Olbriche Gardens II (Exterior)

On the suggestion of a friend, I'll be coming back in April when everything is fresh in bloom. However, discovering the gardens in thsi way was as if I were visiting an elderly, reclusive uncle, and discovered a place long abandoned, but waiting to be reborn ...

"Sun-dial" Good thing we had cell phones
on us, or we might have been there all day!

I had to cross a boundary rope and
trample through 2 ft. of snow to clear
this off, only to discover an icy base.
What did people do to tell the time
in winter?

There were lots of these type of statues around ...
I don't know why. 

A cluster of stubborn red. 

Check out the view once you're up there.

Experts from Tibet designed and built this authentic shelter-

thingy. It's the only one in the world covered with snow for 

half the year. P.s. Real gold!

 

Olbrich Botanical Gardens (interior) Dec '10

A friend (who, to protect her real identity, I shall name 'Gail') invited me along.
I had visited the inside on a field trip for a natural science class, about this time a year ago. But I hadn't seen the exterior gardens since I was a little girl, and had very sacred memories of the place.

Where: 3330 Atwood Avenue
What: Botanical Gardens. Tropical on the inside, secret-garden ish on the outside.

Note: FREE on Wednesdays! All other days bring a dollar.

Very large and fat, glimmering gold fishes lay
at the bottom of this waterfall.

Starting with the inside ...

In the twenty year residence of this tree
that football shaped nut you see between
leaf and tree has never grown.
Grab an employee of botanical gardens
and they'll show you the two foot radius
of where you can stand atop the waterfall
to see it.

I think you can see the point at which these trees just got bored.

  

There were lots of little kids when we went
on Wednesday Freeday.  Most of them there
to see the model train in action.
In twenty years, they'll be having flashbacks too.

I often wonder who's watching who.

If you stand in the middle of the path and point your camera
straight up, you can get this shot too.
All you need is 10 seconds of rudeness in you.