sensory experience: what a gift

so today was the first bike ride of the season for me to the chicago botanical gardens - one of my temples i visit regularly throughout the year.  the journey on the bike, then a short rest in the gardens, then the journey back is one worth documenting and sharing.  it's a sensory experience for me on all levels and yes even taste. and so i begin.

it's about 25miles round trip and the stretch of trail i follow up to the garden is used by many, so i prefer to go early in the morning.  less folks out-n-about.  i am not biking expert like a couple of my friends.  i can make the 12ish miles in about 50min which is great for me.  my friend thorpe could probably make in half the time, but then that's what makes him a great competitive biker.  i am not. i pack my bike bag with the essentials - snacks, water, a hat & sunscreen.  those that care about me urge me to wear my helmet.  reluctantly i do even though i find them so irritating.  on the ride home i usually pitch in my bag so i can feel the air on my head.  add that to the sense of touch.

so the sensory experience.  let's start with hearing. most of the folks on the bike trail are oblivious to their surroundings or their senses because they are either fixated on whatever is blaring from their headphones into their ears; staring at their feet the whole time or they are chitter chattering non-stop on their phone or to the person next to them.  i choose to awake them to their hearing senses with a lively "good morning!"  it's 50-50 on the response back.  i love getting a return greeting as i know then that i have made a difference in their life in a tiny way. that feels good.  the others... well, here's what i get back.  nothing.  or a dazed look that says "huh? was she talking to me?"  or grunting.  or they didn't hear me because they are so absorbed in their chatting they have no idea what's going on around them.  or by the time they have come back to their senses my greeting is a tiny whisper in their ears and they might be thinking, "that was nice - good morning to you."  or maybe they are thinking none of the above.  

i have a very vivid and wild imagination and i love nothing more than to let it come alive on my bike rides.

botanical garden forest & ravine

the other beauty of hearing is listening to ALL of the sounds on the trail while you are whizzing along.  the breeze brushing along your body and all the curves & corners you provide for it to move against.  the gurgling of the waterfalls. the water in the streams and ravines along the path and in the garden. the birds - holy cow!  the twixting of the red-winged black bird; the squeakers - finches; the ho hum of the black capped chickadees, whose song is now for me named after my dear friend tracey.  the chirpy lurpees - sparrows & wrens.  the "pretty pretty pretty" song the cardinals offer.  the warble of the robins.  it's a choir singing the entire way there and back.  it's so calming and delightful to listen to.  how could one not want to hear that?  i guess it's not for everyone.

woodland anenomes

huge white feathery blossomed tree whose name i forgot to write down

smell.  i am a grateful person every day for all that i have.  i am pretty damn grateful for my sense of smell.  one of my favorite senses and one that i hone on just about anything and anyone.  so the sense of smell on the trail (& garden) is like an orgasm to my nose.  seriously.  there are two stretches on the trail that i absolutely love!  the first one is about a block or two long.  sits behind houses and tucked between two parks.  high rotting old cedar fences on one side of me and chain link fence on the other.  i am flanked on the sides & overhead by lush bushes and trees.  it's shaded and cool always, and feels a little like a scene out of harry potter.  when i enter the stretch, the dampness is what hits me first - earthy, woody, wet dirt, mossy.  then the green comes next with it's herbal cocktail filling my nose.  i am lost in the smell for those few minutes as i fly through.  it's a similar experience on the later stretch except that it's more airy up there and a different mix of trees and shrubs are surrounding me, so the herbal cocktail is one that makes me drunk every time.  it's sublime.  truly.  not to forget about the grassy golf courses i pass whose garden keepers are always cutting it so the freshness of the blades and the crisp scent floats over onto the path.  lovely.

rhododendrons

mixed container of spring annuals

wigelia tree blossoms

the sense of taste will be brief.  bugs.  they fly into my face and get stuck on my lips due to the lip glaze adorning them.  and you feel them hit you funny enough with quite a bit of force for such a tiny little thing.  so i either lick my lips or my mouth has actually been open slightly so they enter the mothership inside and i swallow them before i realize what i have just done.  enough said on bugs.

the sense of sight is tied with scent for its level of gratitude in my life.  this is a biggie and to take it for granted is a sad thing.  i am a perceptive person with heightened awareness.  i have also been told that i have eyes in the back of my head because i see things well before others do.  i can't see well though which is a bummer.  i wear contacts.  i can still see quite clearly and what a visual delight it is the entire time.  from of course, the usual folks and their creative athletic attire and apparatus to the dogs that accompany them and the kids who are being dragged along for the ride.  they look most happy.  what's interesting to me is how hell bent folks are on whatever their experience is that morning and not realizing how transparent they are to me.  the anger, the struggle, hungover, stressed, etc.  i don't see happy smiles real often.  kinda sad.  what's more pleasing is the visual mother nature has provided me, courtesy of man mostly, as he put it there.  the textures, the colors, the smallest detail, the shapes interwoven as a tight community.  it never ends and it never ceases to amaze me. once i hit the actual botanical garden - WELL, i am drunk once again in the overwhelming beauty that fills my cup again and again and again.  i never bore of the palette that greets me each time.  the annual gardens upon entering the space.  the rose garden - GOD - when i bloom i stop to smell every single variety.  the english walled gardens - with their benches to sit at and gaze at the details for endless moments.  the waterfalls.  japanese bonsai island - purely perfect details on every tree, rock, path and water accent.  the prairie - enough said and walking through it feels like being back at my grandma's house.  the fruit & vegetable garden. well i could eat there all day! the butterflies - a whole enclosed space made for these unbelievably beautiful creatures.  such detail in them that stare and stare trying to make sense of it all.  i could keep going - but then maybe you should make the trip yourself.

   

poppies detail

field of poppies 

alliums (onions) 

delphiniums

the sense of touch is a powerful one as well.  yes i know, i should just say that they are all amazing and we can't live without any of our senses.  that is true but some take a little more priority over others.  touch is powerful and when you cannot see, it is what feeds your brain an image along with sound for what is in front of you.  there is of course the,"get your hands in the dirt" kind of touch which is so physically gratifying.  there is also the kind of touch when feeling out a plant or flowers identity and defense system that i find truly delightful!  for example, i have here a picture of the annual geranium (not the perennial, pelagornium - though lovely as well).  i have to reference scent for a moment first.  it is the scented variety that is absolutely divine to experience!  chocolate, lemon, rose, strawberry, mint and more.  what's even more delightful is the texture of the leaves.  back to touch now. they are velvety, fuzzy, soft, rough, smooth, curly, edgy.  each variety has a unique texture for the scent.  (i haven't got those memorized as i do the genus names.  someday.) you rub the leaves and then smell your fingers and a smile comes across your face.  a gesture familiar to many.  all herbs provide the same experience.  another example would be the entire evergreen family of trees and shrubs.  oh my!  what a texture ride and one that you have to be somewhat careful with as you feel your way around conifer gardens.  from prickly to smooth to hairy to rough lacy edges to feathery to downright don't touch me!  heaven.  i feel everything in life and plants & flowers are are the top of list.

lemon scented geranium

so if you are in touch with your senses and you are open to the journey, then i challenge you to go on one of your own or try mine.  the level of appreciation is so grand once you've tried it and you will keep going back for more because you always need to be replenished.  

i leave you with daisies and alstroemerias.  daisies of any kind are my favorite flower though the traditional white simple daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) does it the best for me.  these are african daisies below and they were so bright in the morning light, they were begging to have their picture taken.  the alstroemerias are for a couple of my friends.  for carly, who as far as i know it's still her favorite and for tracey, who giggles every time she tries to get it out of her mouth.

enjoy and be well.

marlo

african daisies

alstroemeria