I mentioned on my blog Monday that John and I were going on what I dubbed, “a field trip date” on Tuesday. We had so much fun and hope to do this quarterly. There is so much to see in our area that really only requires a hour or two drive.
And after having such a fantastic day, I’m wondering why kids should only have field trips—adults surely need this even more!
We visited the Milwaukee Domes and with the temperature only reaching 15 degrees yesterday it was a smart choice…and a welcome one to be in the overly large greenhouses of tropical, desert, and floral themes where it was warm and lush with greenery and vibrant colors.
I share photos below, so you can take a five minute visual field trip. But before I do, I just had to chuckle after shopping in the gift shop and what John said to me afterwards.
We browsed around the garden themed gift shop for a few moments before John meandered out into the hallway to wait for me. I was having somewhat of a hard time deciding what I wanted to purchase.
My heart jumped a bit in my chest when I spotted this book by Marta McDowell, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. But I had to make sure I wasn’t “missing” out on anything else and looked around for a bit longer.
I should have known better, because within moments I was back starring at this book. I ran my hand over the cover. I knew this was the treasure I had to take home with me. I could hardly even stand the wait to open it and start reading it!
I met John out in the hallway. He said, “So what did you get?”
I slowly slid the book out of the brown paper bag, as if holding a piece of gold. I smiled.
He said, “I knew you were going to get that book.”
I was surprised he said this. “How did you know?”
With a grin on his face as big as the Cheshire cat he said, “Because it has an old lady on the front.”
This is when I knew he does pay attention to me now and then. I played along to make sure my assumption was correct. “And I bought this book because Beatrix Potter reminds me of….”
“Tasha Tudor, of course!” He said.
As you may know, if you follow me here on my blog, I’m a bit enamored with Tasha Tudor – which I go in streaks about – and have been on a kick with her again lately. I now have all her hardcover books about her life that I bought second hand. I’ll never, ever tire of them. I’m sure of it.
Tasha had a huge, beautiful garden also and was a writer/illustrator. And someone, like Beatrix Potter, who absolutely lived her life on her own terms. Something I continually strive to do and likely why I’m so attracted to fellow creatives such as Tasha and Beatrix.
It certainly isn’t that I’m a good gardener, as I’m far from that. But there is something about how they weaved this into their creative lives that fascinates me, too.
But I digress. Back to John’s comments… it was in that moment, I felt so loved and so understood. It was really the highlight of my field trip date with him.
A memory I now hold as something quite special in my heart. Now onto the photos – enjoy!
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