We began our morning at the Greenhouse. As soon as we walked in the door, everyone stopped the chatting and just began to take in the space. Each of us took inspiration from beautiful flowers, sounds of the birds chirping and the water flowing, or just the humid and warm air. I don't do a lot of journal writing, or free writing for that matter. Most of my writing is work or task related, soI was a little worried about what I would possibly write. I was pleasantly surprised that I could find a topic each time. Each location was distinctly different and provided the inspiration that I needed.This picture of a flower is from the Greenhouse. I was intrigued by it's plant because it began in a planter that was about 2-3 feet off the ground and reached all the way to the top of the building and then back again, multiple times. I wonder how old it is? How fast it grows? How far it would stretch if rolled out? These flowers look more like pink leaves but they turned this beautiful pale pink after they fell off the plant.
Our second stop was the woods next to the tennis courts. It reminded me of a camping trip to Yellowstone National Forest that I took with my family when I was about eight years old. I really enjoyed thinking about this trip and letting the memories just wash over the moment.
The last location was to refuel at Cafe Paradiso. While I was in the bathroom, I noticed a message on the wall: Tell us something that you love about yourself. There were about 15-20 responses on the wall that ranged from "I love my work ethic" to "I am a mom." It made me happy to see the positive statements that people shared with strangers in such an unlikely place. I was hoping there would be more statements, that more people had positive things to say about themselves. But I don't know how recently the message had been posted and I do wonder if it's hard for people to write on the wall. Is this vandalism? Or is just that difficult to share and announce a positive attribute? What would I write on the wall? What positive characteristic would I want to anonymously share with the world?
