Yesterday, we visited the garden. It being free Wednesday, the place was more crowded than usual. Still, we were able to snag a parking spot in the full lot. It was a beautiful day, with plenty of flowers out. The irises were leading the parade, but the day lilies were already chafing to get into the show. We have had a lot of rain, so everything in the garden was very lush.

As soon as we got there, Anne switched on her Merlin app, which listens for and then identifies birds by their songs. She almost invariably gets more species on the app than what she can spot in real life. This can be somewhat frustrating, what with all of these birds being about, but nowhere to be seen. Adopting a growth mindset though it offers an opportunity to learn and see so much more.

New to us, we found a grove in a corner of the garden that we had not really explored much before. We sat there for a while looking for and listening to all the birds serenading us. It was like sitting in a garden of earthly delights, all the while being sung to by a heavenly host. Birds are such chatty little things and hidden in a leafed-out tree they can really go to town. We ended up staying at the garden longer than expected. Way past lunchtime. It was midafternoon when we decided to lunch at the garden’s cafe, Sassafras, now in its new incarnation.