I was delighted and honored when Salvatore Caruso invited me to help design a memorial garden for his wife Sheryl who had died of cancer. The garden was to be located on a property in front of his home. It was a beach front property. He brought some photos of a few open areas between the many boulders that dominated the lot. So I was not surprised when I first visited the land in Litibu, located one hour north of Puerto Vallarta, to encounter what looked like an abandoned quarry. In the rainy season the water rushes through an arroyo that cuts diagonally through the property. It is this arroyo that deposited all the boulders. Rocks were going to be important features in this garden.
A design theme was needed. Drawing on my experience with Oriental medicine I proposed a rationale based on the five element theory of Chinese medicine. There would be five areas each of which would represent the energy of one element. The five elements are fire, water, wood, earth, and metal. The fire element is represented by a palapa where people gather for meditation. The water element actually has a water feature. The wood element is represented by succulents planted on a slope. The earth element, which is located just inside the gate, has wind chimes and a meditation corner. The metal element is represented by a Zen contemplative garden.
I made five two-week trips to Mexico designing and implementing the plans, working alongside local village workers. They did not speak English nor could I speak Spanish. We learned to communicate with each other using hand signals and grunts, as well as a few words we each had learned. We moved many rocks to make room for a few plants. Since water is scarce I transported and installed a drip irrigation system. Most of the masonry work was completed after I left under the supervision of George West. Through out the implementation of the design many adjustments were made in consultation with the village workers, George, and Salvatore.
Wow ! Magnifico !
Beautiful!!!