‘Garden Lights, Holiday Nights’

There is a strong tradition in US Botanical Gardens of attracting visitors in November and December with illuminated displays and light shows.

This one at the Atlanta Botanical Garden is one of the best that we have seen with a new light show set to music in the woods over the woodland canopy walkway.

In the more formal part of the garden, nets of lights illuminate the flower beds and trees..

On the main lawn, ‘Orchestral Orbs’ - these surreal looking lights change colour and pulse to the accompaniment of dramatic and seasonal music..

In the fruit and vegetable garden, themed light sculptures..

Inside the conservatory and orchid house, some different tableaux (and photo opportunities)..

It may only be mid-November but with the lights, music and   Holiday theme, we started to feel quite festive!

Architectural Structures

In Atlanta we are staying at the Georgian Terrace hotel.  This is a Victorian hotel which has been converted inside with an innovative full height central atrium.

The ‘bones’ of the structure show up well in black and white - in the background the original staircases and in front the new atrium.

This last photo of the original marble stairs with iron banisters spiraling down seven floors is probably my favourite - it reminds me of structures in nature - shells and ferns..

Happy Birthday David!

An early start this morning and before beginning work, David opened his birthday cards and gifts. Thanks to everyone for all of these and birthday wishes by text and email too.

One of Theo’s gifts to him was this ‘Grampasaurus’ t-shirt.

At lunch time, as he was working from home, we were able to walk along the creek to the Japanese restaurant and sushi bar for some lunch.

The lunch special today was a bento box with a variety of different dishes.  Just as well that we walked there and back or we would have felt guilty about the tempura vegetables!

This evening, David’s choice - an ice-cream cake!  We have seen these on sale many times but never actually tried one.  It was much firmer than expected with different flavours of ice-cream and crunchy textures inside. 

Another new experience ticked off on the list!

Morning Flight

Last night Theo and I stayed overnight with James’s parents.

Theo is very at home there of course and was happy to rise to the occasion of keeping two grandmothers amused and on their toes!

As the plane took off from Heathrow, the view into the sun and reflections from the wing and runway made a striking image.

Then of course the now familiar view of Windsor Castle - definitely on my list of places to see properly, from the ground, on our return.

Eight and a half hours later and landing at Dulles with the Airbus office building in the background.

Autumn Leaves

I photographed these leaves along the edge of the park, a wide range of vivid colour on each leaf.  All the same variety (of Maple?)

At the Park

The park here has lots of different play and exercise equipment and scope for lots of fun for all ages..

Lots of imaginative play too..

The nicest photo of the day was a selfie taken by James..

Oh yes and just to prove I was there, here is a little puddle-jumping on the way home..

‘Visible Storage’

Most museums acknowledge that they have far more items in their collections than they can have showcased on permanent display.  They keep items in storage and rotate them into the collections as and when required.

In the Heinz History Museum in Pittsburgh they had a large section of one floor which was simply entitled ‘Visible Storage’.  

Many items were displayed - furniture, works of art, vehicles, costume, china, glass, but there was no attempt at display and no information about each item.

It was a little frustrating not to know more about the items on display - but perhaps better than not seeing them at all.