Japanese Garden

I met some friends at the Portland Japanese Garden this morning. On Wednesdays members can go earlier than the public so there are a lot less people...it's awesome. The fall colors have just barely started, but we did find what must be a Camellia sasanqua in bloom (with ants!) so fun!

But the best part of the visit this morning was watching the gardener in the Sand and Stone Garden (see extras). He was wearing special boots and very carefully raked the stones. Then he used a big wooden tool to create the quintessential patterns in the sand...it was fascinating and hypnotic. In one photo you can see the garden without the circular patterns and the other is from the garden above where you can see him finishing up his work.