Stay at Home Travel to Another World

Went to the Huntington Gardens today,  It was yet another of a long list of wonderful places right in our backyard we hadn't previously found time to explore.  It was so wonderful.  Probably the highlight of the gardens was the Chinese Garden area. 


At the entrance were a group of bonsai where Brian was trying out his "volcano god" imitation.  It was his own light-hearted admission of his stress-induced cranky state.  But as we passed the bonsai area we noted over the gates, several calligraphy plaques in Chinese characters.  The walking tour on my iPod translated these as, "you are now entering another world".  And we were.  It was amazing.  We stepped over the happy fish bridge and through the jade moon gate and we were in another world--just like that. 

And it wasn't just a new world for us either.  People around us stopped and breathed more deeply.  Folks talked in whispers rather than shouts.  And as we crossed through this canopied grove of bamboo, and listened to the rustling of the leaves that sounded just like summer rain, there was a hush.  It was like a giant, leafy, deep green cathedral.  It was magical.

Makes me think about how often another world is just a breath away.  That maybe we don't need to travel to the ends of the earth to find a new perspective.  Maybe a whole new way of looking at things is right in the backyard.

I also think, that as a place to exercise, the Huntington Gardens beats the gym cold.

So look outside and look around.  Maybe you'll find a new world and a whole new you.

Love,
The Fat Chick