The Memphis Botanical Garden likely can't compete with the great gardens of the world but it is a nice slice of solitude in the heart of the city. The irony of going into the city when I live in a lovely rural area is not lost one me. Most folks out here have functional gardens not aesthetic ones and despite living in the Memphis area for a number of years I had never paid a visit. When I arrived, the parking lot was mostly empty, and as it turned out were the grounds. I don't know if this phenomenon coincided with the fact that it was close to noon and almost 95 degrees or that it was a Saturday and people had "things" to accomplish.
I was the youngest person there by about 20 years and I am stuck firmly in the mud of middle age.I kept running into the same two couples. I gently disengaged myself from a kindly elderly couple who were chatty and wanted to save my soul. I put the literature they gave me in a recycle bin after I was sure they had disembarked. I frequently rail against the excesses of Christian conservatism, but who wants to be confrontational with polite elderly people. I met a couple from Ohio and gave them a few tips on where to eat and gave some alternative suggestions to Graceland.
However, humanity was largely absent.
One can hardly ignore the roses.
I will confess I am not an expert on foliage and many of the identifying markers were too faded to read. Pleasantry can speak for itself.
Maybe the heat and wishful thinking drew me to the watery plants.
This looked tempting.
I came upon a grooming fest near the pond.
At first I thought this fellow was leaping up to tell me a great secret of the universe. Wow, I said to myself I thought only Dolphins had this intimate connection with humans.
It turned out he was trying to drop hints about a treat. So, I obliged and mass chaos ensured.
The Canada Geese who haughtily ignored me until now, organized themselves into a jealous mass surge so I made a respectful retreat.
This lady had no caption, she had an ethereal, graceful air, perhaps she was the Goddess of the gardens.
I made the error of deciding to go to the mall to "cool off" and grab a sand which. A few moments of gigantic Sale signs, middle aged men leering at teen aged girls in low cut jeans, the hum and clutter of consumers escaping themselves, and mothers feeding toddlers junk food gave me the epiphany that it was more better for my battered soul to be drenched in sweat and heat at the garden than to be subjected to the last days of Rome in a shopping frenzy.
Thanks for taking a peek.