It was a warm Sunday, unseasonably warm, as a matter of fact. It was going to be in the mid to upper 80s, and it felt that way, although the nights are somewhat cold. I was originally planning on driving to Old Town San Diego to take a few photos of the state historic park, then maybe, see a folklorico group at a restaurant there before going to the mission, but I woke up and it was not to be. I do not like long trips, and this would have entailed a drive of up to two hours. I didn't want to do it, not to mention, mill around in a place that would certainly have many people visiting on a warm Sunday. So, I stayed and considered my options. An excellent one is always, of course, a visit to the Botanic Garden in Claremont.
I was looking on the web to see if there were other places I could visit, and saw a reference to a Fowler garden on the campus of Scripps college. This is located just across the street from the CBG (California Botanic Garden), and it looked like a beautiful little garden. I need to do something new, after all, not just visit the same old places, so there I went, that was all I needed.
The drive up the 71 was uneventful. It felt really warm, so much that I had absolutely no need for a sweater. In fact, I think I could have gone in just a simple short-sleeved shirt. Well, I made the switch to the 10 freeway, drove to Indian Hill street and drove up to the campus. It was closed, everywhere I drove they had put up barriers announcing that the campus was closed, restricted, and no outsiders were allowed. So much for finding and photographing the Fowler Garden. Covid has closed that one as well as others such as the Fullerton Arboretum and the Miller garden at Cal State Long Beach. Who knows when they will open again.
So, I went to the CBG and found almost a full lot of cars, but that didn't dissuay me. I went in and found autumn colors in evidence. Now, mind you, this is not New England autumn, this is not Aspen autumn, this is not eastern Sierra autumn, the colors are modest because, in essence, we have the wrong type of trees in California for the spectacular display of colors. But they were beautiful nonetheless.
There are many new sculpture installations throughout the garden! The initiative is called "Clayfornia", and these are ceramic sculptures that have been installed here and there, over 30 of them in all. They make a very nice addition, and I got to see many of them. Not all of them, but many, and I enjoyed what I saw.
Also, I walked along trails I had not seen before. This was a great pleasure, I enjoyed it very much. I have a whole batch of photos, and this is the first group of that batch.
This garden is only going to get more beautiful in the next few weeks. I look forward to returning.
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