The girls were out late last night at the movies with us. We were all so tired from the week that we fell asleep reading in their beds – M in F’s bed, and me in E’s. Sometime around 2:30am we came to, and everyone was sorted out into their own beds. So when the alarm went off at six, I tiptoed around and left the others sleeping.
It was a nice morning to spend alone in the garden. It was still misting lightly on the drive over, although the rain had stopped by the time I arrived. It was overcast and cool, and I ordered a coffee at the counter before I headed outside. The same woman works on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and she has my cup out before I walk in the door. She waits to ring it up to see if I’ll be adding an apple to the order; today she noticed my apple eater wasn’t there, and she smiled and told me to enjoy my own company on my walk today. I feel like I’ve already been so present inside my head this week, but her reminder to me to enjoy that was just what I needed to hear. I consciously turned off the chatter and let the silence in.
I wandered every single path in the place for an hour, encountering less than a dozen people along the way. (Most were photographing the water lilies – I had to take this photo below!)
There was a whistler in the English Woodland Garden – I could hear his song as I wandered around the maze like paths in there. I climbed up the observatory, something that the girls always do, and I rarely do. There was no one in the maze below.
Purples, whites, greens, everywhere, in flowers and vegetables and fruits. I said hello to Henry for the girls, and to Carver. I startled birds and bunnies wherever I walked, even though I tried not to.
I carry my camera with me, and I always think my photos will be redundant, but they never are. In three days time you can see the evolution of a bud to flower; in a week’s time nothing is the same as it was before.
Don’t we know this to be true this week? I look for markers of newness and find orange lanterns among the green.
so so lovely. we were there on Saturday afternoon — it was so hot, we never made it off the splash pad 🙂 Our 18-month-old grandson was enchanted (and soaked). Luckily, our daughter has renewed her membership, so there will be opportunities for flora run-bys in the future. Thank you for sharing your beautiful images. In a few weeks for us: the lanterns.
Oh, I wish I had known you were there! And yes, once the sun came out it was HOT. We were splashing in the fountains at Tower Grove Park by then.
We’re going to the lanterns on July 25th. I can’t wait.
Beautiful pictures. And a quiet morning in the gardens sounds nice. But . . . setting the alarm for a Saturday morning???
I know. It’s a recent thing, but the trade off is really nice. Sundays still work for sleeping in!