Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens ~ 19 Views

A 10 minute drive from my home, Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens had remained on my "to do" list until this morning. 19 images follow with a smattering of thoughts.

The first view of the Park only begins to suggest the range of wonderful things that are within your grasp.


And, of course, the Canada Geese are here, too. As are their droppings...oh, bother! If you live in a part of the country as yet uncolonized by these large birds, count your blessings. Count the little goslings in this photo, too--there are four.


Drangonflies!


A work of art all on its own, it's not difficult to imagine Claude Monet's fascination with nature.


Or Vincent van Gogh's...


But look closer and you might be rewarded by a butterfly.


Very popular were the lotus beds. The ranger here was talking about the ways in which parts of the lotus are consumed in Japanese and Chinese cuisine. An asian woman stepped up to offer her own take on the leaves and to inquire as to the availability of purchasing leaves here at the park for consumption. The ranger looked alarmed as said, "Oh, no. You can't eat any of the plants here. They're all contaminated with toxins and heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium and lead."

On my return past this spot walking back toward the exit some time later I noticed a trail of wilting, but recently picked, lotus leaves curling up along the path...






Out beyond the gardens stretched a very well maintained raised trail that allowed you to enjoy the larger environment of the tidal wetlands here at the mouth of the Anacostia River.




In a couple places lovely platforms to accommodate a descent size group (like a class or two of school children) gave panoramic vistas and a lovely place to rest in the shade and enjoy the light breeze as the temperature reached for 90˚+.




The tide was coming in and rising at an impressive rate bringing with it oily film and some plastic debris reminding me just how polluted the Anacostia River is and how close I was to a major urban center in spite of the 360˚ view of nature.






Sometimes I imagined it would be perfectly normal to see an alligator floating across the surface of the water, but the only danger was the ubiquitous goose turds.


When watching nature grows tiresome, you can always switch to watching people, watch people, watch nature!