moment
Opening a book from 1505 and flipping to the illustration of the mandrake, complete with a female figure with long flowing hair for the root. Comparing knot gardens with Italian gardens and getting it. Feeling books with pages like skin.
Climbing through the paths of the botanical garden as it begins to mist. Naming off magnolias - M. cambelli, M. stelliata, M. grandiflora, M x saulangiania - and being able to see how the flower would turn to the fruit when the petals fell of in my hands. Bringing the huge blossom from the Michaelia doltsopa to my face and feeling the raindrops stick to my nose as I breathed it in.
Jumping across the wet pond stones like hopscotch. Saying goodbyes and rushing as it began to pour rain, my feet sure of direction, through the gardens to the far gate. Then past the tea garden. Through the rose garden.
A sprint across Fulton as the rain pours down. I hop onto the bus just as the doors close. The heater is on, and it is startlingly warm after the cold air of the garden. I touch the bark of the quince sample in my bag as I think about heading home to dry off and spending time on my designs and time with the kids. The rain bangs against the windows as we go.
Climbing through the paths of the botanical garden as it begins to mist. Naming off magnolias - M. cambelli, M. stelliata, M. grandiflora, M x saulangiania - and being able to see how the flower would turn to the fruit when the petals fell of in my hands. Bringing the huge blossom from the Michaelia doltsopa to my face and feeling the raindrops stick to my nose as I breathed it in.
Jumping across the wet pond stones like hopscotch. Saying goodbyes and rushing as it began to pour rain, my feet sure of direction, through the gardens to the far gate. Then past the tea garden. Through the rose garden.
A sprint across Fulton as the rain pours down. I hop onto the bus just as the doors close. The heater is on, and it is startlingly warm after the cold air of the garden. I touch the bark of the quince sample in my bag as I think about heading home to dry off and spending time on my designs and time with the kids. The rain bangs against the windows as we go.