And so the story continues. Empty nest mama living a quiet life of peace and solitude with hubby feels sad on occasion because: (choose one)
a. her children have all grown up and moved away
b. sunshine is missing in her neck of the woods
c. the view outside her window is colorless
d. all of the above
If you chose response d, you win a gold star today!! You are an ace pupil. You’ve been reading Mama’s book of Opportunity for quite some time now and you thoroughly comprehend the subject matter. You probably have even read her previous edition copyrighted in 2010.
So on this snowy day – yes, it is snowing again in my snowglobe world here! – this 12th page in Chapter Two, I shall reward you (and me too!) by providing a plethora of colorful photos from the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, taken last February on my mini excursion to the ‘islands’ with my husband.
They are a much more welcomed sight than the sideways snow squall I’m watching out my kitchen window right now. Really! The snow is blowing sideways like my snowglobe got knocked over. Even the hawk that just flew out of a tree behind our property is fighting to fly against the barrage of snow and having a hard time of it.
So let’s fly away ourselves to a happy place via photographs! Hope you enjoy the explosion of color in case your world is as barren as mine right now!
The spectacular, gigantic glass art pictured above hung from the dome and greeted us when we entered the conservatory. Read more about this fascinating work created by Washington artist Dale Chihuly here: http://www.chihuly.com/
We left the snowglobe and stepped into verdure so lushly green I really did feel like we had just landed on some tropical island. As we meandered from one section of the conservatory to another, feasting on all the colorful sights, I could not stop photographing everything, probably due to the color deficit I experienced looking outside at my landscape every day at home! I was drawn to the vibrant colors like a butterfly to sweet nectar.
I even enjoyed the southwestern room with cacti of all sorts and shapes. Then we visited the rooms where the Orchid Show unveiled sights of glorious color in flowers so unique and intricate and fragrance so sweet.
After this uplifting few hours of vacation time away from the bleakness and dreariness of winter, our respite ended and we traveled back to our country home….to the sight below.
Perhaps, being the astute reader you are, you will understand why I feel so color-deprived and why I love this quote by Victor Hugo ~ “Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.”
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Mama's Empty Nest 
Those photos are beautiful — they made me feel good. Hope sharing them made you happy, too. Winter’s a bit different in my state, but it’s still easy to get a bit down about the empty nest, I know.
Keep tending that garden! :0)
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Thanks Laura! Winter in the empty nest can be a downer, but keeping God as our Master Gardener, hubby and I will flourish!
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