished tobacco warehouse neighborhood.

Woods and brush surround the Grace Garden. Brick steps rise up a steep hill toward a parking lot. On the other side, thick woods wind down through a carpet of periwinkle and brush to a stream.

A SCHOOL FOR MY HEART

It's a Zen garden, formal but rough. Something new blooms every day in spring. Spashes of banana yellow, dark maroon, and wildflower purples dot its shapely edges. Shades of green from faded teal to deep forest dominate.

A worn-brick walk encloses the garden proper in a figure eight, and a man-sized, rust-colored metal tube sculpture reflects the shape of the garden. The overall harmony is part of the nature of a Japanese contemplative garden: every element, each dot of color, every shape, enhances the harmony.

A forest pansy redbud tree anchors one circle of the figure eight, and a delicate, small Japanese maple the other, each perfectly sculpted in the Japanese bonsai style that mimics nature yet clearly shows man's shaping hand. Large flat gray rocks share space with delicate flowers in radiant colors that give back some of the sun's bounty in their vibrant, shimmering colors.

The symphony of greens strains my vocabulary. A wide Auruba gold dust shrub, its waxy green leaves flecked with yellow, sits in front of the redbud tree with its soft canopy of heart-shaped maroon leaves. A variety of grasses and ornamental shrubs, including azalea, edge the garden and terrace the hill leading to the parking lot above. The shrubs flower seasonally.

PART OF THE HARMONY

Once I watched a swirling corkscrew of tiny flies hovering in the middle of the first figure eight circle. I wondered what kept that airborne ball of bugs whirling in that tornado of their own making, thinking that some creatures live their whole lives like that, whirling in tornadoes of their own making. I think we forget sometimes that nature's beauty comes with bugs.

My garden is a school for my heart. When I'm there, I am part of the garden, part of its harmony. Green, earthy, breathing the rhythms of life, I hear the music of the birds and whispers of the wind. Resting on the short brick terrace wall, I hear a dozen birdcalls, the quiet murmur of the stream, the occasional rattling of a squirrel or rabbit in the brush. I take deep breaths of the woods-scented air. I watch the swirling bugs.

My heart takes notes to review when life is not so calm. Life includes the bugs. My garden is a school for my heart.

I visit the Grace Garden mentally even when I'm embroiled in toil and trouble. I traverse its brick walk in my mind, conjuring up its contours and colors and scents.

And what do I find? Amazing Grace. Thank you, Grace, for your garden.

The Grace Garden is located in unfinished Durham Central Park. It's about half a block from the historic Triple A ballpark where Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner filmed the movie Bull Durham.

Click here to visit the Durham Central Park website. It lists all the events in the park plus gives details about the progress of the ongoing contruction of Grace Garden.

Click Here for: Downtown Durham Website

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