A Giant Bamboo Stalk

Bamboo Grove on Ortega Ave

Touch Bamboos for Blessings

Bamboo Trees Shade Sidewalk

Bamboos for Blessings Walking up Ortega Ave in Mountain View, I pass by a garden of bamboo grove whose supple stalks sway to the sidewalk creating a patch of shade where I rest. Leaves rustle in laughter to the wind, sunflare pours down the upper branches, and is the immortal Han Xiang playing his bamboo flute bringing forth the birds? "Three Winter Friends"— bamboos, pines, plums, stroll through Chinese poems and paintings— Su Tung-po says "Before painting the bamboo, it must grow first in your innermost heart." Wrapping my palm around a bamboo stalk, I'm transported back in time listening to those seven sages of the Bamboo Grove reciting nature poems while sipping wine. Bamboo shoots spice up Asian dishes and are the main food source of giant pandas. Used to make chopsticks and art brushes, with tensile strength of steel for buildings, Bamboo trees can grow four feet a day like hermit scholars in continual learning. Four bamboo stalks are leaning outward so I clasp my hand on each in prayer— May I be flexible yet firmly rooted, bend and don't break under adversity. May I be like the bamboo's hollow inside, empty myself and let wisdom flow through.         — Peter Y. Chou             Mountain View, 7-30-2014

Sunflare through Bamboo Leaves Sunflare and Bamboo Leaves Hollow Inside of Bamboo Stalk