Smithsonian Gardens and Ducks

It’s always a treat to walk through the gardens around the National Mall. We were visiting the Smithsonian Castle last week and things were starting to look very summery. I was surprised to see so many poppies. We planted poppies in our tiny Capitol Hill patio garden one year and they looked so pretty. It seems the predominant colors of the flowers now were orange, yellow and gold. On the way back to the car we walked around the Capitol reflecting pool. Now is the time to see all of the baby ducks that sometimes use the ramps that are put out by the grounds staff. We found several ducklings huddling together on the perimeter as their parents were swimming nearby. As we walked through the US Botanic garden there were remnants of the beautiful wisteria vine overhead. A bunch of school kids were visiting and taking a break on the lawn. It was a beautiful day for a morning walk. We like to head in to town at least once a month. There is always something to see. 

The Mall, National Gallery of Art, Gardens, Gas and McDonalds

We were home by noon. We left the house around 9:40 and parked by the Smithsonian Castle before ten. We used the park mobile app and walked towards the sculpture garden to start getting some photos for the 52Frames texture challenge this week. The first photo was the grass with the Capitol in the distance. The sculpture garden fountain is always enchanting. Next stop was the national gallery west building. I remembered seeing a Degas ballerina sculpture that had an interesting tutu. Then we walked through the early American furniture section. From there we left the front entrance and walked down the many steps to the gardens and fountain, across the mall to the air and space museum that had no traffic because it was closed. The mall was noticeably less busy - virus surge, school starting? The Hirshhorn museum is getting some sort of facelift and is surrounded by scaffolding. Then on to our favorite Hirshhorn and Smithsonian gardens. It was getting really humid and our hour and a half was almost expired. We only put on 1.6 miles - well short of our usual 2. On the way home we stopped for gas and then McDonald’s. We got home around noon. It’s nice to know we can still do all of the above and have a full day ahead. I spent a lot of it trying to figure out which photo would be most interesting for the challenge. It’s a great hobby - especially now. It’s nice to have a variety of options. Now I just need a better camera. 

Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collection at the US Botanic Gardens

It feels like months since we visited the US Botanic garden to see the orchid collection and the old neighborhood. It was March 4 and we have been hibernating in the house since March 13. Before this post, images from the foyer and the orchids in other sections of the gardens were shown. Today the images are from what I call the “humid jungle” area that is located in the large center portion of the building. It’s really stunning - and warm - but it is the perfect backdrop for the lovely display of orchids. They were everywhere - hanging from the ceiling, on the walls, in the water .... an occasional steam sprayed us as we walked through - it keeps the environment on the tropical side. It’s always a lovely experience in the gardens. When we lived on Capitol Hill we walked through the outside gardens on our daily morning walks. Now, we don’t even get outside at all due to our age and taking the precautions seriously. I miss the flowers and tulips in spring in the city. It feels like we are living in limbo - difficult to plan anything, but no reason to complain. We weren’t really going anywhere anyway. The only difference is before we didn’t want to. Now, we can’t. I need to make this psychological adjustment.