Sunday, December 8, 2013

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2007. We took Mattie to the US Botanic Gardens. Mattie posed in front of a wonderful model of the US Capitol. This model was comprised of plant materials. It truly is a work of art. During the holiday season the Gardens have a wonderful display of holiday flowers, miniature dc monuments, and toy trains. We tried to take Mattie to the Gardens each December. It is a display that is noteworthy and transports you to another place and time.

Quote of the day: The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting Day is today! It is designed to unite family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour in the memory of children who died. As candles are lit at 7:00 p.m., hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor the memory of children gone too soon. At 7pm, I lit a red colored candle in honor of Mattie.

Last night, Peter and I went to the US Botanic Gardens with our friends in cancer, Ilona and Attila. Our friends have created a scholarship for DC students at the Gardens in honor of their son. A place their son loved to visit. As a thank you for their scholarship, our friends were invited to this private gathering. To see the Gardens at night is a very special sight. A first for me!During the holiday season the Gardens are decorated beautifully and typically when you visit them, they are packed with people. Having a private viewing of the Gardens was super special. I would say around 100 people were in attendance and also featured was wine and amazing cookies. Actually they lost me at the cookie table for several minutes. There is nothing like a home made cookie! I no longer have an excuse to bake cookies and I really don't go to holiday parties, so the likelihood of getting fresh baked holiday cookies is LOW. So last night was a treat and I had the opportunity to meet two other sweet tooth's at the table and we had fun comparing tastes and reactions to what we were sampling.

Our friends took a photo of Peter and me in front of the Capitol model. The same model that Mattie stood in front of in 2007 (above). Mattie is gone but the model still exists and comes out each holiday season.

This is a stunning representation of the US Supreme Court building. Each model is an unique masterpiece constructed on a frame of acrylic based foam. Casting resin is poured into the window cutouts, wall surfaces are finished with sand based grout and distinctive architectural details are fashioned from dried plant materials. For example, creating the US Capitol building model took over 600 hours to assemble.

There are several rooms within the Gardens, but the big open space in the center is filled with palms and luscious trees from around the world. In addition to these glorious trees, the glass roof was lit up with all sorts of colored lights. The lights reflected down on the trees. I think it would be impossible, even for the hard hearted, to visit these gardens and not feel moved by the holiday season. In fact, this was our first time back to the Gardens since Mattie was diagnosed with cancer. We haven't returned to this building for over five years. Somehow as I walked around, I imagined Mattie in each of the rooms we entered.

If the trees and models weren't enough, they also have a themed room. This year's theme was the World Fair. Models of all the famous world's fair structures were surrounding us and in and amongst these wonderful plant models were toy trains chugging away. Peter caught Percy, the green Thomas themed train, coming around the track. Kids were in awe of the trains and very excited. Many parents were running around after children and I simply laughed. I laughed because that is how I remember the gardens. I don't remember really slowing down and seeing the details like I saw yesterday.

This is what I call an amazing tree! It is HUGE but in addition to that, it is SO fragrant. I miss our home smelling like a pine tree during the holidays. But there was no mistaking this fragrance last night, it was intoxicating and I smelled it as soon as I walked into the Gardens!

My friend really wanted to give us an opportunity to experience the holiday season in our own way, and I would have to say this definitely accomplished that goal. It was a spectacular, twinkling, and festive evening in and amongst the greenery. The focus was on the beauty, and I think that is why it worked so well for me.