A Day In La-La Land

We finally managed our first-of-the-season garden tour, in a town about thirty miles away.

The weather was glorious and we were giddy with the anticipation of soaking in the sight of beautiful gardens and we'd come home refreshed and inspired.

It turned out to be a bizarre time.

We were given a map detailing each garden location, and I suspect the map was drawn by someone who suffered serious cognitive damage during the undertaking. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Eventually we discovered through trial and error that if we reversed the map directions we could find some of the gardens.

At one place, we were distracted by a man standing shirtless in his front yard with the biggest, I mean super-huge belly I have ever had the bad fortune to witness first-hand.

But the property was worse. The first thing we saw was, smack in the front, an extremely dead, almost fossilized, shrub. We figured the action was around the back (please god) but what we found there was a tiny vegetable garden huddled in a regimented row against the garage wall.

I think the map maker was feeling vengeful.

Most of the properties were beautiful, planned by people with wit and imagination and they were a delight.

It's just that we had to work pretty hard to find them.



One farm was enchanting, made even more so by the wedding party that arrived when we did. Apparently this is a place where wedding photos are taken for the beautiful background. We just found it a touch unnerving, as though we had stumbled in uninvited and we weren't dressed for the occasion.

The absolute worst property search was worth the aggravation. I swear that we drove forty minutes before we stumbled upon our destination, with an apologetic hostess waiting for us. She had received a tirade from each of the few pilgrims who found her home. This was a dairy farm and the owner had carved out a beautiful no-time-for-vacation garden and it was a joy to see.

Better still, she showed us a short-cut back to town that took ten minutes. Too bad the map maker didn't know about it.



Garden tours are heavenly, even nutty ones like this one and we look forward to the next one. Let's hope the map- maker is in a good mood.