The Arboretum's Tulip-Fest!

The huge tulip display at the Arboretum has just hit peak. Nearly every bloom is open, and the petal fall has not yet begun. Peak bloom time each year coincides with the local arrival of hummingbirds, though I am not sure I've ever seen a hummingbird visiting a tulip. (Something to dream about, I guess!) Both wonderful events take place around the last week of April or the first week of May each year.

I have been trying to use more moderation in my photography lately: take 15 pictures instead of 115. And on most days, I am doing better; I am being more parsimonious. But on this day, I threw caution to the winds and took 285 photos. I couldn't help it! The tulips made me do it!

The light these past few mornings hasn't been anything to write home about. It's been foggy each morning, and even a bit overcast. We had rain overnight, and I noticed that our tulips at home were drenched (so fetchingly) in raindrops. And suddenly a light went on: RAINDROPS on tulips! a little voice almost said.

When I got to the Arboretum, the tulips were indeed covered in raindrops. Big, fat raindrops. Little teenie-tiny ones. Some of the tulips - a red one in particular comes to mind - had so many raindrops of so many different sizes, arranged in so many different patterns, that it almost seemed to have been painted with raindrops, by hand.

In fact, the raindrops were so amazing that they could have won some sort of best supporting actor or actress award. The tulips were awesome, as per usual. Somehow, they were even prettier after the rain. You may see lots and lots of raindrops on the graceful pink tulips (that looked to me like dancing ballerinas, perhaps) in the extra photos area.

I visit the gardens a lot; in fact, at this time of year, nearly every day. I am always looking for new ways to see things, new ways to experience things, new angles to shoot things, new ways to frame things. And so I stepped outside the gardens and looked back in.

There is a fence around the gardens onto which apple tree grafts have been neatly arranged (you may see some of them in the back of this prior shot), and the apple flowers have just recently opened so prettily. And so I framed the main shot above with some delicate pink and white apple blossom blooms.

So often, I stand in these gardens and simply ENJOY the moment and am GRATEFUL. And so it was on this day. I carry these memories in my heart, of course. And my pictures are a way for me to keep that which is so lovely that I cannot bear to part with it. When the tulip-fest is at its peak, I simply must find every way possible to hold on to the now and make this moment stay.

The song: Fleetwood Mac, with Hold Me.