Golden Dreams, Golden Memories

We had occasion to go into town, and my husband dropped me off at the Arboretum while he ran errands. My pal T. Tiger went along, and for a change, we got to spend more than a whole hour at the Arboretum in the sun.

The court of the poplar trees is one of my favorite places to visit at the Arboretum this time of year. The trees turn to gold, and they are like a flag or banner that you can see from anywhere else around the Arboretum.

So I took pictures of the trees, in all their golden glory, when I entered the Arboretum. I photographed them from Childhood's Gate. I photographed their reflections on the lily pond (see extra photo). I photographed them as a background for the witness tree.

For I know something that you may not know. Penn State is scheduled to begin construction on a brand new art museum that will go in next to the Arboretum. It's very exciting news, and we are lovers of museums, so I'm looking forward to all of that.

I'm not sure whether construction work begins later this year (there's not much of that left) or in the spring. But guess where the new museum is going: yes, right into this spot. The very sad news is this: when construction work begins, these trees will be cut down.

So we surveyed these beautiful trees in all their golden glory, and we photographed them six ways to Sunday. And then, since we had a little extra time, T. Tiger and I stopped at the lily pond where all the reflections were. And T. Tiger said maybe we could just take a few minutes and sit with them a while, and enjoy them like this, one last time.

And so that is exactly what we did. T. Tiger sat by the lily pond, and reflections of his orange stripes mingled with the reflections of the golden trees, and they became as one. And we stopped time for just a little while - yes, we seized the day! - as the orange fish in the lily pond cavorted and played, and all of the reflections danced.

The soundtrack song is this favorite: After the Gold Rush, from Trio, featuring Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris.