Yesterday I spent the morning
Walking in Beauty
at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Though the fall colors are still unfolding in our area, I found plenty of color in my wandering walk yesterday. As I walked under one tree, the breeze sent leaves gently raining down on me.
If you look carefully at the image above you can see leaves fluttering against the sky. I felt carefree as a child as I stood and experienced leaves fluttering all around me.
“Every act of perception, is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.”
― Musicophilia: La musique, le cerveau et nous
Pollinator Heaven
The honey bees and bumble bees were loving the still blooming asters that dotted landscapes all around the Arboretum. And the annual summer flower display is still stunning and beautiful.
Though the Arboretum is in full fall display with lots of gourds, squash, pumpkins, and scarecrows dotting the landscape, I stayed away from the well-traveled areas and spent my time on less traveled paths through woodlands and prairie.
“My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.”
―
Near the Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Center I saw a monarch butterfly fluttering from clover flower to clover flower near the path.
I thought that all of the monarch butterflies had probably begun their migration south. But the weather this September has been so unusually warm that perhaps there are some here that will still have time to head south.
I saw the last of the hummingbirds that visit my feeder over a week ago. But I haven’t yet taken down the feeder, because the honey bees have found it and are feeding on it’s sugary solution. Perhaps it will help their hive survive better.
Iconic Red Barn
It’s been several years since I visited the iconic red barn at the Arboretum. The last time I was there one could not enter the barn because of structural issues that needed to be addressed. I was surprised to see that I could now go inside, though in the downstairs of the barn it looked nothing like the barns I was in as a child. It has been totally re-modeled (in a good way, I think). There are now restrooms and bright windows. Though most of the barn was closed, with a sign noting it was open only for special events, I was happy to see that the iconic barn had found a new life.
Whenever I see it from a distance it conjures up idyllic childhood memories. Though many farms have no need of barns like this any more, I am happy that this barn was preserved. I wonder why so many barns were painted red? Was there a reason or was it just because red paint was more available? Hmmm…
So of course, I just googled “why are barns painted red?” And here is what I found out…
To create the coat to preserve their barns, farmers mixed skimmed milk, lime and red iron oxide, which produced a dark, rusty color. The addition of linseed oil to the mixture helped protect the wood against rotting. The paint was cheap to make, and it lasted for years..
Thankfully, paint became more plentiful in the late 1800s, giving farmers more options for colorful hues. White barns became more common, but white paint was more expensive. So many farmers opted for the cheapest paint: red.
Another reason red was popular was because of the darkness in color, which helped control temperature. Red absorbed more of the sun’s rays than bare wood and kept the inside of the barn warmer during the winter months.
— https://www.wideopencountry.com/why-barns-are-red/
Take time for Walking in Beauty
When was the last time that you took the time to go walking in beauty, my friends? It is a great time to go somewhere in nature and walk or sit and contemplate beauty. Though the news is often alarming and things may be falling apart (or falling together, depending upon your point of view) you can always find beauty if you look for it.
“Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”
― Gratitude
May you walk in beauty.
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