Beauty at Cheekwood, 2012

This week we took a fieldtrip to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville.  What a lovely place to visit--and what a lovely time of year!

So many things were in full bloom.

My girls were a delight.  I love that I have two little adults who can accompany me on such journeys, and who can talk with me about things on a quasi-adult level.  It is very, very nice. 

This was our dear herb garden tour guide.  We learned a lot from her, and identified a lot of plants that I had only heard of (for instance, we identified the flax plant spoken of in Proverbs 31--now, HOW to make it into fiber and then into fabric; well, that's another tour!).  She was very knowledgeable and quite friendly (of course--it's the south!).  It made it very easy to overlook her quirky pronunciations...like "Mediterraneum"...or perhaps she was just speaking of a type of terrarium found in the Mediterranean.  Oh please, may this be the case...

This was the entrance to the sculpture trail.

Strange little succulents.

This poor kid will never be able to take a picture in the sunlight.  Lisa Rubel--take note.  LOL

Outside of the pet cemetary...weirdly placed on the grounds of the estate.

Belle of course had to stop and read every headstone.

I was instructed that I just had to get a picture of the trail ahead.

We almost walked right by this sculpture. 

Moo was taken by this little patch of color among the green carpet that covered the floor of the woods.

It is warm enough already for the cacti to be alive and well.  A few weeks ago, we drove out to view some acreage for a possible future home building site.  As we walked the property, I was stunned by all the cactus corpses that I found smashed around the property.  Some even had 2 and 3 inch needles on them.  In Illinois, it was a kind of ouchie experience to step on a 'sticker bush'.  Here, well, OUCH!

Another sculpture on the trail.

Too bad they are so serious all the time.

On a bench along the trail.  There was a joy that came from walking through this kind of eden, and seeing that if we could only return to living in and off the land in reverence and humility, that we may just be okay.

The Japanese gardens.  There were giant walls of bamboo along the entrance and exit of this area, and when the wind blew, it sounded like rushing waters.  It was wonderful.

As I took this picture, one of the girls said, "Too bad that the camera can't really capture the real awesomeness of the view here.".  Yes, too bad.