Summer Dreams

Next week, they are starting construction on the new art museum that will go in beside the PSU Arboretum. The museum should be state-of-the-art, and I imagine I will love it from the minute I first see it. But the construction will take place in what has been the existing Arboretum parking lot, and that means some changes; among them is the fact that Arboretum visitor parking will no longer be free.

I wanted to visit the Arboretum one more time before construction began and its parking lot disappeared, so I ran into town and spent the morning there. I arrived shortly after 9, parked my car, and walked around the Arboretum (both the existing part AND the new pollinator and bird garden, to which I was one of the first visitors).

Then I walked across Park Avenue onto campus and picked up another free half-gallon of ice cream, using the gift card I received upon my retirement in December. I've been stopping by the Berkey Creamery about once a month. Will this gift card last me all year? Let's see! I have to tell you that the grilled stickies ice cream is fantastic. It's our current favorite, and I highly recommend it!

It has been hot and sticky and thunderstormy here, and it is hotter in town than it is out in the country where we live. So I walked around in the sun in the morning and sweated up a storm; my whole shirt was soaked. I am one who does not enjoy the heat, and I worry about dropping the camera when my hands are as slippery as all that. But it was worth every second, to see the things I saw.

Above is a photo of one of my favorite parts of the Arboretum, the poplar court. I framed it through some pretty flowers, and was pleased with how the shot turned out. Someone had originally told me that the poplar court was the spot where the museum was going in, but I guess they have changed their minds. I'll be happy to see them keep it, as I love that tree row and photograph it often!

In the extras is a second photo, from the lily pond: a lotus bud, a lotus seed pod, and in the background, a pink water lily. I just love lotuses, and they have had lots of blooms in the past few weeks; somehow, I've not managed to be there at the right time to shoot one in its "entirely open" phase!

I did have the interesting thought, a pang that went straight to my heart, as I stood there framing shot after shot, and waiting for the dragonflies to finally sit down (no, they didn't, not long enough!): I thought that if I had just five minutes to live, I'd want to spend it here, by my beloved lily pond.

The gardens are just beautiful this time of year, and the new part is something I'll be exploring for a long time. I know this may not be a popular opinion, but I keep wondering: what will all of that look like . . . in snow?

But this was a day filled with summer beauties. Colorful flowers everywhere. Damselflies and dragonflies ALL OVER the lily pond. Lotuses coming and going. Fancy and amazing plants of all kinds. It has been like the sweetest of summer dreams.

The soundtrack song is this one: the Oak Ridge Boys, with Dream On.