It’s Green Thumb Sunday!
And welcome back. I went to post last week and saw that Tricia’s site had disappeared… Was it the end of Green Thumb Sunday? Nope, only a temporary (albeit apparently wildly frustrating) technical glitch. She is back up and running, and I am glad to hear it. I have become quite fond of Green Thumb Sunday. If you haven’t paid the folks who participate a visit, be sure and check out my sidebar. It’s a nice diversion, especially in winter, when you can otherwise only live vicariously through plant catalogs.
My husband mocks me about my obsession with plant catalogs (three this week!) but I take some solace in the fact that I am definitely not alone. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a piece this week about it, titled Glossy Garden Lust. I’m thinking that should be the next novel I write… (just kidding)
At any rate, here’s my photo this week.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t actually grow any of this. It’s still within the GTS rules… it’s a landscape. And not just any landscape. This is just a few hundred feet from my house.
Those of you who don’t know where I live may be scratching your head thinking, “But I thought you lived in the City?” I do.
And that’s one of the things that’s so cool about Philadelphia. Forget all of the things that the media has to say about the city: this is a fantastic place to live.
One of the best parts about Philadelphia is its physical beauty. Yes, downtown can be gritty and urban. But Philadelphia has one of the largest municipal parks in the world (apparently we argue with Munich, Germany as to which is bigger) – the Fairmount Park System. And it is beautiful.
I chose to live in the Wissahickon (try saying that three times quickly) section of Philadelphia because it was a nice compromise for me and my husband. He wanted proximity to Center City. I wanted green space. We got both.
And so this week, when it’s been absolutely freezing, my husband has still braved the temperatures to take my dog for a walk in the largest backyard in all of Philadelphia: the park. Yesterday, Katie insisted on going along. Just a boring walk in the City? Of course not. She went hiking followed by rock-climbing (scaling a rather steep section of the park) and ice skating (over a frozen ice pond). The ice skating was over a small pond with just her tennis shoes. She couldn’t stop talking about it.
Mother Nature is like that. She offers a whole playground for kids – and for adults – all year long. So, as we brace for our big winter storm here (though nothing like those poor folks in New York — who gets more than 100″ of snow?), I’m kind of looking forward to it. Spring will be on its way soon enough and we should enjoy winter while it’s still here.
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Looks lovely! Sounds like Philadelphia is a lot like Stockholm in that case. We have a capital that is very green (38 parks!) and with a lot of water surrounding it
It sure a great combination!!!
Oh, and don’t tell me about any snow…. I’ve had enough of that and long for the spring very bad now.