Isn’t it amazing how time actually does fly by? My brain is still at the beach.
Inside my head it’s a beautiful sunny day at the ocean and I’m looking out at the horizon. My bare feet are pushing around the warm sand in front of me, iced coffee is on my left and my painting equipment is on my right. There’s a slight breeze and the air has a slightly salty signature.
Sigh. I don’t even have to close my eyes to imagine the scene.
Reality check: it’s well past beach season at this point in October. Let’s be real here, as much as my head says “beach” it isn’t very likely to be good enough weather to go there wearing a light jacket and enjoy some quiet time.
However, I did take a quick ride to a nearby botanical garden on a comfortable day last week with the Princess (my granddaughter).
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| One of the ponds at the Garden |
Artist’s Dates have been lacking lately, and there won’t be beach visits now, but this garden trip was a good alternative. Clark Botanical Garden in Albertson, NY is a ten minute local drive from my house and the day was warm enough to be outside for a while. I grabbed some lunch and my ‘munchkin’ and we were off!
What a beautiful place it was, too. I’d never been there, always wanted to go, and now that I have I know I will be back with painting supplies. This 12 acre garden had so much to look at and enjoy with sunny open areas, colorful seasonal flowers, a child’s size privet hedge maze, woodlands, shady areas, woodlands, ponds, rocky brooks. They were preparing for a Halloween spooky walk which was fun to see.
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| The Princes with spooky stuff hanging in the trees |
Mindful of my charge, I didn’t take too many photos as I would have had I been all alone. We walked along paths that lead in and out of the different gardens. As we walked through the woodland pond area with tall trees we could smell evergreen pines and tried to breathe it in deep.
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| A restful spot overlooking a pond |
Walking out of the woods, we found a sunny pond area bench where we had lunch. Both of us were happy to enjoy the lovely, late fall day outside in this beautiful, quiet place.
So it isn’t the beach. I’ll be painting here one day soon.