Monday, April 27, 2009

going out on a limb



Another perfect day in the garden 
(although the cherry trees aren't quite in 
full stunning gorgeousness just yet).
Here's what I love about the BBG: It's so
accessible.  It's not too big, and you're
welcome to lie in the grass, touch the plants,
stick your nose in the roses and lilacs—and
even climb the trees.  That's a real treat for
a backyard-less, apartment-dwelling kid!

15 comments:

  1. yes it is Alexa. & This is a wonderful shot.

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  2. What an inviting tree! Lilacs - that takes me back - I haven't seen them in years! Sorry to show my lack of NYC savvy, Alexa, but what's BBG? {Brooklyn Botanical Gardens?}

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  3. Am currently a victim (since last Thursday...) of internet havoc, so I haven't been checking blogs! Been using scheduled posting from friends' places.

    Some of my fondest childhood memories involve climbing or perching in trees.

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  4. Thanks, Lily.

    Shell -- I'll try to show you the lilacs (though it's too bad you won't be able to smell them!) when they're in full bloom—which should be soon. We have 2 great gardens in nyc, New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) in the Bronx and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG).

    Bibi -- I think you deserve extra points for dedication. (I've lately been scheduling posts from work myself.) Hard to imagine it wasn't even that long ago when there was no Internet.

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  5. It’s hard to imagine we were that young not so long ago. Look at that, not a grey hair or wrinkle on any of them. Their youth and those colors they are wearing give your photo a vibrant quality. Imagine all the generations of kids who have done a bit of climbing there. If that tree could only talk; and it seems to be trying to with all those letters it’s forming on its bark.

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  6. TG -- We had a great climbing tree in our front yard when I was a kid. Sadly, it recently had to be dug up as it was threatening to fall on the roof at the first sign of a nor'easter. When all the leaves are on that tree in the photo, you are pretty much completely hidden in there—a situation that obviously has tempted quite a few people to whip out their trusty Swiss army knife and leave their mark!

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  7. Thanks, Alexa ~ that would be lovely if you can. When is Smell-o-Vision coming to computers? Surely it's not too far away ...

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  8. Now that is too fun! Reminds me of the old maple in the backyard that indeed had more than a few initials carved into it by some younglings. Thinking on those glorious summer days, sometimes the bite (of the Swiss knife) was worse than the bark. :-)

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  9. BTW...merci for the kind words yesterday. You all are just too cool! ;-)

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  10. Coltrane: Good to see you! Sounds like that Swiss Army Knife would be just the thing for the Swiss Family Robinson right after the shipwreck. You know, right away they could use it initially to do initialing. Those weren’t cheap then either. It didn’t cost just any shilling.

    Alexa, what kind of sapling are you thinking of as a replacement in your front yard?

    At first I thought about a Moreton Bay Fig Tree like the one in Santa Barbara that began as a tiny seedling a sailor gave to a little girl in 1876. It now looks like this.

    And then I thought, what the heck, why not be adventurous and plant some kind of baobob.

    For some reason I thought of the chestnut tree outside Anne Frank’s window that was threatened with removal because of ill health. But it must have gotten a reprieve as you can see here.

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  11. Coltrane -- LOL! We're all just glad you're apparently on the mend (and not for nuthin', but if we'd known we could have been thinking positive thoughts all along) and happy to enjoy your inevitably charming comments.

    TG -- Thanks for the great linkage!! Guess it's Mom's decision, but I'm voting for a baobab—been a big fan sine I first read Le Petit Prince.

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  12. Hey, I nearly did a double-take. Moreton Bay Fig? Something from my backyard! Well, not literally my backyard - the meat tree's too large - but my neck of the woods, at least. And when I think of baobabs, I can't help but think of the watercolour version of this.

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  13. Alexa, how cute! You were writing your comment as I was writing mine.

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  14. Wait. Let me phrase that one more way. It’s great to have you around again, and you cracked me up with your bite being worse than its bite comment Mr. Hep Cat-Kadiddle Stephen Hawkins.

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Thanks, merci, grazie, danke, hvala, gracias, spasibo, shukran, dhanyavaad, salamat, arigato, and muito obrigado for your much-appreciated comments.