Hearts and Flowers

[vovat]

Back on Valentine's Day, which was a Saturday and part of Presidents' Day weekend, Beth and I went to Longwood Gardens. She wanted to see the winter exhibits they had, so it seemed as good a time as any.

A lot of it was still covered in snow, and the ponds were covered with ice except for an occasional circle with bubbling water.

I think the last time we visited was in 2007, and three treehouses were installed the following year. One of them, the Canopy Cathedral, has a Norwegian style, made out of fir and cedar.

There's even a carved dragon.

It's not a very large building, but it feels open. We also visited the Lookout Loft, which is apparently in Adirondack style.

It has a good view of the surrounding woods, but what I particularly remember is that a kid who was up there at the same time we were asked if the Grinch was still there.

Maybe he was around Christmas? I don't know. The Children's Garden at the Conservatory was also quite interesting, with its animal fountains and other decorations.

There are parts where people taller than kids have to duck.

There's also a Chinese dragon statue with an open mouth accompanied by several giant toothbrushes. We didn't brush its teeth, but that is a creative idea.

We left to have dinner at Applebee's, and there were so many people there when we got back when it was dark that we had to park in a special lot.

The winter exhibits were in and around the Conservatory, with a display of bubbles outside.

Inside, there were hanging plants and a spiral chandelier, as well as some backlit bonsai trees.

And I like how my eyes look in this picture, although I'm not sure why.


We saw Tavie that Monday, and were finally able to exchange Christmas gifts. I got one of the Fantagraphics Uncle Scrooge books, and she also had a gift for me from Beth, a book on Celtic mythology. We walked in Green-Wood Cemetery a bit, and it also had an iced-over pond with a bubbling hole.


We didn't do that much for our anniversary, but we did go to New Jersey to see a double feature of The Exorcist and Beyond the Door. Before the show, a guy played some music on the organ, which was pretty cool.

We had both forgotten that, towards the end of The Exorcist, Lieutenant Kinderman mentions Wuthering Heights, and of course there's a version of that out now. I don't think it has Jackie Gleason and Lucille Ball in it, though. We hadn't seen Beyond the Door before, but I wrote about it last week. It was quite late by the time the second picture ended, so we ended up eating at a diner that was still open.

I can't think of much else to say, but I do want to share this picture I took of a snowman someone built on the sidewalk in our neighborhood.

And I started playing Final Fantasy VII (the original, not the remake) again this past weekend, since I never finished it back when it was new. I almost escaped from Midgar, but the Motor Ball took out my party.