I find that I need to get out to stretch my legs and ease my back on long car rides, especially if I am driving alone. The urge to move a bit and take biology breaks add extra time to the journey, but also afford an opportunity for exploring. The Wisconsin rest stops along the usual route to our Up North family are safe, clean, and often quite scenic and most have historical markers or honors to veterans. The scenery becomes more breathtaking, the terrain more varied, as the road wends northward. The trip remains just as interesting on the return route.
The weather could not have been better Tuesday as I headed south toward home. Finding myself in need of a walk, I decided to exit the interstate in Janesville and visit the Rotary Botanical Gardens there. It is a mile or so from the exit and a little piece of paradise, much of which is maintained by volunteers.
So . . . I took a little walkabout down the paths and through the gardens, working the kinks out of my muscles and shaking the cobwebs from my brain.
The flowers were in full form with a riot of color and texture and scents – and the pollinators were busy feeding from the many garden hosts.
Moths and bees and butterflies flitted as if on their last fling before school starts.
The gardens were just what my heart and soul needed, along with my muscles and bones. Being in nature always renews my spirit and calms my everyday worries, while giving me a chance to exhale.
I walked and sat and walked some more, wondering how the Antler Man was getting along on the Cutoff. I was thinking how encouraging it was to see so many bees and moths and butterflies when a Monarch floated by, looking for a place to rest.
There has been fretting over the Monarchs again this year. Last year brought some hope that their numbers were on the upswing, but, this summer their numbers seem to be down and I have spotted only one on our little acreage on the Cutoff. There is an abundance of milkweed and butterfly weed and other host plants, but nary a Monarch egg nor caterpillar to be found.
The Monarch danced on the breeze and the landed on the big, green chair which is seen in the background of the photo above on the left, basking in the sun and casting shadows in the most magical of ways.
Renewed and revitalized, I walked back to the car and set to navigating the last leg of my journey home with a sense of wonder that always befalls me in among flowers and trees and God’s good earth. As I drove back toward the concrete lanes of the interstate highway, the shadows of the Monarch cast a wee bit of wonder in my mind at how this one regal member of butterfly royalty happened to find me miles and miles from home.
Penny, I love the way your legs always take you to some peaceful spot in nature when you need to take a break from driving. Trusty legs, I call them. I’m glad you had fine weather for the long drive home.
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Trusty legs! I like that, Juliet. I hope yours are finding peaceful spots in nature as well. Thank you.
I appreciated the good driving weather, for sure. I’ve done this route in snowstorms, rain, and fog – no fun – so clear, bright pleasant days are welcome.
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This was a lovely and inspiring post Penny. I admire the way you make such good use of your time by stopping to ‘smell the roses’ and appreciate the things around you.
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Oh, Janet – thank you!
These stops really do break up the long rides and you know me and nature.
Hoping to see some photos of your landscape once you settle in Ireland. 🙂
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One of the joys of traveling alone is being able to stop whenever you want! My father was the sort who always had to get from point A to point B with eyes fixed firmly on the road–do distractions please. I’m the opposite.
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So very true, Adrienne. This particular trip is a little less arduous when Tom is with, and he is patient about my wandering off the beaten path, but, I’m more apt to wander and explore when alone. I am like you; the opposite of no distraction stops. Thanks for stopping by.
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Just lovely, Penny! You always remind us to seek out the wonders of nature… wherever we are. So happy that you have Rotary Park to look forward to as you make the long drive. I just love your flower closeups with the pollinators! The monarch shadows are very special… and it takes a special person to notice them! Wishing you a lovely, restful weekend, dear Penny! ♡
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So sweet of you to say, Dawn. Thank you.
You would love these gardens. I didn’t post the closeups from the heirloom/early American gardens, but, they are exquisite. Love-lies-bleeding, mountains of nasturtium, pole beans . . . I also have a note-to-self to grow Mexican zinnias next year – tall, gorgeous orange blooms, and bees as big as the flowers!
There were so many pollinators. I was wishing I had my other cameras. but the phone was pretty kind to my efforts.
What a magnificent “model” this Monarch was. The sun was at a perfect spot in the big blue sky and the Monarch was quite content sunning.
I wish you the same this weekend. Thank you.
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We have a park called Natural Bridges here in Santa Cruz and the Monarchs come to migrate here from October to February. Maybe your Monarch butterflies will visit us.
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I would love to see the Monarchs wintering in Natural Bridges, Gerlinde. It wasn’t until a few years ago, via Debra over at Breathligher, that my attention was drawn to the fact the CA has Monarchs. I think you read her blog. The Monarchs here in the Midwest actually migrate to Mexico. Actually, some come from as far as Canada. I’m thinking the ones you get also come down from Canada, but a different route. It is fascinating, isn’t it, how generation after generation knows what route to follow?
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Lovely Pictures, you know how to capture the beauty of nature. Love the picture with the rainbow and the busy bee’s. That Monarch was posing for you, so glad they are still around.
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Thank you, Sharon, that is very kind of you to say. It was fun to capture the rainbow, but, I what I really enjoyed was the Monarch and its shadow. I think we were going to go the Rotary Garden with Linda one time, it rained, and we never got there together. We should try to do that – maybe next year.
Enjoy what’s left of the weekend, my friend.
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“The gardens were just what my heart and soul needed.” Your soul and ours, Penny. When we can’t get to a garden, your blog is the next best thing to being there. Thank you for the lovely photos.
The Monarch situation makes me sad. 😦 I haven’t seen one this summer.
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You are most welcome, L. Marie, and I thank you for your very kind words. You have made my day (and it’s only morning). 🙂
It makes me sad as well. It’s not just the Monarchs, which is a major concern, but, we usually have yellow swallowtails and by now they would have decimated the meadow rue with their caterpillars. The rue looks magnificent, but, I’d much prefer the stripped leaves and rebirth and I’ve noticed an a decline in birds. We have quite a few birth baths that normally need to be refilled twice a day in dry weather. Not happening. I haven’t seen a robin in several weeks, no jays, no chickadees . . . it could be the construction going on next door, but, we are the ones with the pollinating plants.
Oh dear . . . I think I’ve just talked myself into another nature walk. Sorry.
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Wordsworth’s The Tables Turned, verse 4, came to mind as I read about your
walk and then wrote Being in nature always renews my spirit and calms my everyday worries. Here the rainbow and butterfly were “the teacher” in the poem. What a special lesson in Nature’s classroom.
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Dear Marilyn, I looked up The Tables Turned and have copied the 4th verse to my Commonplace Book. Thank you. Nature is my teacher; yes, the rainbow and the butterfly. Thank you.
I never cease to learn in Nature’s classroom and I hope I never do.
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A perfect stop to renew body and spirit … And renewal is vital on long car trips. Especially traveling solo. Wonderful garden and I hope the monarch was just the only one who showed itself that day .. And that there were more in hidden places.
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So right you are, Sallie. It was a renewal.
Unfortunately, sadly it was the only Monarch who showed up. There were plenty of bees, moths, and other butterflies, but, this was the only Monarch. We should be seeing a lot of them right now, and it just isn’t so. Weather during their migration last year is suspected of being the cause, but, I never get up hope.
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Beautiful post about a bit of serendipity. l had already planned to walk at the Arboretum today, but after reading your post, I’ve decided to find a trail I haven’t been on for awhile and to enjoy. I like your comment about “shaking the cobwebs from my brain”. As I get older, this is becoming essential. Walking in nature and journaling help me to do that.
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Thank you, Susan.
Have you tried the Joy Trail? Sometimes I park by the Thornridge building and walk past the Fragrance Garden to the Joy Trail, taking that to the Nature Center, then back and I love walking around Lake Marmo.
I needed a bit of cobweb shaking last night and managed a few miles at Lake Katherine, in Palos Park, just as the sun was setting. It was such a beautiful evening.
Enjoy your walk – and always your journaling.
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I understand how a walk in the garden and enjoying nature can lift the burdens of the day and renew the spirit. You set a very good example and remind us all that peace can be founding little pockets of well-placed time! And I love your photos of the different pollinators. I am interested in your comment about the monarchs, Penny. We had many in the spring, but almost none in my garden this summer. And last year they entertained me all season long. I do wonder what that means. It is a bit worrisome, isn’t i!
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Oh, Debra, I love your sentiment of finding little pockets of well-placed time. I sometimes, OK, oftentimes feel a wee bit guilty over my wanderings, not that it stops me. Nope.These are well-placed pockets of time.😉
This is worrisome. I was hoping you would tell us that you were flush with Monarchs now and am dismayed that you are not seeing them either. Yours are the same Monarchs, but, have a different migratory pattern. I was out last week scouting the public certified Monarch Waystations in Elmhurst for a little field outing a few of us are organizing for next week. I visited four stations, with not one Monarch, although a friend mentioned seeing a few Monarchs a few days later. One can hope.
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