The Arboretum and the unexpected scavenger hunt
(I'm having to do this on my phone. Whatever is causing our internet to suck, I hope it's taken care of soon. This is ridiculous.)
One of the activities I wanted to do this week was to go to the arboretum. There are new sculptures on display, plus it's overall an enjoyable outing. Since my parents had just gotten back from Michigan, I wasn't sure if they'd be up for it today, but they said it was fine, so okay. Dad, who isn't a member, still needs a timed-entry ticket to get in, so we chose 11 AM. That worked out pretty well.
While mom can eat at any time, we chose to walk around for a bit first before stopping for lunch. The first new sculpture was right outside the main building. We then saw the new Grand Garden, which was still under construction when we visited last year. It was really nice and had some lovely flowers along its path, plus tables and chairs to enjoy the ambience. And fountains. It was just a lovely use of the space, which had just been plain lawn before.
We then went to the children's garden, which had lovely flower plantings last year. They were different this year, which I appreciated. This was also the start of our inadvertent scavenger hunt. We were by this fountain with frogs as the water spouts and dad spotted a pair of binoculars that were abandoned. On the opposite side, I saw an abandoned hat. Hmm. Shortly after, we sat down for a bit--dad was easily tired and complained that his calves hurt--and got joined by a mom and her two young kids who were having a bite. The baby was very smily and dad said goodbye to him when we left, and the baby must've waved or otherwise reacted positively that the mom went, that's right, give 'em what they want! It was pretty amusing.
We then went in search of the next two sculptures. One was in easy walking distance by the lake, though mom refused to walk over to it, then was asking questions about it. Mom, it's all explained on the sign; go over and read it. (That one is a head on its side, as if listening to the earth.) The next one could be walked to, but it would be a hike. They were willing to do it, then promptly were bummed that it involved going uphill. We took the walking path that way, and I asked if they wanted to take the road back since it was paved. They were more concerned about which path was shorter. We ultimately took the road, but when it curved away from where we were looking to go, my dad bailed and cut across the grass going down the hill by the conifer walk. He and I rested at these chairs set up partway down the hill, and when mom met up with us (she is a very slow walker) we went the rest of the way down. This was where I made my third random discovery: A random bright red Koosh ball in the grass. Holy cow! Did they start making these again? I played with it a couple times but ultimately left it in the grass. It can go home with someone else; I don't need it.
After that we went for lunch. Dad ordered a flatbread, thinking he was getting a sandwich; it was more like a pizza. Mom got the quinoa salad. I got a pick-two, so a half ginkgo salad and a half portobello sandwich. Dad didn't order a drink but got a cup of water. At some point he was eating and maybe pressed on his tray, which wasn't fully on the table. The tray nearly tipped over, but he saved it, except he knocked over that cup of water in the process. Luckily, my napkin was right there and absorbed a lot of the mess, though he did get ice all over the place. Sigh. Can't take him anywhere. That's where the fourth and final found object came in--there was a sippy cup next to the wall behind mom. Should we get dad one of those?
We stopped at the gift shop before heading out; we were going to drive to the other two sculptures and then leave. Mom found a mocktail book she considered getting, but seriously, she doesn't need anything like that. And the drinks in the book take a lot of effort for little reward; I've made similar drinks before. Ultimately they didn't get it, but I found something--a 2-year planner! They had several different styles so that was nice to see. After I got home, I made sure to write in all my known band dates so I'd have them handy.
Now, the different sculptures. They are by a Polish-American artist named Olga Ziemska, which was exciting for dad and me. The signage was in both English and Polish. The exhibition is called Of the Earth and the sculptures were made in part with materials found around the arboretum. There are five total.
--Stillness in Motion is by the visitors' center and is a bunch of branches that form a standing human shape. (I did not get many pictures of this one.)
--Hear is a head made of rocks, lying on its side, eyes closed as if sleeping, though the signsge suggests its ear is to the ground.
--Strata is a woman's form, lying on her back, made of rocks in five layers of alternating colors. There is fake grass covering the top of it. We were there right about noon and the pictures I took from the street side came out kind of dark, but when I went around to the other side, the sun really brightened it up.
--Oculus consists of two cyclops-style figures with these reflective orb eyes. I think we encountered more people here than anywhere else. I was trying to get pictures with everyone clear of this area, then this dude in a blue shirt wandered right up and then wouldn't stop taking pictures of his own from very close up. Sigh. Thanks, dude. This one had a sort of steel frame filled with trimmed branches and tree trunks.
--Ona. This was the only one on the West Side. It's a bust of a woman, sculpted, with wild, tangled hair made of long branches. I joked, that's what my hair looked us before I cut it.
We had a beautiful day, warm and sunny. My parents, though tired, were glad they went, and equally glad to go home and take naps eventually.
One of the activities I wanted to do this week was to go to the arboretum. There are new sculptures on display, plus it's overall an enjoyable outing. Since my parents had just gotten back from Michigan, I wasn't sure if they'd be up for it today, but they said it was fine, so okay. Dad, who isn't a member, still needs a timed-entry ticket to get in, so we chose 11 AM. That worked out pretty well.
While mom can eat at any time, we chose to walk around for a bit first before stopping for lunch. The first new sculpture was right outside the main building. We then saw the new Grand Garden, which was still under construction when we visited last year. It was really nice and had some lovely flowers along its path, plus tables and chairs to enjoy the ambience. And fountains. It was just a lovely use of the space, which had just been plain lawn before.
We then went to the children's garden, which had lovely flower plantings last year. They were different this year, which I appreciated. This was also the start of our inadvertent scavenger hunt. We were by this fountain with frogs as the water spouts and dad spotted a pair of binoculars that were abandoned. On the opposite side, I saw an abandoned hat. Hmm. Shortly after, we sat down for a bit--dad was easily tired and complained that his calves hurt--and got joined by a mom and her two young kids who were having a bite. The baby was very smily and dad said goodbye to him when we left, and the baby must've waved or otherwise reacted positively that the mom went, that's right, give 'em what they want! It was pretty amusing.
We then went in search of the next two sculptures. One was in easy walking distance by the lake, though mom refused to walk over to it, then was asking questions about it. Mom, it's all explained on the sign; go over and read it. (That one is a head on its side, as if listening to the earth.) The next one could be walked to, but it would be a hike. They were willing to do it, then promptly were bummed that it involved going uphill. We took the walking path that way, and I asked if they wanted to take the road back since it was paved. They were more concerned about which path was shorter. We ultimately took the road, but when it curved away from where we were looking to go, my dad bailed and cut across the grass going down the hill by the conifer walk. He and I rested at these chairs set up partway down the hill, and when mom met up with us (she is a very slow walker) we went the rest of the way down. This was where I made my third random discovery: A random bright red Koosh ball in the grass. Holy cow! Did they start making these again? I played with it a couple times but ultimately left it in the grass. It can go home with someone else; I don't need it.
After that we went for lunch. Dad ordered a flatbread, thinking he was getting a sandwich; it was more like a pizza. Mom got the quinoa salad. I got a pick-two, so a half ginkgo salad and a half portobello sandwich. Dad didn't order a drink but got a cup of water. At some point he was eating and maybe pressed on his tray, which wasn't fully on the table. The tray nearly tipped over, but he saved it, except he knocked over that cup of water in the process. Luckily, my napkin was right there and absorbed a lot of the mess, though he did get ice all over the place. Sigh. Can't take him anywhere. That's where the fourth and final found object came in--there was a sippy cup next to the wall behind mom. Should we get dad one of those?
We stopped at the gift shop before heading out; we were going to drive to the other two sculptures and then leave. Mom found a mocktail book she considered getting, but seriously, she doesn't need anything like that. And the drinks in the book take a lot of effort for little reward; I've made similar drinks before. Ultimately they didn't get it, but I found something--a 2-year planner! They had several different styles so that was nice to see. After I got home, I made sure to write in all my known band dates so I'd have them handy.
Now, the different sculptures. They are by a Polish-American artist named Olga Ziemska, which was exciting for dad and me. The signage was in both English and Polish. The exhibition is called Of the Earth and the sculptures were made in part with materials found around the arboretum. There are five total.
--Stillness in Motion is by the visitors' center and is a bunch of branches that form a standing human shape. (I did not get many pictures of this one.)
--Hear is a head made of rocks, lying on its side, eyes closed as if sleeping, though the signsge suggests its ear is to the ground.
--Strata is a woman's form, lying on her back, made of rocks in five layers of alternating colors. There is fake grass covering the top of it. We were there right about noon and the pictures I took from the street side came out kind of dark, but when I went around to the other side, the sun really brightened it up.
--Oculus consists of two cyclops-style figures with these reflective orb eyes. I think we encountered more people here than anywhere else. I was trying to get pictures with everyone clear of this area, then this dude in a blue shirt wandered right up and then wouldn't stop taking pictures of his own from very close up. Sigh. Thanks, dude. This one had a sort of steel frame filled with trimmed branches and tree trunks.
--Ona. This was the only one on the West Side. It's a bust of a woman, sculpted, with wild, tangled hair made of long branches. I joked, that's what my hair looked us before I cut it.
We had a beautiful day, warm and sunny. My parents, though tired, were glad they went, and equally glad to go home and take naps eventually.