Arboretum

I was off for a week to Washington DC with a very dear friend of mine, the author of For Love or Science. I spent most of my time in museums, especially the Museum of Natural History, and I also got to experience the National Arboretum. I was giddy: it's a cross-breed between a museum and hiking! I would highly recommend going, as well as I would recommend bringing a picnic. Maybe even a bike, it's a long walk! But, in my opinion, well worth it.

Bonsai tree with friend for scale.

I was floored by the bonsai exhibit. I expected to favor the more natural exhibits over this, which has much more evidence of human involvement. Don't get me wrong, I loved the other exhibits too, but it was wonderful to see the beauty and care in these little trees...one was over 300 years old!

Wowza!

It was especially interesting how some of the bonsai trees displayed were less tree-sculpting like I imagined and more like miniaturized scenes. Tiny forests on a table-top.

I could sit in that grove and read or draw all day...if I were an inch tall!

The herb exhibit was also excellent, with herbs arranged by medicinal, culinary, industrial, and even fragrant properties.

"Pineapple Sage" - rub a leaf and it really does smell of pineapple!

Now if we move up to full-sized trees, I also really enjoyed walking through "Fern Valley". As you walk along the path you are presented with examples of different forest types from different areas of the country. My friend and I got a special treat when we saw a five-lined skink scurry out of sight. This represents the only type of lizard found in Vermont, where it is rare and, despite looking, I have never seen one. So I was very excited even though we were out-of-state.

Skink!