|| Seasonablly Blossoming

I carried my lightweight rain jacket in one bag and an umbrella in another. The weather cast said it'd rain after 10am till 7pm, but not a single rain dropped on this Sat of the memorial day long weekend. This was a rather gorgeous summer kick-off, seeing most tourists wearing tanks and shorts and bonny hats. The streets along the national streets were the same serene and untouched, but sometimes I think the space was dwarfing any human activity that could make a permanent disturbance of any sort. Yet there were many people coming out to visit this nation's capital, lots and lots of euro accents, chinese languages and most adorably, the student travelers who were dressed up in tanned light blue shirts.

Spent some time in the Freer and Sackler collections by the Smithsonian castle. Both of them were passionate about asian arts. One new exhibit was the tomb raiders' find of the stoned statues of the small fusion gods. They all had a peaceful smile on their face. As we moved along the side walks, we came up to the American Indian museum. There was a short film on the indigenous tribe's culture, life and pursue. The film was projected on three screens, top dome, mid TV screen and the bottom stone platform. It was profound and impressive, reminding me of the all the disputes remaining in the world having some indisputable histories and processes that only the people that belonged there understood.

The air and space museum was full of people, kids, older people and science loving geeks (like me). There was a tent right there serving McDonald. We were wise enough to eat full and eat well or else we wouldn't be able to carry on the afternoon journey.

The final destination was the National Botanical Garden. Here is my favorite, followed by other favorites ... Summer is starting!

|| Gardening @ Maymont

My first neighbor in the Gables always carried a book when I saw him checking in and out of his living pad. By his account, Maymont was his favorite place to spend a Sunday afternoon, reading and overlooking the mass grassy lands where old trees stayed on top. I may not have understood him entirely, I was somehow more mobile back then, eager to hop around to new places. I used to enter the park from the nature and exhibit center, determined that the park was too enormous to explore in a single trip therefore had always been modest and wanting nothing other than one area of the land at a time.

After 2008, the Hampton Street became my choice of parking, since then Japanese Garden, Italian Garden and the Mansion became my favorites. Again, the land is massive, and I've never attempted to get back to where I started, 'cause it was impossible to walk to the other end of the world, especially in the summer weather, and it did wear me out a couple times. So this year I am coming in the late May month when the daylight isn't as harsh. Finally this has offered me the opportunity of seeing how big the land is, it is really not as unconquerable as what I thought of. Amazing landscape, gardens, exhibits of the birds, goat, sheep, pig, chicken, fox ... it was my mind who couldn't put them together, but they do come together beautifully.

|| Berry Picking @ Gallmayer Farm