Skip to main content

sister spring

The trees are blooming. And those that aren't display leaves of such tender green I want to eat them and touch them and eat them some more. (I am trying not to.)

In order more fully to glory in the season, flatmate Courtney and I took the long trek to Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden this afternoon. Here's a link for the curious: http://www.rbge.org.uk/

It was one of the more beautiful gardens of my experience, vast and varied, full of endless delights. We strolled about the grounds and took as many pictures as we could in fairy-like poses, faces framed by drooping branches. After we had seen all that we could bear to see without wanting to pick all the flowers, swim in all the ponds, and build forts in every tree, we dropped down on a small grassy hill to rest.

I know it is all a well-planted, well-landscaped, highly organized garden, but it does help one to understand the poets of seasons and flowers and such. Nature is restorative, Wordsworth. Or it can be. Here are some photos:


Keens do the Gardens.


'Life! Do you hear me? Give my creation Life!'


The view of the city from a high point in the Garden - far away on the right, you can see the Castle, paragon of fortresses.


This is for you, Jenny. The blurry spots are some quartzy business - I took this while sitting on a larger one of similar quality. The camera doesn't do it justice.

Courtney, queen of mountains, on a pretty stone stairway.



Memories of Pooh-Sticks float across my mind as froth and water spiders float across my vision.


And this is for Mom! This whole room, dedicated to the memory of someone or other, was covered on the inside with these beautiful shell patterns. The ceiling was patterned with pinecones of different shades and sizes. Some nice American tourists took our photo and asked where we were from. I refrained from justifying myself with almost eight months of residency and simultaneously failed to ask them their own story. Tiresome silence!


Is this photo blurry 'cause of the zoom or 'cause I'm the one who took it?


Pretty view!


Why is everything underlined all of a sudden?



Comments

  1. Lil_Flip28 April, 2007 21:25

    I would SO like to come to your garden. And i want to frame the picture of you with the branches. You - and the nature - are both so lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown29 April, 2007 04:06

    oh, thank you! just wait - more nature and me coming up with the Isle of May!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonder Jens30 April, 2007 18:26

    very nice rock. Very siliciclastic. Which of course I can't spell.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can someone please explain why my Quicktime isn't working? Anyone with prophetic awareness of my little Atlas, none so old but recently behaving so?
8 comments
Read more
because you were all wondering what I'm writing my dissertation on, here's a brief synopsis of my 'research context': When James Macpherson published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry in 1760, he went to great lengths to make the Fragments appear to be authentic remains of an ancient, heroic oral tradition. His reasons for this were largely political, and as such, influenced the content of the epics themselves. As an attempt to establish a particularly Scottish identity, the poems were quite effective. However, to do so required both a simplification and a manipulation of traditional mythology. Stripped of anagogical significance, the Ossian epics more or less represented an Enlightenment version of history, tradition, and mythic heritage. The stories themselves were changed by their very purpose and in turn changed the manner of representing myth in future narratives. Moreover, the emphasis on the Ossian epics as authentic tales from the past, as ‘fragments,’ served...
6 comments
Read more
I just finished Shiver , by Maggie Stiefvater, the other day. From the first few chapters, I had every reason to expect this book to rival the other dark-teen-romance novels recently released (you know which ones I mean). And in a way, it did. There was nothing obnoxious about this book. The characters were mostly believable and endearing. The story was subtle and simple. Maybe a little too simple. At times, maybe a little too subtle. The best chapters were the ones from Sam's point of view, when he's a wolf. That doesn't take up a whole lot of the story, unfortunately. I mean, it would seriously hamper the progression of the plot if he was a wolf for much more of the time, but the writing was still at its best then. Perhaps because it seemed that the poetic, lyrical passages were justified. I like Rilke just fine, and I know plenty of people who compose song lyrics in their heads, but Sam as a human was just maybe a little too emo for me. It could just be that I'm almo...
3 comments
Read more