A Walk in October (2014)
I went to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens last weekend. I wanted a walk, I wanted some fresh air, and I wanted to see what was new for picture taking.
What a change from just three weeks earlier! Many of the flowers that had been in bloom were no longer there. The top row of the gallery above is what I saw in October; the bottom row is from September. There were still things to see, but only the rose was brightly colored.
My first clue as to how much the garden had changed was as soon as I walked out the doors of the visitors center. The lush greenery and flowers around the fountain were gone and in its place, some rather sparse potted plants.
A few more feet out and the next fountain was actually shut off (the only picture I could find of the fountain working is from April 2012; the fountain is to the far left of the photo).
The greenhouse fared no better. All those lovely red flowers and yellow bromeliads from the photo on the left were gone. Violas, a winter hardy pansy, were waiting in pots to be planted.
The gardens on the side path leading to the greenhouse were also gone (left photo). The dahlias, lantanas, and orange gerbera daisies were all gone, replaced by more violas.
I saw only one – ONE – bee the entire time. There were no butterflies, no dragonflies, no wasps, and few birds. Of course, with how few flowers there were, I wasn’t overly surprised. But still, it was warm enough I would have expected to see at least a few bees getting a last load of pollen before winter.
I did see Christmas lights and they were lit up too! You have to look closely due to how bright it was outside, but those yellow dots on the shrub and the white dots on the ground cover next to it are Christmas lights.
Did I have fun? Of course! There’s always something to take a picture of and as I said at the beginning, the opportunity for a walk and some fresh air is important too. So here’s a few more things that I saw last weekend.
Remember to keep looking for beauty everywhere. Enjoy the seasons, such as they are. And take a walk to get some fresh air, everyday if possible.
Go outside. Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone.
Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road
like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads
day in and day out, to the bus and back home and we cease to see.
We walk in our sleep and teach our muscles to work without thinking
and I dare you to walk where you have not yet walked and I dare you to notice.
Don’t try to get anything out of it, because you won’t.
Don’t try to make use of it, because you can’t.
And that’s the point. Just walk, see, sit down if you like.
And be. Just be, whatever you are with whatever you have,
and realise that that is enough to be happy.
~ Charlotte Eriksson
To wrap up – did this nurture my creativity? Actually, it was a difficult post for me. I had to scan two sets of photographs, looking for commonalities and differences and keep a storyline straight. It would have been so much easier to just post what I saw on my walk in October, but that didn’t accomplish what I wanted to set out. So yes, trying something different did nurture my creativity and give me ideas for future ideas with showing my photography.
To see what others are did for their Walks in October, click here.
To see everything I’m doing with my 31 Days of Nurturing My Creativity, click here.
To see what others are doing with their 31 Days project, click here.
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I am a backyard adventurer, philosopher and observer, recording my life in journals and photographs. Visit my blog at www.livingtheseasons.com.
Living The Seasons 
When is the best time to go? When is the best month for pics etc
I’ve gotten good pictures every month of the year. The flowers from April to September are incredible, but I go about every other week and come home with a bunch of photographs.
If you search on my blog for “a walk”, you’ll see photos from a number of months for the botanical gardens.
Wonderful post. If I had a botanical garden like that one near me, I would go often. Loved the photos, too!
Thanks Corina! I go nearly every other week. I can always find something to photograph and if not, I at least get a good walk in.
I have other walks at Ginter as well, mostly here:
https://livingtheseasons.com/?s=walk
Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment!
If the wind stops trying to blow me away, I want to go back to the botanical garden to see how it has changed in the past month. Enjoyed “walking” with you.
Thanks! Norfolk Botanical Gardens is so gorgeous. I’m not surprised at all that you go as much as you do.
Gorgeous photos – I love the pitcher plants!
I’ve taken so many pictures of the pitcher plants, especially in the fall. They really perk up in the cooler weather.
However, you have to be very careful of the mutant spiders that they spawn, especially around Christmas time. Sorry, I have to joke about it. You’re one of the few that loves those pictures. Here’s the giant mutant spiders from several years ago:
https://livingtheseasons.com/2011/12/05/north-pole-update/
Thankfully they don’t move very fast, so you can outrun them.
Thanks for coming by!
I’ve never heard of Christmas spiders before – must be the blending of Halloween and the Christmas decorations they start putting out in October – lol! I agree with your post, little boys would love them!
Thanks for your visit.
Actually it was part of the Christmas theme that year, which I believe had to do with outer space. The Christmas decorations have already started going up this week because the evening hours will be starting soon for the holidays.
Yes, they leap right from Halloween into Christmas and poor Thanksgiving gets short shrift! I am growing to appreciate Thanksgiving more in my later years. It expresses one of the most important virtues: Gratitude!
Botanical gardens are a wonderful place … and you have beautifully captured it.
Thanks for the wonderful compliment! I’m only about 20 minutes from this one, so I go nearly every other weekend. It’s just fun to be there and I get a nice walk in too.
Cheers to the proximity to your Richmond gem.
Love the Eriksson quote. Going back up to read it again. I think it applies to me! (I’m over here from Robin’s blog.) You had a great walk, thanks for taking us along.
Dawn – thanks so much for stopping by! I’m running behind visiting all of you, but hope to this weekend. I’m glad you enjoyed my walk and left a note too.
Nancy
I thoroughly enjoyed going to the botanical gardens with you, Nancy. It’s interesting to see all the changes. Your images are all beautiful, but I think I’m going to stay and admire the winterberry for a while. It’s one of my favorite shrubs. (At least I think that’s winterberry in the last photo. Please correct me if I’m wrong.) Thank you for joining Walktober! :)
Robin – I’m glad you invited us all to join with you! Several of the other participants have already come by to say hello and I need to get going visiting them back.
I think that is winterberry, but of course now I can’t find the picture of the sign that says it!
I have linked to this post, which I really enjoyed, from one I published today. My photos are not in the same league as yours. Sue
Sue – thanks so much for the link! I enjoyed your post as well. You did a great job of identifying everything by name too and it was great hearing about your fall.
I’m so glad we use “autumn” – I haven’t fallen recently! ;-) Sue
Really awesome photos. Love botanical gardens. Your flower photos are absolutely stunning. Crisp and beautiful.
Thank you and thanks for stopping by!
lovely photos and the gallery is arranged beautifully. The change in such a short time is amazing isn’t it?!
Thanks Tina! I was actually a bit appalled at how decimated the grounds seemed to be. It look me a good 30 minutes to really figure out what to take pictures of because it had changed so much. When I looked at past years, I’d not done any sequence so close together from September to October so notice such a drastic change in such a short time.
I appreciate the compliment so much. I worked hard on those galleries and I’m glad you noticed.
Beautifully captured! It’s amazing the changes captured in just one month! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the note and for stopping by! I was browsing your blog for several minutes before I realized you were doing the 31 Day Challenge also. That was really sweet of you to look at mine and leave a note. I’ll be by shortly to return the favor. This is so cool! I’ve made several new friends through the 31 Days.
FANTASTIC PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANKS COLLEEN! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Beautiful photos. The poem’s words help to paint their own picture. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the compliment and thanks for stopping by!