Even nature can be hypnotic.

It’s spellbinding and entrances you, further enticing you to to get intimate with her.

Nature is the only peace you’ll ever find if your soul is made of the earth.

 These late nights at Brooklyn Botanical Garden are safe havens for our nature starved souls. We often get criticized for how we travel because on average we hit the Caribbean a lot. We love the Caribbean. It’s a place to unwind, see landscape that doesn’t look or feel like home. A place to slow down. It’s also a place that’s affordable enough for us that we can get to once or twice a year if we are lucky. We’ve done Buenos Aires, Paris, San Francisco, Philadelphia – you know what, they all feel like cities. Sure they look different and are plenty cool but that city feeling just does not agree with us. Feels like we never got away. Anyone who knows me at home knows that I’m quite cranky and angry – call it city mode. Place me at the beach, in the woods, even a garden and my mood lightens up. Things go wrong and I don’t care. It’s easier to go with the flow. Often times with my feet in the grass or sand, it feels as if the earth is singing to me. A long forgotten song with the secrets to the universe. It’s better than any high. Feeling utterly content, that feeling of finally being at peace.

When we feel that grind eating at us, we escape to the garden. We blew our travel budget early this year so there won’t be any bigger trips till next year. I’m going a little stir crazy and the evening garden escapes make me forget it all for a couple hours. This time around, Victor was playing with his macro extension tubes. He finally ordered a macro lens. Most of the pictures on this post were taken with the macro extension tubes.

Nature can be surprisingly weird. This flower is cool.

Look at this guy nibbling away.

Koi fish and turtles are always fun to look at. There’s a lot of them.

Our favorite area is the native flora section. Feels like you’re in the woods. It’s even denser than the Croton Aqueduct Trail we like to walk. During this visit it felt like we were looking at some ruins when we walked up to a path leading out of the native flora area. The Brooklyn Museum was light up nicely during sunset. You can kind of see it in the background.

This evening was extra special. Even the cherry tree area was secluded.

The rainy or bad weather prediction days are the best. Guarantee you will have more of the place to yourself. It’s the best way to get lost in it all.