Category:

THE MORTON ARBORETUM: AN ILLUMINATING LOOK AT TREES & THE HOLIDAYS

11/30/2015

Orange you thankful for trees?! I know I am.

They were wise old souls harboring the night and the magic of a million points of light. Gently falling snow added wonder and a hush to our very own snow-globe experience.

It was all beyond beautiful.

I whispered the word amazing on more than one occasion as my sister and I strolled around Meadow Lake and the mile-long stretch of wooded wonderland 40 miles west of Chicago, Illinois, otherwise known by day as Lisle’s Morton Arboretum (as in Morton Salt).

COUNT ON SUMMER FOR A SPLASH OF SERENDIPITY

7/23/2015

We made a very small dent when it came to the 30 miles of walking paths in Cantigny.

I love that summer days are long and languid, full of rhapsody, the nights soft as velvet. Summer, more than any other season, is made for kids; and for serendipity.

Ah, serendipity! That sweet rhapsody of chance that teases and taunts with maddening urgency.

“Take it or leave it, NOW!”

Lunch would have to wait! Because it was summer; because the kids were feeling hot and bothered and bored with Colonel McCormick’s vast estate; because what’s summer without a few magic moments to really seal the deal when it comes to making memories.

LET YOURSELF GO IN HOLLAND'S KEUKENHOF GARDENS

5/12/2015

Seven million blooming bulbs covering acres and acres of one of the world’s largest gardens were creating a rousing riot of sublime color!

Earth laughs in flowers. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Seconds after entering Holland’s famous Keukenhof Gardens, I was swept up in the melee. Granted, I didn’t put up much of a fight, not with all the flowers shouting, “Let yourself go! You’re bound to bloom.”

PURE BLISS AT FAIRCHILD'S BUTTERFLY CONSERVATORY

2/12/2014

Three thousand butterflies!

The riot of color was astounding. I hadn’t found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; I was part of the rainbow!

There are about 24,000 species of butterflies. That's certainly a rainbow of color!

SUNSHINE WITH A TWIST AT FAIRCHILD BOTANIC GARDEN

1/30/2014

Here’s a news flash for those of you battling Old Man Winter right about now. On average, one thousand people a day throw in the towel (make that snow shovel) and move to the Sunshine State. Those averages may climb by the time El Nino gets done with most of the U.S.

I could complain about the rain for the last two days putting a damper on our visit to Miami, where my sister Lynda just happens to have a home and a guest room, but I know I’d get very little sympathy.

In all honesty, I’m here to bring you some sunshine with a twist following my visit to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

Enjoy!

A MIGHTY OAK

12/12/2013

I find it difficult to truly wrap my brain around the passage of a thousand years. Whole civilizations have come and gone in that short span. I certainly couldn’t wrap my arms around that number when it came to a mighty oak in southwest Ireland’s Killarney National Park. It looked to be a thousand years old, which is certainly within the realm of possibility when it comes to old oaks, although the venerable tree wasn’t giving away anything but acorns and a little shade.

Wow, with an oak this size for a background, I actually look pretty tiny/skinny/svelte/petite!

A TRIBUTE TO WHAT MOVES THE MASSES

11/6/2013

Got a riddle for you today.

What’s free, indispensable to city life, lifts up humanity, challenges the individual, humanizes the environment, offers a nexus for gatherings, and often tends to cause controversy?

Nexus?

That’s just a fancy pants word for ‘a means of connection; a link or tie.’

??????????????????

Okay, what if I said Cloud Gate, Banksy, Stonehenge, Nanas of Niki de Saint Phalle, Fountain of Virtues, Angel of the North, Pyramids, and Fremont Troll?

??????????????????

It’s just a riddle. No need for you Type A's to freak! Think monuments, memorials, murals, mimes, and magic/mischief.

Okay, maybe a few pictures will help.

7 REASONS TO KISS IRELAND'S BLARNEY STONE

7/30/2013

I’ve kissed my share of frogs in my time; sealed a few letters with a kiss over the years, too; but never in my lifetime (that is until my recent trip to Ireland) have I had the chance to bend over backwards and kiss the Blarney Stone (it was a dizzying experience!).

Not my best side when it comes to pictures.

I know you’re itching to ask the obvious. What’s all this baloney about blarney, anyway?

FAIRCHILD'S CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL HEAVENLY DECADENCE

3/4/2013

I have this theory that chocolate may slow down the aging process.

At my age, I can’t afford to take the chance my theory is wrong; which is why I jumped at the chance to attend the Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden with my sister, Lynda. Fairchild’s is, after all, Lynda’s stomping grounds in Coral Gables, Florida. We stomped on over with Jimmy in tow.

As long as you hand over the chocolate, nobody gets hurt.

FAIRCHILD TROPICAL BOTANIC GARDEN, CORAL GABLES, FL

2/28/2013

Whenever I bring a potted plant home, Jimmy mumbles something about the kiss of death. I toss something back about black widows, and the debate fizzles with the usual standoff married couples rely on when the topic is old news and the outcome just a matter of time.

I think if I lived in Coral Gables, close to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, I’d have a green thumb like everybody else living in the Miami area. It's truly a tropical paradise.

<<Previous