Last time, as you’ll remember, I had us just finishing up lunch at One Newton Place. I was also busy philosophizing about the passage of time. And defunct magazines. Particularly the magazines. And the defunct. I mean, I’m an expert at defunctiness. Many is the time people have said to me, “Play that de-functy music White Boy.” Okay, no one has ever said that. But if they had, I’d have been ready. You betcha.
(Yes. I really wrote that. Yes. I’m sorry. I should be ashamed of myself. Strangely, I’m not. For more on the 1976 hit single by Wild Cherry, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_That_Funky_Music )
Where was I? Oh, yes. So we finished up with our friend Carol and headed back to Revere. We had another lovely evening with Linda, and another lovely walk on the beach. The next morning, we got up early, said good-by, and headed off. We were back to Providence for another day.
We returned our rental car--a process which proved to be, as before, a mess. It turns out that Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport’s is no better set up for returning rental cars than it is for picking them up in the first place. And, that day at least, the staff was a bit snotty to boot. Great combination, and at one point I thought Martha was gonna slug a clerk. Which would have been exciting. And I would have probably spent the night in jail. Though...honestly... it might have been worth it.
After that, it was off to Patty’s house, where we had another lovely dinner, and a yet another pleasant evening.
The next day, Patty had a treat planned for us. She was taking us to Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, which is an amazing garden and green house complex. She volunteers there, of course. (You’ll recall that I said she is a Master Gardener.) And it was stunning! If you have any interest, at all, in gardening, or greenhouses, or just in living things, and should you happen to be in Rhode Island, definitely plan a visit.
The place is in the midst of the Roger Williams Park (which is, itself, rather astonishing) and consists of two connected greenhouses and the garden areas around them. It covers no less than 12000 square feet -- that’s just a tad under 1115 square meters for you metric types. It contains everything from roses to palm trees, and you can spend hours there...which, in fact, we did, following the trails and exploring the two greenhouses.
I have lots of photos from the visit, some of which I’ll share here. My favorites are the ones with Martha and Patty together. I guess I’m less happy with the one of me and Martha together. You’ll notice the...uh...generous paunch I seemed to have develop of late. It was shortly after seeing this particular, uh, image, that I decided to start ordering salads. A lot more often. As in a WHOLE lot more often.
About the photos: Four today, all from the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center. You can see it is a remarkable place. There is also one of Martha and Patty, and one of me and Martha.
Of these, my least favorite is the one of me and Martha, because you can see that I’ve got to ...uh...diet. I don’t mind having a Dad Bod. But when it gets to be a Whale Pod Bod...well, something’s gotta change.
But, anyway, about the Botanical Center, as I say, it is well worth a visit. If you think you might want to see the place, there are some useful sites on the web with which to plan your trip. The Center has its own (small but useful) webpage here: https://www.providenceri.gov/botanical-center/. Though, in some ways, I think its Facebook page may be more interesting. It has more photos and more information on events. You can see it here: https://www.facebook.com/rwpbotanicalcenter/
The Center also has a Wikipedia entry, which you can see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_Park_Botanical_Center. And, further, the Roger Williams Park itself has a page on the Center: https://rwpconservancy.org/botanical-center/. It offers some interesting information about the architect and the landscape architect who did the work here.
After a longish while, we finished up, and we went off to lunch at a local Italian place. (No, I didn’t have a salad that day. I hadn’t seen my photograph yet. That was for...sigh...later. I don’t mind looking like Santa Claus for my grandchildren. For the rest of the world, however, I’d rather dial up the svelte a bit. Sorta Slimfast Santa. Or, maybe Kris Keto Kringle. Or, whatever...)
Then, we went back to Patty’s for one more night.
And that, pretty much, was it. We still had the plane trip ahead of us, and we didn’t know it, but a very amusing adventure with our parked car awaited us at the other end of the flight. Which I’ll get to later.
But, as for the New England trip itself, that was mostly over.
However...
There was one more little revelation to come.
But I wouldn’t know that until I was in the dark, and driving, from the airport to home...
And staring uncomprehendingly...
Into the dark.
More to come.
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I provide these blog postings for free. That’s fine and I’m happy to do so. But, long ago and far away, I was told that if you give away your material, that means you don’t really think it has any value.
So, to get beyond that, I’ve decided to make it possible for you to leave me a “tip” for my posts.
If you like what I write or the videos I produce, and feel you could make a small contribution to support my efforts, please go here:
That will take you to a Gumroad page where you’ll have the option of leaving me a few pence by way of encouragement.
Again, I don’t mind if you don’t. I just want to provide you with the option so that I won’t feel quite so much like I’m just tossing my works into the wind.
Either way, thanks hugely for dropping by the blog :-)
~mjt
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