Thresholds

There is a place between what was and what shall be called liminal space, or a threshold. Every time I go to the arboretum 15 minutes from my home I feel as if I have entered this space of peace and possibility. When I was a child I thought arboretums must be museums for trees - utterly, dreadfully dull with pins stuck in branches noting the names and origins of the specimens and nothing remotely beautiful evident. Not having visited one I believed they must be more like science labs and less like wondrous forests. How wrong I was!

Morton Arboretum is 1,700 acres of bliss. There are over 4,000 trees represented from all over the world and yes they do stick pins through little metal plates identifying the trees or shrubs but thankfully so as one easily falls in love with the way they sound in a gust of wind, or smell in early spring. I cross into another world while walking the trails in the woods and I remind the children that this is truly sacred ground.

Enjoy the photos from our most recent visit there last Sunday. I think we'll head there again for Mother's Day.

This is one of our favorite trails. Interspersed throughout the forest there are benches where you can sit and listen to the birds and wind.

There are lots of climbing trees for the kids. They love this! The image below is one of our favorite spots in the spring where we lie on our backs and look up at the blue sky and watch the birds hop from tree to tree. It is a little pool of sunshine mixed with dandelions.

Not far from here is my favorite pine grove. The trees tower 30ft or more above our heads and make a very particular sound when the wind blows through them. I think the pine needles sound different than leaves do against the wind. These trees are spectacular.Above are the most necessary identification tags!! Scots Pine. Pinus Sylvestris. Marvelous. Below is a sign leading us to the Legume Family. Redbuds, Wisterias, Pea Shrubs......The following set of images are of the incredible Children's Garden where play, giggles and exploration are inevitable.

This is abundant life. I am grateful.