Thanksgiving Point: part 3

Next we came along side a meandering stream.

I continued to be distracted by color and shading upon the tulip petals.

I can almost feel a brush in my hand tracing the watercolor like shading.

Of course if my daughter had been with me (at any age...at any time...) she would be wading in the stream just like this little girl planning to.

The Salt Lake area has such wonderful sculptures of children engaging in happy childlike behaviors.

(Distracted by a full blown blossom for a moment...)

Any second now that foot is going to touch the cold water and we will hear her squeal...

The stream led on...winding under several small bridges and into various pools before ending up in a small pond with this detailed sculpture of egrets.

At least I think they are egrets.

(And my children begin to sing along with me that famous Frank Sinatra hit: Egrets...I've had a few, but then too few to mention..)

All around the pond a swath of tulip blooms were following the sun.

Nice waterside landscaping. Wonder what will be planted there after the tulips are done?

Oh...I forgot to mention: there were HUGE koi fish in the pond!

(That's Bernie in the orange visor with the rest of the kids.)

Fish of all sorts of colors and patterns were swimming about, and poking their heads up to gape and beg for treats.

As we turned to walk past the pond area we saw this curious structure.

(I got distracted by a robin in a tree for a moment....)

It was a stairway/waterfall with tulips and pink blossomed trees and lots and lots of people!

(My ADD really kicked in...ohhh look...a yellow and red tulip!)

Oh wait...we gotta see that thing too.

Wow...it looks like a bouquet on the ground.

When I stand in the middle of that thing and look up....wow, sky lace!

Back to the tulips...

Yes I did tiptoe....

Where was I?

Oh yeah, the stairs and fountain thing.

(A white tulip! I love white tulips!)

Apparently (we learned later...) this feature is known as The Italian Fountain.

Mesmerizing; the water falls over 25+ times.

I didn't catch who the sculpture was of at the top.

The whole area swarmed with kids sticking their hands in the water, splashing their siblings with the water, parents corralling their brood for stairstep pictures, by age of course.

I wonder if the water is lit up at night....that would be gorgeous.

Back on the path....

I'm always looking for ideas for plants to use under bulbs, to cover the ground before and after the bloom. Blue pansies sure look good, like water or shadows, and seem to make the flowers glow brighter by comparison.

The other question of how to cluster the bulbs: Yes, cluster by color masses.

The blue pansy portion of the path spilled out to the Meadow Garden. Serpentine grass paths were perfect for strolling, and children enjoyed rolling down the lawn as well. Every time there was the slightest grass covered hill, there were children rolling and somersaulting like mad.

Apparently the park's electrical energy needs are supplied by wind.

I kept thinking I would get tired of taking tulip pictures.

I never did.

Golf carts with drivers were available to anyone who wanted one. The drivers were quite willing to stop and start as directed by their passengers, and would go where ever the passengers wanted to go. I was especially amused to see Indian ladies in bright colored sari riding along backwards. I would have loved to have gotten a picture of them standing so colorfully garbed next to the flowers.

A great hill to zig-zag down in a golf cart...

Shutter bugs are the same everywhere: You hear a squeal, and exclamation, and then whatever posture is needed is assumed until the desired shot is obtained.

The Tulip Festival lasts until May 1st, I suspect that with the snow that we are getting today there will still be blooms to see for awhile longer.

Go ahead...you decide which of those last three pictures I shouldn't have bothered posting.

I'm not sure if these folks brought their own Segways or if there are Segways available to the visitors. I must find out; if they are there for the visitors I want to try one next visit. It will be a total waste of Segway power as I hate to go faster than a snail's pace when there are flowers about to be photographed.

And yes...tomorrow there will be more sights to see!