Love in the time of corona

Wedding joy amidst the cherry blossoms on Constitution Avenue/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Now this is bliss, amidst the cherry blossoms near the Washington Monument. The white figure in the distance is the bride seen in the photo above/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Could this be love in the cherry blossoms?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Between the rows of flags at a famous address in Washington, D.C., the Washington Monument stands center/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Guards making rounds on Sunday afternoon at the White House and leaves blowing in the wind at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were almost the only things moving outside the gates/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On the 15th St. NW side of the White House on Sunday afternoon/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the Department of Justice building, patriot Nathan Hale (1755-1776) stands erect, continuing to serve his country. He was a spy for the Continental Army, captured by the British and executed. "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," or a variation of these words were supposedly his last and are carved at the base of the statue./Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the Federal Trade Commission building on Constitution Avenue, Gov. Andrew Cuomo  arrives to rein in the rampaging disease /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Parking was easy to find along Constitution Avenue Sunday afternoon, and the sidewalks were almost empty. We went for exercise and biking which is allowable under present rules/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Degas at the Opera will open again, won't it? Before it closes again, this time, scheduled to exit July 5, 2020 at the National Gallery of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Multi-colored red tulips brighten a sad afternoon at the U.S. Botanic Garden. We may not be able to go inside the Botanic Garden building, but we can surely enjoy the scenery outside/Photo by Patricia Leslie

More beauty at the U.S. Botanic Garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The U.S. Botanic Garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A host of golden baby daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Is there a fragrance any better than hyacinths'?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of the loveliest park scenes in all of D.C. when the Bartholdi Fountain is working. Prithee, Architect of the U.S. Capitol, wherefore are thou, water? Shut off for coronavirus?  We cannot enjoy the park's beauty?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Have the Russians landed in D.C. to join their friend in the White House? What looks like Catherine the Great's gift to her Grandfather-in-Law, Peter the Great (which welcomes visitors at the River Neva in St. Petersburg) is actually General Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) "Liberador" and "Leader of the Argentine Independence," a statue which is found in Triangle Park at Virginia Ave., NW and 20th St., NW. It's a copy of one in Buenos Aires, sculpted by Augustin-Alexandre Dumont who completed the original in 1862.  Argentina gave this duplicate in 1925, and it was rededicated in 1976, according to the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 More about General Jose de San Martin at his statue/Photo by Patricia Leslie

General Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) "Liberador" and "Leader of the Argentine Independence" found in Triangle Park at Virginia Ave., NW and 20th St., NW/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Peter the Great Statue, the Bronze Horseman, a gift to Peter from Catherine the Great dedicated in 1782, St Petersburg, Russia. Note the similarities to Gen. Juan de San Martin's statue, the outstretched right hand, the rearing horse (which strikes a serpent under Peter). The "Thunder Stone" which holds Peter is the largest ever moved by humans (1768)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Peter the Great Statue, the Bronze Horseman, St Petersburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Peter the Great Statue, the Bronze Horseman, St Petersburg, Russia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Tiptoe through the daffodils and smell their fragrance at the U.S. Botanic Garden/Photo by Patricia Leslie


PatriciaLesli@gmail.com

Botanic Garden's phallus plant stars in D.C.

On the day before Britain's Royal Baby arrived, the American "Royal Baby" made its appearance at the U.S. Botanic Garden to the delight of thousands who filled the Garden to witness (and sniff) the rare blossom which erupts every few years (or decades) and features a rotting odor/Patricia Leslie

 Now, wouldn't you stand in line on a hot day to smell what's known as the "corpse flower" with a "fragrance" similar to rotting meat?  Yes, and so would thousands of others. The line extended in a half circle from the Garden's entrance on Maryland Avenue down and around the corner of Third Street. Guards said the wait was 60 to 90 minutes, but it was less than 30.  A FDA microbiologist traveled from College Park, Maryland to witness the pageant/Patricia Leslie

It could be an upside-down lamp! (The yellow cylindrical leaf is the lamp post and the flower or spathe, which can come in different colors just like at the shops, the lampshade.)  Or, a ballerina iceskating on her head?  A yellow dolphin showing off in the green ocean?  A candle? What do you see? Botanists see an amorphophallus titanum, native to Indonesian rainforests and first discovered in 1878. Although "Andy" arrived at the Botanic Garden in 2007, this was the birthing of its first blossom which the Houston Museum of Natural Science says probably will not happen again/Patricia Leslie

Holy Mother of Jesus! That looks like the Holy Mother of Jesus carved at the top. Do you think this is related to the pope's visit to Brazil? Save the titan arum (the nickname) and do not let it collapse before we make copies and sell them for $20 each.  The blossom usually fades after 24 to 48 hours/Patricia Leslie

The Botanic Garden staff passed out literature and never lost its cool, perhaps because cool went missing on the hot day. Plant stench was nowhere to be smelled at the Botanic Garden on Monday, however, one visitor reported an ample supply of human essence/Patricia Leslie

The American Royal Baby's gestation period was seven years. At blossom it weighed approximately 250 pounds (!) and grew four feet in 10 days. Its height can reach 10 feet. What does it eat?  Just in case, visitors did not stand too close/Patricia Leslie

Meanwhile, back outdoors with the humans:  By 7:15 p.m. the line stretched to reach Independence.  Everyone was in good humor, though, waiting to see and smell a stinky plant.  The Botanic Garden offers much more to see and smell than just one plant.  Check it out/Patricia Leslie

What:  The U.S. Botanic Garden

When:  Everyday including weekends and holidays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where:  100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20001

How much:  It's free

Metro station:  Federal Center Southwest

For more information:  202-225-8333

Patricialesli@gmail.com

The Flowers Is Is at the Botanic Garden

From top to bottom: The bird of paradise,the indoor courtyard,the banana tree,the tour,springtime in February,and the notorious Devil’s Tongue



By the Queen of Free

OMGGS!

For a respite from the normal workaday world, for a breath of springtime in February, for a change of scenery, the angelic, the paradisaical Botanic Garden at the foot of Capitol Hill offers the weary a song, a pleasant trip into another space of fragrance, beauty, loveliness, and the color of rejuvenation: green.

On Monday Marjorie Abbot, Garden volunteer,led a small group on a delightful tour, providing a brief history of the sanctuary and explanations about a few (time constraints) of its 26,000(!)plants. We saw the “Devil’s Tongue” (so perfectly named)with its horrid smell (everyone took Marjorie's word for it, and nobody tested her truthfulness), hundreds of orchids, medicinal plants bountiful, cacti, and we smelled the uplifting, the magnificent fragrance of the hyacinth.

What a celestial contrast the Botanic Garden presents compared to the brown, the empty, the languor of the outdoors only a few steps away.

The short trip to another world on my lunch break brought to mind these words:

Spring has sprung
The grass is riz
I wonder where the flowers is

Perhaps written by Edna St. Vincent Millay or Ogden Nash. They sound more like Nash, don't you think?

Christmas at the U.S. Botanic Garden

By the Queen of Free

No matter how many times you have been, the glory and peace of the Botanic Garden is a cure for what ails you in the middle of a wintry afternoon with no sunshine and grey skies.

The soft lighting, the contemporary quiet music which meshes into the background like so many of the ferns, the whispers of the crowd, the colors, the gigantic tree beautifully decorated, the leisurely pace of the visitors, the artistic works here and there and green green everywhere, mix to soothe troubled minds and bodies.

I call it a "salve of peace" unlike that found anywhere else in D.C. Even the exterior of the building adds fitting elements to the serenity.

It helps to accompany a child to the Garden and see more of the wonder through her eyes, but she is not vital to enjoyment.

And the trains! The trains!

They fascinate all the big and little ones as they weave terrific preludes to “The Polar Express” showing down the street at IMAX at the Natural History Museum where most of the audience is adults, and I know why: We want to believe. Go and see for yourself and tell me I am wrong.