Shastya and I went on a trip to the SC Botanical Gardens. I didn't take my tablet with me, and that is what I usually use to take pictures with. I missed the opportunity to capture the essence of Spring on camera. I was "kicking myself" after I realized I hadn't brought it. The flowers and scenery were so Spring: the dogwoods, the camellias, the azaleas! Alas, maybe another day I can get some pictures of the flowering trees and bushes. Further, I also do not have photographs to make it quite evident that the stories I am about to tell actually took place, but that is a good thing.
Anyway, when I arrived at the gardens, I got Shastya loaded into the stroller, and headed off to the bathrooms. The sign on the bathroom building had two pictures on it: a woman and a man. The woman was on the left, and the man was on the right. So I turned left and hauled the stroller with baby Shastya in it into the bathroom.
Once we were all the way in the bathroom, walking past the sink, then the urinal . . . towards the stall . . . it occurred to me, "Ah, we're in the men's bathroom!" But did I mention, it was kind of a trick to even get the stroller in the bathroom. I wasn't going anywhere, not even to the women's bathroom. I had needed to find a bathroom, and we had found one. I maneuvered the jogging stroller into the stall . . . we finished, and were about to leave. Suddenly I heard footsteps . . . I saw two suede tan shoes appear in front of the urinal, next to our stall! I was thinking, "Ahh! you've got be kidding me." Then I got my phone out in case anything went amiss . . . The stranger left. We hurried out a minute later.
After walking the gardens for some time, I percieved one tall, lofty, dogwood tree that was particularly stunning. The tree's bright white petals were gleaming magnificently in the sunlight above the trail, against the backdrop of a
Carolina blue sky. I stopped, turned the stroller so Shastya could get a good look at the tree too! I said something about, "See, God made that, He made you, and He made everything beautiful, but then . . ." I was going to go on telling her more, but she started crying.
A short while later as we were walking down a pine needle trail along the pond, we saw a lady and a little girl. I was excited because Shastya is a very social baby and loves seeing people and little children. I had just smiled at the people, when a snake, a real live snake showed up in between the four of us to be social. The little girl started walking towards it with her hand outstretched towards it. The snake was dark-colored and its tail started rattling. I jumped back with my stroller, and mentioned that the snake's tail was rattling. The other woman didn't look concerned and said it was a garden snake. I hoped and prayed it was since the little girl was headed towards it. I just said I didn't like any kind of snakes and turned around and went back the way I had come.
We walked around some more, and then it was time to go home. When we were pulling out of the parking lot, turning onto the road, a bright cobalt blue sedan about sideswiped our car. The cobalt car had been parked at the end of the parking lot where there are no parking spaces. The car had been parked perpendicular to the road. My car had perpendicularly approached the sitting blue car. I turned left and paralleled the blue car before passing it and heading toward the road on a two-way driveway. Without warning the blue car started suddenly and headed for the road. There wasn't enough room for my car and the other car, it surely would have sideswiped me as it "made for" the road. I'm not sure what reality the other driver was living in at that moment, but I laid on my horn and brought the other driver back to the present!
Such adventures Shastya and I have . . . Overall, we had a very nice stroll in the woods, and in the sunshine. I am sure Shastya and I will return to SC Botanical Gardens before long. When we do, I hope to share photos from the gardens.
