We are lucky enough to live near this wonderful public garden here in Oakland, within a
few minutes' walk. For over a year we lived here before I even came across it, and when I
did, I was astonished at such a treasure, hidden in plain view! It hosts community gardens of
vegatables, flowers, and herbs, a Japanese garden, palm garden, bonsai garden, herb garden,
cacti, a little 'forest', and more (: The day Isabella and I discovered it, we were taking a long
walk together around the neighbourhood. I was homeschooling her then, and tried to make our
days as beautiful as possible by spending afternoons outdoors. We consequently visited the
garden nearly every day after that, having picnic snacks under the shady trees, writing poetry in
the Japanese garden, and studying the names of flowers and herbs and jotting them down in little
notebooks along with illustrations. It was a treasured time. The garden is much the same now,
although the meaning has shifted with time. Now I bring Jude with me in the late mornings
and we stroll our way through, his cozy little body wrapped snug in the Moby wrap and me
relaxed and peaceful with the gift of an hour of peaceful quiet and reflection. The next time we
go, I plan to bring a thermos of hot tea. The pictures above include images of the garden and
the stroll back home (: Jude likes to touch the trees. Isabella still hugs trees..She spent much of
January hugging the discarded Christmas trees strewn across the sidewalks of our neighbourhood,
saying hello to them. And goodbye.
