America: A Garden of Wonder

By Katherine Webb, Crestview Middle School, grade 8

	Imagine, if you will, a lily. It rises gracefully from the soil, arching elegantly to display a beautiful bloom.  The flower blushes delicately at the center with the palest pink that blends into snowy white at the rippling edges. Beautiful, for sure. Lovely. Now I want you to imagine a field of such lilies. There are acres upon acres of flowers that spread to the horizon, blanketing the earth. At first, walking among them, you think it pretty. However, as time goes on, the white becomes monotonous. The usually subtle scent is overpowering. You stop admiring the beauty of the specimens, because there are too many for you to look at. You cannot appreciate in full the wonder of each blossom. Let us change scenery again. We are now in a garden, brimming with color and variety. Here an iris hovers, there a crocus pushes up from the ground. A magnolia bush spews its waxy petals upon the grass and a climatis vine weaves its way handsomely over a trellis. You stop and smell the lily, finally welcoming its aroma. It is lovely again, as are all the other flowers. This diversity allows us to better value each and every blossom, from aster to zinnia. This also holds true for a country. America is a blend of people from every corner of the globe. Because of our wealth of different traditions and cultures, we appreciate each and every one for all its uniqueness and splendor.

	     Still, it is harder to care for a garden than a field of lilies. If you plant only one variety of flower, you can feed them all the same fertilizer, give them all the same soil, and water them all at once. A full garden must be attentively watched and researched. You must know each species intimately for all to flourish. The upkeep is an unending endeavor. However, the end result is far more pleasing. That aspect of gardens is very similar to a country as varied as ours. America, because of its diversity, requires much effort to maintain. It is a task that we all must take part in. We all have a duty to understand, cultivate, and celebrate each other's cultures and not allow our differences to tear us apart. It is difficult, but in the end it is wonderful and rewarding. 

	Flowers often compliment one another. A pink rose often looks best interwoven with the dusky purple of a climatis. They are very, very different, but together they make a lovely and unified picture. Likewise, the collective American culture is always being added to, always being made more interesting by immigrants who come to this country for a better life. The Irish brought to us their music, fast and wonderful as the wind. It is complimented by the slower, delicately haunting tunes of Japanese folk and the rousing beats of African drums. The Chinese aesthetic makes itself known in our art and architecture and is matched by stately Greek columns and sculpture. Within our literature one can find evidence of French romance and English drama. The religious and cultural contrasts of our country make life exciting and interesting for all.     

	The largest gardens often receive specimens from foreign climes, endangered plants of rare beauty.  They are proudly displayed in greenhouses, giving the entire planting a touch of exotic flair.  The garden is enhanced and made more beautiful from their presence and the flowers themselves are saved from extinction. America has also become a greenhouse, a refuge for war-torn, exhausted, and oppressed people from all over the world. They come to our country with hopes and dreams of a better life in a new land. With them come regional and religious traditions, adding touches of bright color to our cultural landscape. As with the endangered blossoms, we provide a place were they will be allowed to flourish and grow, instead of die away. Our freedom allows diversity to continue to grow.

	Achieving harmony and tranquility in gardens is very difficult. It is hard to decide how to stop one plant from overpowering the entire scene while maintaining a sense of wholeness. Even in our country's early days, bitter differences in religion and philosophy obstructed many efforts to balance our composition. The challenge is to unify without all becoming the same. To do this, we must not only tolerate each other's differences, but revel in them, understand them. We have to realize that compromise is the only way to success. We need to adopt two cultures: our native ones, and the one of compassion, comprehension, and conciliation. Only then can we still be a balanced, peaceful and pleasing garden.

	Living in America is like walking in a master garden. Surprise and color burst from every corner. The scent is intricately worked and deliciously subtle. Blooms grace glossy foliage and adorn the damp earth. Lily pads float above a pond, purple flowers rising from their leaves. One feels calm or joyful or proud wandering along the meandering path. If we work together, this garden will never wither and will never die. It will only blossom and grow larger. Our flowers will be many and varied, our plants complimentary and healthy, and our composition wonderful for many years to come. As time continues, new plants will come and thrive. Ours will be the best garden in the world. America truly is a wonderful garden of diversity.