A Good Day

Warm spring weather... beautiful gardens.... my girls & my guy.... what more could I ask for?

Living as I do in a major metropolitan area, we have many choices for our Saturday entertainment.  Many of them are close to home and do not require a drive into the city.  One of my favorites is the Chicago Botanic Gardens.  Just a 10 minute drive from our house, the garden is a peaceful place to walk and enjoy the beauty of nature.  When we go, we almost always take the same path: through the welcome center, past the sculpture of Linneaus, along the rose garden to the Japanese garden.  I have walked through the Japanese gardens in all seasons except winter, and I always find something beautiful to look at.  The girls seem to love this garden, too, which is fine by me.

They also love walking through the greenhouses and looking at whatever art is on exhibit in the exhibit halls.  Right now, the exhibit is called Woodcuts, and it is a series of prints made from horizontal slices of tree trunks.  Molly and Abby were both fascinated by how old the various trees were when they were cut down; Dan and I were hoping copies of the prints would be available in the gift shop.  Unfortunately, the only ones were out of our price range, so we bought a box of cards that I plan to frame and hang instead.

from the exhibit at the garden

I needed this day.  After last night's funk, I needed to get out into the spring sunshine and really feel that spring was indeed here.  Even though snow lurked in shady areas of the gardens, there were signs.... the shoots of spring bulbs poking through the soil, crocuses and snowdrops blooming at the bases of trees, ducks and swans lurking in the ponds.  All signs of warmer weather on the horizon.

These girls, too, are promises of great things to come.  How can I not smile when I look at them?