I Can't Wait!

I went to Botanica today right after lunch.  Now, that hasn’t been my usual haunt, but for Christmas, I bought the wife and myself membership in Botanica, which among other things permits free access to the gardens for all but special occasions.  Today I was in sort of a pensive mood after lunch and decided to go to the gardens.

The early bulb flowers were just coming out of the ground, for the most part.  Some of the jonquils were beginning to bloom, but it will be another few weeks before the rest of them and the tulips are in bloom.  The rest of the garden was still in dormancy, and the various streams and waterfalls that are in the gardens haven’t been cleaned and activated yet this year.  There was an area of pansies that had been planted recently, which gave a lot of color to that part of the garden, and there were a few species of birds and the occasional squirrel as well.

Of course, this time of year there aren’t many visitors to the garden.  There were some volunteers and workers doing this or that to clean up or fix up, but otherwise, I think I was about it.  I found a walk toward the south end of the garden that I knew was fairly out of the way, and enjoyed the quiet and time to think.

In this same area was a small garden area with a waterfall that hadn’t been started up yet, a bench to rest, and a bird feeder.  It was also in a kind of depression, so was sheltered from the wind and some of the noise of some construction going on outside the garden and down the street.  I stayed there for probably 30 minutes or so, just soaking in the area.

I know I will come back here many times over the coming months.  Much of that time, I will come back during the day and find a place to just sit (or stand) and watch and listen.  Later this spring, the butterfly house will be active with lots of butterflies inside.  I’ll probably go in there too.  And the rose garden will come to life shortly, with thousands of roses on many, many bushes of all kinds, colors, and sizes.  There is also an outdoor butterfly garden, with species of plants in it that naturally attract butterflies, I presume.  I look forward to seeing what all is in there during the full bloom of spring and summer.

This garden is in the middle of urban Wichita, along the Arkansas River, about 5 minutes from the middle of downtown Wichita.  It is an oasis of sanity and reflection in a world that all too often is running headlong over the lemming cliff.  My gift to my wife and myself promises to bring much more return than the small amount of money it cost.  I can’t wait!