Wondrous Little Character Called Chi

By Ross Lamond

Understanding something about Yin and Yang remains so difficult. My experiences of fifteen years study and application of the two in gardening convinced me their relationship with each other remain very important to a garden’s continued health and stability. Yin and Yang are pivotal upon which all things are dependent. Trees, shrubs, birds and insects, the weather, ourselves, whatever become compositions of Yin and Yang.
I realised gardens can become overly Yin or Yang, yet harmony becomes a product when they are at peace with each other, and as such their blending create a garden’s naturalness.
There is something else out there influencing and reacting with Yin and Yang to give a garden its ‘life’. It’s a ‘life-force’ energy recognised by ancient Chinese. They described it as Qi. In the west, Qi has become more or less known as Chi. It is this energy I became attached to.
Chi stemmed from Yin and Yang reaction and that becomes rather confusing and bewildering. I for one became bewildered in understanding their relationships. I just accepted the explanations of those ancient Chinese because they were great observers of their surroundings and wanted to live in contentment with them. They cultivated the Chi of a place so its energy remained imbibing and auspicious. An uplifting energy for continued health, happiness and prosperity.
I realised auspicious Chi could be harvested, if that’s the right word. We as gardeners could create surroundings that encourage its auspiciousness, and as such, empower what lives within.
But, how do I to translate something of Chi’s mystic and charm to the everyday gardener? I thought I could take a journey with Chi and let it tell me something of its influence and character, but also its unsettledness and destruction. For Chi has moods and remains a product of change alongside time; time and change guiding its presence and influence, and remaining quite complex and confusing as it does.
I recalled spending a few days staying with my niece and family at their pleasant home (and neighbourhood) at East Lindfield in Sydney and thought I’d create a wondrous little character, (Me Chi) to take me for a wander within some of the suburb’s gardens and neighbourhood, and in doing so, it could relate something of our relationship with them.
I found Me Chi’s journey quite compelling and suggest it is present in every garden. How we relate and discover it is up to the gardener and those who enter such places. Maybe it’s within our imagination, but I’m sure it’s something else. Something powerful and influential and governing our presence alongside that of any living creature. Maybe that’s the way it should remain!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ross Lamond
• Release date: Aug 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9780980758818

Ross Lamond

Ross Lamond is the youngest member of a well-known and respected dairy farming family of the New South Wales South Coast, Australia. He schooled away from home, completing secondary studies at Sydney Grammar School, Sydney. Upon leaving school, Ross returned to the family farm and over a forty year period, gained extensive experience in dairying, beef cattle production, sugarcane, small crop cultivation and horticulture. An ever present interest in the garden naturalised into that of a nurseryman, landscape gardener and grower of in ground trees for landscape. Concern about environmental issues such as tree decline, dry land salinity and habitat degradation led Ross into external studies in Environment at Mitchell College of Advanced Education at Bathurst, followed by post graduate studies in Urban and Regional planning at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. A chance reading of a Feng Shui publication in 1998, introduced Ross to Feng Shui and its influence on our lives and surroundings. He applied some of its principles into the garden and developed his own interpretation of Feng Shui garnished through personal experience and observation. The interest has led Ross into a journey of self-discovery including that of nature, environmentalism and spirituality. It’s an ever growing interest. Ross lives by himself, has four grown up children, and likes to travel and garden and write about his experiences and observations.

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Wondrous Little Character Called Chi

Published by RossLamond.com at Smashwords

Copyright © 2013 by Ross Lamond

All rights reserved.

This work is owned by Ross Lamond and may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the exclusive permission of the owner. All materials including photos, illustrations, diagrams and character names are subject to copyright. Photos sourced for this book are derived from Ross’s personal travel photographs, photographs from friends and acquaintances, and other photographs deemed to be in the public domain.

The character ‘Me-Chi’ is a registered Trademark for exclusive use by Ross Lamond

Cover design by Jannette Tibbs

Diagrams by Jannette Tibbs and Ross Lamond

For information regarding other books by Ross Lamond, please contact

[e-mail]

ISBN: 978-0-9807588-1-8

About The Author

Ross Lamond was born into a well-known dairy farming family from the Shoalhaven District of New South Wales. He schooled at Sydney Grammar School and upon leaving, returned to the family dairy farm at Nowra. Over the following twenty or so years, Ross gained wide experience in farming practices.

An innate interest in gardening led Ross from farming into horticulture, care of the natural environment and landscape gardening. He continued his interests through professional studies in environment and urban and regional planning.

A chance reading of a Feng Shui publication in 1998, introduced Ross to Chi energy and its influences upon our lives and surroundings. He applied some of its principles into the garden and developed his own interpretation of Feng Shui fostered by personal experiences and observations.

Wondrous Little Character Called Chi is one of a number of publications expressing Ross’s relationship with Chi.

Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge the support of Jannette Tibbs who helped to review the text, make comments, introduce ideas and drew the images of Me-Chi. Celia Lamond provided valuable editorial support.

Contents

Introduction to a Conversation

Beginnings

Wil’s Garden

The Journey

Mrs McLeod

The Jones Family and Jackarasin

Fijitsui Family

Mrs Howard

The Vines

Sunbaker in the Sun

Native Garden at the Bottom of the Hill

Yang Time of the Day

Another Stroll in the Gardens of East Lindfield

Chelsea the Cat

Flossie and Marge

Yin of the Night

Return to my niece’s Garden

Journey of a Ladybird Beetle

The Gantheron’s

The Stockbroker and His Wife

The Anderson’s

Journey of a Honeyeater

The Mapleton’s

Crossing Over to the Other Side

The Apartment Block

The Shopping Centre

Unusual Dream in the Night

Introduction to a Conversation

Once again I find I'm conversing with myself. It's nice to talk alone; no argument, no conjecture, just thoughts loosely flowing through the mind going nowhere. The conversation is about Yin and Yang and the Chi energies: a tough conversation if ever there was one.

It's not easy to converse about something that cannot be seen, touched or bundled into a hessian bag to be slung over the shoulder. The little character Chi flits in and out of our minds whenever we want it to, but first we have to discover it.

I’m going to try to help you better understand Yin and Yang and Chi. Here’s hoping there’s some entertainment, or maybe a message, implanted in here somewhere. Perhaps there’s a host of hidden messages that can be discovered by observing the wanderings of the little character called Chi.

I have a notion of Chi as wondrous. If there's a message to be offered, it's about the benefits one can receive from Chi and realise that opportunities abound for those wanting to capture this wondrous little character in their backyards, or surroundings that are special spaces, or home.

I'm going to take you on a trip to the gardens of a residential suburb located on Sydney's north shore. For me, these represent ideal locations for the cultivation of natural Chi energies. The gardens are illusionary but represent Chi’s many forms and introduce the kind of people who create and live in such harmonious places.

I’ve chosen East Lindfield as a suburb to discover. It does exist. It is leafy, settled and contains a mixture of homes and gardens. Its look is changing as older residents move out and younger families move in, make-over and refurbish the existing dwellings. I found that the streets of East Lindfield contain beneficial Chi flow and that the residents appear happy living there.

To highlight the live-ability of suburbs that contain beneficial Chi flow, I've contrasted East Lindfield with newer suburbs in Western Sydney. I suggest