royal botanical gardens

i love parks and gardens, particularly the ones with lakes or water features. so i went on my own to the famous royal botanical gardens. it was huge! and beautiful. probably because it was autumn. of course there was lots of trees, bushes and shrubs everywhere but the only recognisable trees to me were oaks and willows. there was a huge oaks lawn where families picnic-ed under their spreading branches and leaves. there were some trees with totally orange or yellow leaves. they were beautiful. there was a herb garden with parsley, coriander, thyme, lemongrass, chilies and other herbs. there was a glass house with tropical plants inside so everything looked quite familiar. the temperature in the glass house was adjusted to hot tropical temperature too. it was quite unpleasant to me. i left in a hurry. they even had a special garden dedicated to kids alone and it had a lot of water features and special patches where children can get their hands on gardening and learning about plants and such. unfortunately because australia was facing a serious drought situation, all the water features were closed. there were also several lakes with swans, ducks and birds, and there was a lake by the cafe so i had my lunch there.

aahh, i had yummy wholemeal tuna sandwiches and just-fried chips and i journaled while i enjoyed my lunch and the view of the lake. i remember sitting back and thinking, life at this present moment, is so good. and i prayed that i will not lose that feeling of peace and joy even when i go home and there's not always a lake view and gardens to enjoy. in fact there will be times when the going may get rough. but i'm happy to say that till this day, and i've been back home for a month and a half, i still have not lost the inner peace i feared losing when my holiday was over. as geoff oliver so wisely advised, i won't lose what God has recreated in me, and that my prayer should be that God will continue to grow what he's recreated in me and increase that, and that i will live in awareness of that. it's working out well so far.

after lunch i continued my walk and came across a nice patch with a bench to sit on and enjoy the view. so i approached the bench and on the bench was a sign that said "rejoice in the present" in memory of a lady called cheryle. thank you cheryle, for the wise reminder. and thank you God, for a word to encourage my soul. i was given permission not to worry about the future, but instead to rejoice in the present. such synchronicity.

unfortunately that was the end of the pleasantries of my visit to the RBG. i continued walking and i hit a quiet stretch and i encountered trouble in the form of an elderly greek man. he approached me from behind and started chatting with me and would not leave me alone even after i told him that i preferred to walk alone. he continued to walk with me and because there was no one around i didn't want to cause a scene with him in fear that he might turn violent. so we kept walking, me nervously, hoping that i will quickly reach a public area again. thank God we saw some people ahead and that's when he started behaving a little strangely. he asked me to meet with him again and when i said no he asked me to go with to nearby bushes and said. the good thing was that they replied promptly and would look into the matter seriously.

well, no more wandering parks alone for me.