Yesterday I decided that I needed to run away from the house. I had all my chores done and had sent my manuscript to the publisher. It just seemed like a day to "get-away."
At first I invited a girlfriend to go with me to the Art Museum to a show that I have wanted to see but her sister was visiting so they couldn't go.
My next choice was the Milwaukee Domes. These are three large glass domes that house different environments. When I got there, they weren't charging any one to get in including the three bus-loads of children from a grade school outside of this area. So as you can imagine there were children all over the place. It made for a rather nice environment for me as I had spent most of my last four months as a recluse, writing my book.
I enjoyed the energy of the children and their curiosity is the most exciting thing about children. They were busy but well behaved and it was just fun to be with that much energy.
I walked through the "desert" dome and watched the children touch the plants with thorns on them, then back off.
I saw a man studying the fruit of a tree that looked like olives but the tree wasn't that of an olive tree. I asked him what it was and he didn't know so I went around the tree and found out it was a Dragon Blood tree that was over 100 years old. I remember someone wanting information on Dragon Blood at one time in the past and I had done research on it. I remembered that the sap or resin was used in the Middle East a great deal. I don't remember more about it at this time.
Walking on I found my friend Chaparral and asked her for one of her leaves. Thanking her, I chewed on it.
Next I went into the Tropical dome. The humidity had really changed. In the "tropical" dome, the children were marveling at the size of the fish in the pond.
I am in the market for some art for the cover of my book so my target was to find "Magic" in here, in some form. The children were starting to be rounded up and put back on the bus so it was a bit quieter now. I noticed a man taking a picture of the flower of a bromide so I went over to see how it came out. He did a good job. Later I saw a man taking pictures so I asked if he had found "magic" here, he smiled and told me it was everywhere. Then I saw a lady with a very expensive camera on the other side of the dome and hoped that she would stay there while I followed the paths. I went up to her and asked if she had found "Magic". She told me that she was looking for it. She is a painter and is in the middle of changing what she paints. I told her why I was asking and we exchanged cards. Then she introduced me to the man that I had talked to a little while ago, explaining that he was a professional photographer visiting from Scotland. I got his card. She told me to look at her paintings on her website and gave me her card. I was about to leave she introduced me to her husband, the man who was studying the Dragon Blood fruit.
As I walked off after telling them that it was nice to have met them, she came running up with her camera to show me a picture that her husband had taken earlier that day of one of her plant paintings. It was very nice.
I left that area and went into the dome that was outfitted as an English garden but on this day, it had three model trains running around in the center and a lot of things made with Legos from bridges to building.
I walked to the far side of the dome and found a little path that wandered off the main path a short way. It went about four feet and up a bit to a small platform that held a bench. I took out my book and decided to read for a while. The train sounds gave the whole place a waterfall sound that made this area seem very comfortable.
While sitting there, people of every kind would pass by on the main path. I would see a group of three ladies admiring some planting arrangement. There were a lot of older people with small children, Grandparents with Grandchildren? Some of us were by ourselves and maybe some of the "onlys" were really just waiting for someone else in another area.
While reading, a Mom and her friend came by followed by a few pre-school children; one little girl about four years old, came off the main path and started toward me. Her Mother noticed and called her back but she kept coming. When she got within a few feet of me, she held out her right hand to show me her flower ring. She was all dressed in purple and pink, the ring was too. I told her that it was so pretty and matched her outfit, and then asked if purple and pink were her favorite colors. She said, "yes" and retreated down the path. I thanked her for showing it to me and she turned once more with her hand outstretched to let me see it again.
I went back to my book. After reading for a while, I decided to find out what time it was so I packed my book and my water bottle back in my bag and got up. As I was walking out, a Grandmother was trying to call a small boy of about three to come over to her. The boy had a mind of his own and was all over the place. I turned to the Grandmother and said, "Would that we had that much energy." She agreed as I went by. The little boy decided to follow me. I heard his Grandmother tell him to come back and then she told him to wait for Grandpa who was also following. I stopped and turned. I told the little boy to find his Grandpa. At that he just turned and pointed to Grandpa who was trying to catch up with us. The little boy knew just where Grandpa was. So I continued but found that he was still following me so I made a large circle back to Grandpa but the child was having none of that now so he continued straight ahead.
I went into another of the domes and was approached by a lady who told me that she is a cellist with the Milwaukee Sympathy and this was her way to regroup. We talked about a lot of things. One thing that she was telling me about having to do with plants was very interesting so I asked where she got that information. She wrote the name of the book that I might find it in. After that I decided it was time to head home.
As I hadn't paid anything to get into the Domes, I decided to buy a plant. I went to the gift shop and found a desert gift dish with three small cacti in it. I decided to get it. From there I went to where I had hung my coat.
As I was taking my coat and hat off the hanger, I noticed a small boy that was about two sitting on a bench watching me while his mother was talking to another mother and dressing another child. He just stared at me so I smiled and said "Hi" a couple of times. He didn't react at all. I had my coat and hat on as I started to walk by, his mother wanted to dress him in his coat but he kept his eyes on me to the point where she turned around to look at me. Then he raised one hand and waved "Good-bye" to me as I left.
What a wonderful run-away. Not only did I get to interact with plants but people. I love people and because of that I created a mystery book club so I could interact with other people once a month. Perhaps that it isn't enough for me and I will have to find other ways to be around people and plants.
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