Spring at Spring Grove

Monday
The day started on the cool side, but developed into a beautiful Spring Day under blue skies and sunshine. My day began with a fairly early appointment at the dentist for a regular check-up. She gave me a clean bill of health, so that made me happy! I spent the rest of the morning at home, then after lunch went walking at Spring Grove cemetery and arboretum - a very extensive and beautifully landscaped area, thanks to Adolph Strauch, a renowned landscape architect, who was hired in 1855 to renovate the grounds. He took his inspiration from contemporary rural cemeteries such as Père Lachaise in Paris, and Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His sense and layout of the "garden cemetery", comprising 15 lakes, trees and shrubs, is what we see today. In 1987, the association officially changed its name to "Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum" to better represent its remarkable collection of both native and exotic trees, as well as its State and National Champion Trees. In 2007, the cemetery was designated a National Historic Landmark. With its beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers and its beautiful monuments and sculpture, it makes a great place to take a photo walk - there's always something worth blipping - in fact I rarely come back with less than about twenty photographs - at this time of year and again in the Fall, it will usually be more! You can see more photos from my walk here. Unfortunately I left my walk (about 4 miles) a little late, so I was returning home in rush-hour traffic - not very smart!