The Garden of Earthly Delights

Bob and I took a walk through the Lakeside Garden Center. It was pure delight. First we strolled past the bowling green, which was empty as usual. Lawn bowling is a dying sport, I guess, but it's pleasurable to watch whenever the bowlers do come out, dressed in their formal whites on the manicured lawn. It reminds me of a more leisurely era.

From there we strolled briefly by the lake and then up the hill to the gardens. There's a community garden area planted with vegetables. Mostly we saw Swiss chard and young lettuces there. We also saw a robin, sitting very quietly on top of a plant in one of the fenced-in areas. He was so close that we could inspect his little black eyes and suede-colored breast in detail. He didn't move from his spot even as we circled around him in admiration.

We visited the Bonsai Garden. I'm not that fond of Bonzai plants. They are too rigorously sculpted for my taste, but I have to admit that they were beautiful. The wisteria was in full bloom, and one large plant spilling over with its white-purple blossoms was amazing. Another miniature plant had a single orange on top. It looked like someone had placed it there just to see if it would balance, but it was actually growing from the branches of the tiny bush. We didn't dare touch it, but we bent to smell it.

More wonderful things to smell -- and touch -- from the Sensory Garden, a curving walkway lined with waist-level walls of fragrant herbs. There was sage, thyme and lemon thyme, oregano, mint and all the rest, but the best was the lavender, which grew in glorious abundance. I bathed my hands in it whenever I could, but I had to be careful because of the bumblebees hovering over the flowers.

Since we've had a heavy rainy season, the fountains were turned on. We passed a modern one in the garden area: a series of small waterfalls over flat stone slabs. On our way back to the car, we rested on a bench at the McElroy Memorial Fountain, a grander construction of Italian marble inset with bronze plaques. It was built in 1911 to honor John McElroy, a city big shot now obscure. The fountain itself has seemed obscure to me for years. Even though I pass it almost daily as I drive down Grand Avenue, I hardly notice it. Maybe that's because it's usually turned off (water shortages) and covered with dead leaves and graffitti (budget problems.)

It had been cleaned up. The water was turned on, spouting in a tall graceful arc from the fountain to spill over its sides so at last we were able to appreciate its full glory: shimmering water against the Italian marble, a pleasing green patina covering bronze inlays of the reclining classical figures below. Under a shade tree nearby, two young men played soothing music with bass and sax. "Idyllic" is the word to describe our day.