LANDSCAPED BY GOD

LANDSCAPED BY GOD

Starting from the crude door bell, turning left to the welcome sign, if one should walk as if under the moonlight, it takes around five hundred steps to make a double loop forming a crooked figure of 8 before taking a sip of the secret tea.

While strolling one shall encounter along the way, ordinary and common plants that actually exude beneficial and positive vibrations that energizes and improves the health of the stroller. Meantime, though unconsciously, the stroller in turn gives out carbon dioxide and other by-products needed by the plants to grow and go on living healthily.

That simple process of give and take, scientifically termed symbiosis is the principle that governs Jardin Gaudom (derived from Gaudencio and Dominga, the couple,my parents, who originally owned the place). Unlike most popular garden nowadays, there are only few colorful blooms and fragrant flowers available. The modern aesthetic look is also absent for the garden is crude in everyway. But like the garden of Eden in Paradise, what is obvious is the presence of tall trees that are good to sight because it is actually a mini forest.

There are unselected trees and ornamentals growing at random without any of the so-called artistic pattern. But that is also the way it was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus Christ prayed and "perspired" blood before He was crucified. There, surrounded mostly by olive trees, Jesus offered Himself to God when He proclaimed “Thy will be done”. God is my landscape engineer. What He allows to grow must be important. The different species with different shapes and colors are all giving out various energies and vibrations beneficial to man. A simple walk along the uneven pathway is a total new experience in itself.

In this garden one imbibes the freshness of nature and forgets about environmental pollution. More important is the part of the garden that allows one to actually throw out all mental and emotional garbage. The Scream out Area is always ready to absorb all impurities, be it physical, emotional or psychological. This is the proper place for mental ventilation and psychological catharsis where the pollution of the mind and of the emotion could totally be dissolved.

During this age of indecencies and immoralities, the garden’s meditation area is perfect for one to do introspection or self-analysis. It is here where one could be alone and have genuine dialogs with mother nature. Here, one could immerse oneself with one’s Creator and relieved oneself of all spiritual pollutants.

For a shoulder-to-cry-on there is the Counseling corner where one could freely pour out one’s problems or discuss various topics for interest with the garden’s owner. Not far from this corner is a big enough space for the wild life where they should not be bothered in order to maintain the balance of nature. There, they are fed with the biodegradable.

At the center of the garden lays circular area with rough stones surrounding a Cypress plant. This is the owner’s grave site where he wished his ashes should be scattered after he is cremated when he dies. That is his way of keeping himself physically part of the garden while his soul returns to the Eternal Garden of his Creator.

Making another figure of 8 walk, one could encounter other features of the garden such as the crude Wishing Well and the crude Fortune Gong which many claimed, have already given them good fortune and success in their ventures. Somewhere is the Hut for Amicable Settlement for quarreling parties to patch up their differences. When not in use as such it serves as resting area during summer lime and sometimes a play house for the children. Around this are the unusual Rock Garden and the Floral Concoction site as well as the portion for Herbal plants. There are also plastic playhouse and a plastic slide but only children assisted by adults are allowed to play since the garden in not really child friendly. Recycled items used in various manners may also be noticed everywhere.

Directly adjacent to the Ancestral House is the Terrace of Merriment, the main reception area that could accommodate thirty persons for a simple gathering. Across is the Balcony of Reconciliation for those who are experiencing a lover’s quarrel. Here, lovers could sweet-talk each other under a pretty bignay tree, sometimes with multi-colored fruits, until they are back to each other’s arms. Under this Balcony is a cozy portion for those who enjoy and are at home with street and neighborhood noises. For a small party the open area between the Balcony of Reconciliation and the Terrace of Merriment could accommodate 50 persons.

Jardin Gaudom, which also offers lying on Biomat Bed for Health, is in the middle of the town proper, yet, it keeps the freshness , the serenity, the peace and the virgin atmosphere of a far away farm. As one visitor commented, It is a mini paradise of the modern time.