... after getting permission from the rockefeller family, of course, j-sun invited me to join him on a private tour of the "abby aldrich rockefeller garden" in seal harbor ... early in the morning we drove up to the island, searched until we found the rather obscure driveway, then, map in hand, found the correct path to our destination ... the unusual wooden arch entrance was a clue this was more than your typical backyard garden ...
... true photographers, we immediately separated as each of us began to follow own our eye's lead ... my exploration diverging from his, this was to be the last i saw of j-sun for awhile ...
... the garden was huge, with seemingly hundreds of different varieties of flowers ... you'll see no pictures of its entirety, however, since i surrendered to a familiar compulsion to try to portray individual blossoms in a semi-impressionistic manner ... i'll not try to name any of these beautiful plants, since, as usual, i'm clueless ... someone who knows the names of all things green, my dearest sister-in-law, beth, will most likely spring to my assistance in this manner, and i'll edit in the proper nomenclature if she does ... (if you read this, beth, number 'em in order starting with this one) ...
... when we arrived the morning dew was quite heavy, and the sun had not yet cleared the trees on the east side of the garden ...
... the bees were up early ...
... in all directions little paths led into the forest—well, perhaps "forest" isn't the proper term ... not a bit of downed wood to be seen, fallen pine needles very carefully layered and neatly aligned, each stone and boulder precisely situated as if the last glacier that covered this land had taken lessons in feng shui, i think it's perhaps better to keep using the word "garden" for all the wooded grounds around the flowers ...
... a first hint of the morning sun ...
... beautiful light, although it caused me to wish we'd been allowed in an hour earlier ...
... a squadron of flying flowers ...
... pink ... ??? ... magenta ... ??? ... you decide ...
... knowing that soon direct sunlight would make photography difficult, i began to work fast ...
... bursting through the trees, brilliant sun rays exploded these flowers ...
... hiding in the shade, still not fully awake ...
... "where do i go next" ... or, perhaps, she was a bit overcome by the beauty ...
... flowers, busy ...
... tending a garden that is probably seen by relatively few people were a dozen or more staff members ... noticing an errant blossom floating in a bird bath, i said to j-sun, "i'll bet it doesn't sit here much longer before it's removed and the water cleaned" ... "nah," he responded, "as soon as it begins to get waterlogged someone'll replace it with a fresh one" ... j-sun, it seems, understood this place even better'n me ...
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path.
BUDDHA
... a colorful homage to the f-64 group ...
... scattered along the trails were marvelous sculptures ...
... we took a little stroll to the height of the garden ... in the sun it was quickly becoming quite warm, and the humidity was near total saturation, so it was then a quick walk back to the car and a leisurely drive home ...
... thank you abby aldrich rockefeller, for a most remarkable garden ... and, thank you, j-sun, for taking me along on this little wanderabout ...