garden visit
Tonight I had the good fortune to visit the local botanic gardens after normal operating hours. Once a month during the summer, they hold what are called first thuirsdays, where the gardens are opened up from 6 - 9 pm for music, food, and some drink if you desire.
I discovered early on that the energy in the gardens varies according to the time of day, as it does most places. I typically prefer to visit the gardens in the morning when they first open, before the heat of the day has come and the gardens aren’t really awake yet. But tonight I got to see a different side of the gardens.
I love the woodlands trail through the native area, it’s my favorite area. Tonight, I watched the sun turn spider webs to gold, and sometimes it even made them appear to be spun out of rainbows, tiny jewels suspended between the trees off the path. The sounds of the katydids and birds filled the air. As I walked, I saw squirrels by the side of the path scamper up the hills and up trees, still leery of me, although not fleeing quickly as they would if were noisy or moving quickly. Dragonflies danced in the air and alighted on leaves, their irridescent blue bodies gleaming in the suns descending rays. I had my own personal soundtrack in my head as walked down the trail - the Moody Blue’s Nights in White Satin. It kept coming to mind.
But two really magnificent things happened to me tonight. First, while walking down the trail, an owl flew across my path and into a tree not too far from the path I was walking. I tried to take a picture of it, but I’m not sure it turned out, I haven’t downloaded the pic and viewed it full size yet. It was a magnificent bird, I’m sure it was an adult, it’s wingspan was several feet wide. This is only the second time I’ve seen an owl outside of captivity. I’ve heard them plenty of times, but this one flew across my path where I would see it.
The other thing wonderful thing was watching a hawk. I came out on the bridge between the zoo and the gardens in time to see a hawk land in a tree on an island in the river. I hoped it would spread it wings for a picture for me, but I just missed it when it landed and it never opened them again while I watched, which was quite a while, at least thirty minutes I think.
On the way back to the main gardens area from watching the hawk, I saw something I haven’t seen since I was a kid growing up in Ohio - lightning bugs! I remember catching them in jars, thinking they were the coolest thing in the world, with those flashing abdomens. I never thought I’d see them again, at least not down here. And yet, there they were, flashing here and there in a couple places, like will o’ the wisps.
On the woodlands trail there’s a large boulder at one point by a bridge that’s taller than I am, it’s my favorite place in the garden. From there I can lean against the rock and lok up through the opening in the tree canopy at the sky. I’ve seen hawks soar and dive, watched the dragonflies play, and seen other birds flying against the sky background. I stopped there tonight during my walk, as I usually do, leaning against it. Tears trickled down the sides of my face as I let the frustrations of the day go, taking in the beauty of the moment and just letting myself exist in a timeless space. Someday I won’t be doing computer work anymore, it’s not really my true calling, it just pays the bills for now. Someday soon, who knows what I’ll be doing for work. Whatever it is, I’ll be doing it outside when I feel the urge.