Somewhere Over the Rainbow

 Week Nine: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow 

Way up high

There’s a land that I heard that I heard

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow 

Skies are blue

And dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true

—Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, from Alone in IZ World, originally performed by Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz

When we registered for a tour of botanical gardens on the island of Barbados, West Indies we could not have predicted the impact Hunte’s Gardens would have on us. In fact, the tour began rather inauspiciously as the group of two dozen tourists gathered to wait for the local guide who would lead us throughout the gardens. What none of us could have guessed was that the tour guide was 82 year old Anthony Hunte, designer, chief architect, and owner of Hunte Gardens.

A weathered soul, Mr. Hunte warmly greeted the group with gratitude and an air of confidence earned after countless tours for distracted North Americans, some of whom initially seemed more interested in personal comfort than horticulture. He was handed  a microphone headset through which he could speak to each person in the group who wore an electronic earpiece (all provided by the cruise line).

One could tell quickly that Mr. Hunte was playing according to the rule book he had written. He rejected efforts to place the lanyard holding the transmitter over his head (around his neck). Instead he wore it like a shoulder bag. He then refused to plug in the microphone to the transmitter until he wanted to speak to the entire group. That became evident when one of the tourists unexpectedly attempted to plug in the dangling wire. Mr. Hunte snatched it from her hands and said sharply, “Madam! I said I was old. I did not say I am helpless. I will plug it in myself, when I am ready!” I felt like fist-pumping the air. As one of my supervisors used to say, “It’s got to feel like help.” I couldn’t tell if she was trying to help him or compensate for him. In either case, it didn’t feel like help to Mr. Hunte.

The two and one-half acre Hunte Gardens is a collapsed coral reef set high in the mountains of Barbados. Leading us ever downward from where we first met Mr. Hunte, we reached our first stop deep in a crater created approximately 150 million years ago. Mr. Hunte explained that he purchased a ten acre sugar plantation in 1990 and with the assistance of five colleagues immediately began fulfilling his life’s dream of creating an exotic garden. Today the garden is 80% non-indigenous plants. When asked why, Mr. Hunte responded quickly, “Because they’re more interesting!” (But, to be fair, the remaining twenty percent constitute a wide representation of the indigenous plants of Barbados. As he said, “In my garden you can find most of the island’s plants.”) To put it mildly, in thirty years he has created a stunning, diverse botanical wonderland.

Although he had a clearly well-rehearsed agenda as we moved throughout the landscape, Mr. Hunte could easily call by both Latin and common names any plant he saw (and there were thousands). He answered every question quickly and easily, often injecting time-proven humor and a slight smart aleck impatience. At one point he motioned to me and said, “You sir, a question?” Having none, I made one up. “How many different varieties of plants are in the gardens?” I asked. “A lot” was his response. Touche.

The last stop of the tour was under a huge outdoor veranda. Surrounded by lush tropical landscape with two dozen tourists sitting in a huge circle, Mr. Hunte continued his narrative telling stories and answering questions. I was reminded of a line Willie Nelson sometimes uses on stage as he tells his stories, “If I already told you this one don’t stop me because I like hearing it again.” I was sure Mr. Hunte likes hearing his stories, and why not? I looked around the circle and couldn’t help but notice the undivided attention he commended and the rapture that he accomplished. I wondered how many of us were thinking the same things I was.

Beyond the flowers and trees and plants of all types from places unknown was his story. As I watched and listened and learned from his ancient wise man, I slowly but surely realized I was seeing so much more than a remarkable landscaping accomplishment. I was witness to his ambition made real—that dreams really do come true.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=QJAL6VpX4dY