This whole moving to a new city thing still gets to me at times. I had loved & lived in my hometown for 29 years. I had favorite spots that felt like they were completely mine - this rocky ledge I perched on with feet dangling over the Tennessee River, the public library, the park trails & paths I practically lived on in college & beyond {it helps when your school juts up against the back of an amazing park}... And, all my people - my mom & sisters & nephews & church family, they all were what it was really all about. Then, I left. Packed up my bags & dug up my 29 year old roots & hoped they'd last the journey & find a new soily, homey spot to set into once I arrived in the land of my husband.
It has been hard. It has been foreign - &, yes, I have gotten lost a time or two, & been homesick more than that. It hasn't felt like mine, this new place. It hasn't felt completely like home just yet. What does all this have to do with a secret garden? Well, let me just tell you...
The park I had actually intended to go to was flooded from the previous day's torrential downpour, & I almost headed home. Almost. Something instead made me turn to another nearby public garden. I had been there once before, but the trail had seemed {though beautiful & well kept} super tiny. This time I stopped & found a map. It's extensive squiggly lines told of walkways I hadn't seen before, but where were these paths? I set out with not much certainty of where to look, & eventually stumbled upon this...
Like a Narnia behind a closet or a wonderland down a rabbit's hole, I found an unexpected magical spot. And oh how I needed this new favorite place in this city/state so unfamiliar! {I'm waxing poetic here, aren't I?} Anywho, this hidden haven chock full of various & sundry varieties of camellias has been a sweet gift, & I'm thanking my God, the Giver of all good things, for it!
P.S.: More secret garden pics
here!
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I love these little notes we share!