a breath of fresh air in winter

we went to our favorite local art place, frederick meijer gardens, in grand rapids (MI) yesterday. we head there often, in the summer - they have a fantastic children's garden and plenty to see and explore. it has inspired lillie to try her hand at sculpting! i've written many articles here on gather about meijer gardens.

we went to see the george rickey exhibit - he's a fantastic artist that creates kinetic sculptures. some were extremely large, while others were very delicate. it was just incredible, to see the balancing work that he did, to create these...we weren't able to take photos, since most of the items in the retrospective were on loan from other institutions. my favorite was a hanging one, called "cocktail" - it had many happy faces, balancing on two thin horizontal stems. it reminded me of a garden full of friends.

december is a magical time at meijer gardens. they have trees representing countries all over the world - our two favorites were belize (loved the shells and boats!) and africa - we loved the drums, fabric creations, and the baobab tree.

my favorite place there, in the winter, is the tropical jungle area (home of the butterfly exhibit in march). you walk in and just BREATHE in the gorgeous, steamy air. inhale the mist rising from the stream. listen to the small birds chirping. and smile, with pure joy.

this month, they decorated many of the palm trees, put some gorgeous candle bowls for diwali, and scattered poinsettias all around. come join me, as we poke around!

did you breathe that moist air, smile at the lights on the coffee bush, and laugh at the natural (bananas) and manmade tree decorations. thanks for joining us!