God's Gardens

I first visited the Garden Of The Gods near Colorado Springs during a business trip very many years ago. I  was so impressed that I made it a point to try to revisit every time I returned to the Springs. It was not until my son Dave and his wife Leslie moved to Utah that I experienced the fantastic red rock country of southern Utah. Truly a work of wonder. Over some years now, Kay and I have had the opportunity to explore this area under Dave and Leslie's tutelage. Places such as Arches National Park, Zion National Park and a multitude of other sights. We have even visited some red rock country at Sedona, Arizona. While we have enjoyed magnificent planned gardens such as the Butchart Gardens , Keukenhof and the Generalife, God's Gardens are indeed spectacular.

The wonderful sights of nature we have seen have ranged from the giant fern trees (Kay calls them tree ferns) in New Zealand to tiny arctic flowers that you have to get your nose up to to really see. Fields of wild color, individually Lilliputian in size. A towering bamboo forest in the Big Island, Hawaii balanced the scale. We saw neither the sunrise nor the Silverswords in Haleakala, Maui. We waited until there was a favorable weather report and drove to the top of the crater before dawn. No sooner had we parked then I heard a plop on the car roof, then another until the rain started in earnest. At about dawn we joined other tourists peering  through the surrounding cloud, looking in vain for sunlight. The more memorable event just then was several tourists attempting to penetrate the thick cloud-fog with the flashes on their cameras. It was on these islands and other mild climes that I was fascinated by the flora. Almost everything from weeds to trees seemed to be either in flower or have color or form that was wild and beautiful.

 The Panoramic Route on the spine of Puerto Rico is like a drive through a gorgeous jungle. The road to the Samaria Gorge in Crete is somewhat a religious experience considering the quantity of shrines by the side of the road at the edge of a sheer drop to oblivion  far below. Only for the hardy or foolhardy driver. Just the passenger can appreciate the view (if he/she can keep his/hers eyes open) as the driver