Tag Archives: arboretum

A love letter to my hometown, part 3

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Dear Raleigh,

I took off from the airport Monday morning and was reminded of why your nickname is “the City of Oaks.” Green was everywhere. Trees are the finery in which you choose to clothe yourself.

Thank you for creating such a beautiful space for your citizens and guests to enjoy.

Trees line your streets:

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A busy street made beautiful by trees blooming in spring

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Trees provide shade along the parade route for the St. Patrick’s Day parade (which is another event I love you for hosting).

Trees give shelter and shade along your many running trails and in your beautiful parks:

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At Umstead. I know, I know, it’s a state park, but it’s still attached to Raleigh. And it’s beautiful any time of year.

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Some tree roots I pass by almost daily … thanks for creating so many trails and saving green spaces.

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Fred Fletcher park, a lovely place to walk or sit and enjoy Raleigh’s natural beauty

Speaking of trees’ beauty, the art museum has fabulous grounds (and a running trail runs through it—the property, not the building).

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Manmade art framing a beautiful tree

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More art, beautiful fall trees

Trees live at the heart of my favorite place to visit in Raleigh: NC State’s JC Raulston Arboretum.

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So thank you, Raleigh, for the trees. I hope you’ll keep fighting the good fight with the state to turn the Dorothea Dix property into a city park. Your efforts make me love you even more.

Best,
One of your native daughters

PS – My new city is trying to win my heart, too. When I called to set up my utilities, they said I qualified for their tree program and could get up to 12 free shade trees. One whole dozen. So, Raleigh, you may need to step up your game and see if Duke Energy or one of the other utility companies would provide such a beautiful offer to your residents.

And now presented in living color

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In last week’s post, I promised you the color versions of the flowers. Here they are. I hope you’ll let me know if you enjoy them more in black and white or in color.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. – Luke 12:27

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A red/pink striped amaryllis reminds me of watermelon.

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Small yellow flowers; I like the smaller flowers at their center, but they show up better in the black and white version.

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I like the combination of this calycanthus’ deep red petals and pale yellow tips.

Continue reading →

The black and white of resting

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In last week’s post, I told you about my hopes for a personal worst (PW) in a race. Well, I finished the race (yay!) and have a new PW (also yay?). The weather was beautiful, the course was hilly, and I took time to stop and smell the roses. Well, not exactly. There weren’t any roses along the course. But I did take time to stop both ways on the out-and-back course to hug a friend who was volunteering at a water stop.

She’s a great encourager and broke into a huge grin both times she saw me. Her husband and I had see-sawed places several times during the race, saying hello by name each time one of us passed the other (which made us both chuckle a little). He finished well ahead of me, running his best time in 10 years, no small feat at age 71! (This wonderful couple completed a 100-mile race last year, becoming the oldest married couple to do so.)

I felt happier at the end of this race than usual, probably because I hadn’t exhausted myself mentally or physically to run a fast time. That didn’t mean I wasn’t sore. The pain Monday signaled that I had to be gentle with myself. I needed to find a way to rest.

Resting in black and white
How many of you think of resting in terms of black and white? Rest means you’re lying down or sitting. Black and white, right? There are times we must rest in this way—a dear friend recovering from surgery right now knows the frustration of a forced black and white rest all too well. I hope she’ll be well enough soon to get on her feet for a more active rest.

There are other times when black and white isn’t the only kind of rest we need, when rest with a bit of color is best. Continue reading →

A gentle Fall

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My mind hasn’t been quiet lately, and so today, I took a break from my normal routine to head outside, camera in hand, and see if I could capture some signs of our gentle Fall. I call it gentle, because it’s going to be in the 80s here today, and some of the trees are understandably confused.

It hasn’t been a beautiful fall yet, in part because nature’s confusion has browned some trees’ leaves already, bypassing their colorful stage this season. Other trees haven’t even considered giving up their summer green yet.

Regardless, my walk through the arboretum near my home left me with a renewed peace, a gentle spirit and a calm mind. I share this pictures with you to help you find your own gentle Fall. And if looking at the pictures doesn’t bring you peace, then I encourage you to head outside for your own adventure to find Fall’s gentle side.

An orange Fall beauty, tucked away at the edge of the arboretum

I love the yellow against blue here, and the hint of a wispy cloud

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The skinny on the passion flower

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Two of the most popular photographs in last week’s post were the frog and the purple passion flower. I was intrigued to learn from one of my readers that the passion flower got its name because its parts reflect the story of Christ’s crucifixion, (often referred to as Christ’s passion) including: the crown of thorns, the lashes Christ received, the three nails and the five sacred wounds, and 10 of Christ’s 12 disciples.

Another take on the passion flower

If you Google passion flower’s name meaning/origin, you can end up falling down a rabbit hole, which is pretty much what happened to me. I’ll link you to Wikipedia’s discussion, which has an interesting range of information about the flower, its name and its history. Continue reading →