I'm a poet / essayist / memoirist/
journalist (in the sense of keeping a journal, not of working for a newspaper) and it occurred to me that a blog fits in with all that. If Montaigne, father of the essay, were alive today, he'd keep a blog. This is my self-portrait as frustrated artist who can't believe she's not famous yet. (And because it's part of my artistic endeavor, the whole damn thing is copyrighted. All rights reserved.)
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April 13, 2009

The Bulbs Go On

I hope you had a happy Easter if you care about Easter. I don't, particularly, but I will say that yesterday was an absolutely glorious day, bright and calm and fine. I couldn't help thinking of people who had gotten new outfits, and and imagining how happy they would be to have such a lovely day to wear those new outfits. I was already in a good mood, but thinking of how happy so many other people would be, even if it involved a celebration I don't partake in, made me happier. That's how nice the weather was yesterday.

But I also liked Saturday, which was gray, damp and rainy. I spent Saturday afternoon with friends, and told them they HAD to visit Temple Square, because it's stunning right now. I swear, I've never seen anyplace as aggressive about planting bulbs as Salt Lake City--and the results are lovely. (I'm not saying there aren't other places that don't plant more, just that I haven't seen them.) I had already made a visit or two to TS to enjoy the bulbs--but it's just so hard to go there without being accosted by sister missionaries.

But I figured a damp Saturday evening, particularly when it was the evening before Easter, might be a good time to wander the gardens without being bothered by anyone wanting to chat me up about religion. And I was right! I got a few nods from people scurrying around without umbrellas, but not one was inclined to stop and talk to me, except for a guy sitting on a retaining wall right inside the gate to Temple Square. He had a large plastic cup of--something; he was so drunk I could smell the alcohol wafting off him even ten feet away. He asked my permission to say something he hoped wouldn't offend me, then told me I was a really good-looking lady. Since he didn't try to hit me up for change or ask me to hang out with him, I felt inclined to trust his sincerity, so I wished him a good evening, having had one myself.

And even though I suspected the light would be lousy and feared it might be too wet for photography, I took my camera. The light wasn't great, but the rain never became too heavy to interfere with taking a picture. So here are the results.

This is a photo of the beds to the north of the Assembly Hall, which is my favorite building on Temple Square. I really like this color scheme.
bulbs_1.jpg


This bed is outside the visitors' center, one of my least favorite buildings at TS. This bed isn't as unified and matchy as a lot of others, but I really like it.
bulbs_2.jpg


I like the planters full of pansies hanging on the wall.
bulbs_3.jpg


I think this bed of pansies and pink tulips is really sweet.
bulbs_4.jpg


I like this funky color of hyacinth. My favorite is the more conventional purple, but this one is nice too.
bulbs_5.jpg


This bed is between the Joseph Smith Building and the other church office building. Quite pretty.
bulbs_6.jpg


I used to hate that Wordsworth poem where his heart dances with the daffodils, but when I see something like this, I hate the poem a lot less. I even sorta get it.
bulbs_7.jpg


Here is one of my favorite flowers. I ADORE hyacinths--the way they look, the way they smell, the way there are dozens of tiny blossoms on one big stalk. I love the way they smell so much that I'll get down on my knees to sniff one from time to time, but I especially love walking past a big bed of them and catching their scent from an obliging breeze.
hyacinth.jpg


Wanted to see if I could capture the raindrops on this tulip. Not so much.
tulip.jpg


This is a better photo. I really like these tulips--they seem to be dwarfs or something. They're different.
tulip_2.jpg


This is not a picture of bulbs, but the flowering trees are really pretty.
temple_fruit.jpg

Posted by holly at April 13, 2009 8:28 AM

1 Comments

By chanson on April 13, 2009 11:58 PM

Very pretty!

It must be fascinating to live so near Temple Square to just go there on an ordinary walk...

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