Portland, Day 4

Please forgive the delay in posting the rest of our Portland trip, fall was a busy time for us.

The morning I spent in the Portland Japanese Garden was glorious. So much green and bamboo, water and trees, moss and stone walls, and of course, the ferns; everywhere there was beauty to contemplate. I know you had to slog through many photos to read this, but I did try to select my very favorite features of the garden to share here. Just imagine if I made you sit through all of them.
I saw gardeners tending tiny weeds in the moss and I marveled at this careful attention to even the most tedious work. And the visitors ranged in all different ages and demographics, some you might have suspected were there under duress, seemed to truly be soaking in the serenity that the garden emitted.
Since I was there in early September, reddening Japanese Maple leafs were sparse, so everywhere I stepped, I looked carefully for one fallen to the ground that I could snag as a souvenir.  It took me two trips around the circuit, but I managed to find a very tiny red leaf to press in my guide brochure. In front of the gift shop was a large seating area covered with a Japanese mat with signs encouraging visitors to sit 'gently' on the natural fibers. With many visitors coming and going, it was tricky to get clear photos of some of the areas, but waiting for a momentary lull in the foot traffic was relaxing too.
Having never paid too much attention to the world of cultivating miniature trees, I was astounded at the various displays of aged trees. Complete in every way, yet very small.
I leave you with my run-through of all the wind chimes set up outside one of the gift shops.