Shaking my head with resignation masquerading as wisdom
Winter here in Sweden has short days as you find in Northerly countries. This year there has been little snow and the sky has been usually an overcast slate grey. However, if the clouds dissipate and the ice blue shows through you find the low sun can supply an astonishing warmth to the landscape. One such day I caught some examples of the long, lingering fire tinged illumination.
Living in Scandinavia is all about accepting the inevitable stumble towards the cold and dark every year. I grew up with changing seasons so I’m very well practiced at swearing at the ones I don’t particularly like. This year feels colder and wetter than the last few so I’m taking that as an omen I will need to take my searing up a notch. But when the sun comes to taunt us the Swedish Fall is very beautiful.
I was thankful to spend Thanksgiving in Florida. That’s because while it was getting chill here in Virginia the weather was perfect there. The Sunshine State is a strange place full of natural loveliness and so many new urban areas that it often seems like there are only two times: now and the future.
We landed on the West coast and spend time in Naples. After that we drove across the narrow peninsula and arrived on the other coast in Stuart. It was fun to visit both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic in back to back days. We saw a sunset over a beach and the next day a sunrise. You can’t really beat that.
On this trip I visited two wonderful gardens. The Naples Botanical Gardens were pristine with tropical plants from many areas of the world. After being in gloomy fall weather to see the visual pop of colorful flowers was fantastic.
On the other coast was the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Finding this in Florida feels a bit strange but there is a compelling story about why an elderly Japanese-American man donated the land for this endeavor. You can find it on their web site.
As usual I took way too many pictures and it took forever to sort them out. I’ve included a few from the trip here and I hope you enjoy them.
Despite the fact that nothing ever grows for me but weeds I do like some green things. Odd and unusual plants that aren’t part of my everyday experience really get my interest. In California I’ve been to the Los Angeles Country Arboretum and the Huntington Library Botanical Gardens and both have an awe inspiring variety of plant life to see. Because of the climate they have an incredible array of flowers, trees, succulents, grasses, etc. from all around the world. Going from a Japanese garden to giant cacti in a short walk is really fun. Oh, and the LA County Arboretum has peafowl running around loose.
It’s really hard to top those places and because of that I was a bit let down by the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. It’s still a wonderful place but it’s populated by plant species far more familiar to someone who lives in the Eastern United States. Nonetheless it is pleasant and park like with people picnicking and laying about enjoying the green space.
We went there on “azalea weekend” which is when they come into bloom. It was impressive to see color blanket areas during the walk around the azalea gardens. I didn’t know how great the variety of sizes and hues were for those flowers till that point.
I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum was there as well. Bonsai trees are fascinating and their miniature intricacies kept me enthralled. These perfectly proportioned dwarf trees are amazing pieces of living art. Penjing is the Chinese art of miniature landscape. It involves trees like Bonsai but often creates the impression of a small natural area. It can also emphasize parts of the tree like the trunk or branches through manipulations.
I hope you enjoy the gallery of photos below which show some bits of the trip. Click the thumbnails for a bigger image and description.