Yesterday was a beautiful

Yesterday was a beautiful winter day. The sky was blue, the sun shining and the air was warm.

I was out running errands (mailing those Christmas packages) and decided not to head back to the office with a take-out lunch. Instead, I found myself at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden with a picnic.

I sat on a bench under the bare trees looking across at the huge glass greenhouse. A few Japanese maples still held their leaves, adding scarlet accents to the scene. I love the view of the bright blue sky through the lacy, red leaves.

After sharing my lunch with some well-fed cats, I went off in search of nice smelling plants. My first stop was three huge cinnamon camphor trees that stand at one end of the specimen garden. They are beautiful, with millions of small glossy leaves and the scent of cinnamon when you touch their bark. I spotted a beetle and breathed in the air for a few minutes, then I picked up a fallen twig to give to Tod and headed to the medicinal herbals garden.

Everything at Koishikawa is labelled in Latin and Japanese so sometimes I have to identify the medicinal plants by smell. I grew a handful of them in my own garden years ago. To see and smell them again brings back lots of memories. Lemon verbena, oregano, wormwood. At this time of year, only the perennials are left in this garden; the annuals have been lifted and their beds raked over for winter.

I made my way back to the office a little later than usual, but full of fresh air and renewed vigor. A good exchange, I think.