Thursday, March 25, 2010

Back Now To My Awesome Day…

All through the Garden is a pond with some beautiful Koi swimming lazily around. 

Botanical Garden 036

Botanical Garden 037

The water was so still today that the fish looked like they were swimming in the limbs of the trees that were reflected all around the park…  Some examples for those Koi lovers among us.

Botanical Garden 026 This fish was about14-16 inches long.  One of the smaller large Koi that we saw…

Botanical Garden 031 Ben told me that if I get a polarization filter the  fish will be a lot clearer but I kind of like the ethereal feeling of fish swimming in the sky…

Botanical Garden 038 There is just something magical about watching these beautifully colored fish that fascinates me and soothes my soul.

Botanical Garden 040 The cherry blossoms on the trees that were out in the sun were just starting to come on…

The tiny bursts of color around the Garden would just make you catch your breath for a moment at the blessings of the rebirth of the earth just on the edge of bursting out in full glorious songs.

Botanical Garden 046 Ben showed me how I could manipulate the exposure of the camera to pull out textures without having to go to Photoshop.  This and the next are examples of this action…

Botanical Garden 047 I love textures and there was loads of them to capture around the Garden.

Botanical Garden 049 I think these are Cyprus stumps guarding the edge of the water.  A beautiful contrast to the feathery grass growing along the banks of the big pond.

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Botanical Garden 057More of what I called the “guardians” from the other side of the pond.  Notice the turtle sunning on the rock in the front.

Botanical Garden 064 The sounds of  water spilling over the the small spillways built at different areas permeated the air with such calming sounds. With all the families that were walking around with children all was hushed and the kids were not running loose like banshees.  It was just such a peaceful stroll despite the others in the park.

But then we turned a corner on the path and here was the biggest blessing of this turn through the Garden…

Blue heron 1 This beautiful blue heron was less than six feet from us.

Blue heron 2 Be prepared for heron overload, if that’s even a possible thing.

Blue heron and koi

back of blue heron This I took from behind the big bird.  His markings look like there are eyes and the long slender feathers look almost like a beak.  We figured it was the protective markings that make the bird look like he is watching any predators that may be approaching from behind.

Botanical Garden 059 This was his camouflage from the side that the sun was coming from…

Botanical Garden 060  My Baby Bro and I were both so thrilled.  Neither of us had ever been so close to one of these magnificent birds.  If you look back up at the first picture you will notice that it looks like one wing is hanging down lower.  We figure that he was an injured bird that was rescued and is unable to fly so he was socialized and now lives in the Japanese Garden with lots of small fish in the pond to sustain him.

As we stroll out I will leave you with pictures of more plants and of the curved bridge.  Thanks for letting me share this wonderful day with all of you.  I hope that the length of this post was not offsetting and that you enjoyed this visit to the Japanese Gardens in Ft. Worth almost as much as if you were there with us.

Botanical Garden 065 Nandina, commonly know as heavenly bamboo…

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Botanical Garden 069 Ferns just unfurling to greet spring…

Botanical Garden 071 A look back along the edge if the pond.

Botanical Garden 072 The large bridge across a portion of the pond.

 

Botanical Garden 074 Other than the heron photos this is probably my favorite of the day.

And one more surprise as we turned another bend in the walkway…

Botanical Garden 075 A reminder of how we should try to live our lives… See no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil.

Japanese maples The canopy of Japanese maples that shaded us as we were walking out of the park to go meet our sister and brother-in-law for lunch after his chemo.  The knowledge that the earth is reawakening gives us the strength to face the trials that we know we will be facing in the year to come.

What an incredible cycle of life.

10 comments:

Lonicera said...

I think your first heron shot is a competition winner, and the differential focus one which you like, with red flowered twig in foreground and out of focus bridge in background is the second best (but only close second because you can see a person's legs on the bridge) - both stunning photos in my view. All are lovely pictures Helen. (Isn't spring wonderful?)
Caroline
Caroline

Unknown said...

I love the Japanese gardens. They are so pretty. You are getting quite good at your skill with Photography! Keep up the good work!

farmlady said...

Isn't NATURE amazing? These are beautiful photos. I know you must have been thrilled when you got so close to the Heron. That hardly ever happens.
Thanks for the tour of this wonderful garden.

Sara said...

Wow - I really enjoyed spring with your pictures. It isn't quite here yet, but soon.

Beautiful job! Thanks for sharing and making my day brighter.

Tina said...

Wow what a difference a month makes! You were just posting snow! :) these are beautiful pictures and I like your favorites the best too.

hetty said...

Japanese gardens are always so peaceful. I love all of your wonderful photos! Nature certainly is amazing when you stop to look around and admire it. Thanks for sharing, Helen. You have brightened my day!

Reddirt Woman said...

Caroline, there were so many people in the Garden that day that I felt lucky to get that shot of the bridge with only one person's legs in it and the other photo you mentioned was also my sister-in-law's favorite of the bunch. Thanks for the kudos.

One of my favorite things to do in this world Ronda is to visit places like the Japanese Gardens. Anything botanical I become a little fanatical about...lol

Ben and I were both in awe of how close we were able to get to the heron. If he said once he must have said six times, "I've never been able to get so close to one of these birds before..." Farmlady it was just one of those life experiences that even I, with my lousy short term memory any more, won't ever forget.

Sara I know it's a bit early yet for you all for spring but hopefully this post got the anticipation juices flowing. It has been a very gray winter here this year and I was soooo glad to be out walking in the sunshine on such a still, beautiful day in such a promise filled garden. I hope to go back in about three weeks and take more pictures of the garden really coming to life and bursting out in all it's glory.

I much prefer the photos I posted today, Tina. I like about one good snow a year but this year we had several more than that so I'm thankful that spring is finally here.

Hetty the hardest thing about that day was trying to decide what to photograph. I LOVE days and choices such as those...

5 Kids With Disabilities said...

What an absolutely GORGEOUS garden. Love the koi. My kiddos would go crazy for hours feeding them.
Lindsey Petersen

Reddirt Woman said...

Hi Lindsey! Thanks for stopping by... There were quarter machines in several places around the pond that distributed the koi food and, yes, the kids were having a ball feeding them and watching them come up and grabbing a bite. There were giggles out of every group that had kids with them. It only added to the wonderfulness of the day.

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