Just as Ellie's day with Grandma Eleanor's day was perfect, so was Ethan's. Each child's day with her was of the very flavor of their relationship with her. Ethan and I decided on a more intimate breakfast and opted to make crepes at home. It would afford more causal conversation. Following that we spent the afternoon at Hudson Gardens. It is a lovely little botanic garden in south Denver. When one of her fellow gardening friends decided to start his own botanic garden Eleanor had gone down to check out the land. When the kids were younger we used to go at least once a month. Our favorite feature being a lazy little stream which was home to lotus flowers, vibrant green lily pads and a host of noisy frog, and perhaps a few toads. We would delight in finding the mud huts on the edge of the stream where they would winter over and counted ourselves lucky when we could observe them emerging. Today we made a much slower, deliberate tour of one part of the garden.
Ethan took the opportunity to ask more questions about botany and plant propagation. Her love of gardening will live on in her grandson.
No frogs or toad were around to attract our attention. We focused on the seedpods we found on many of the plants. Some were discreet and sneaky, hitching a ride home with us by catching onto my skirt as we drifted past. Others, like the Queen Anne's Lace floral pod featured here, were ornamental and royally stunning.
The benches by the little pond were some of our favorite. At 15 Ethan is aware of what this time could come to mean to him and he soaked in as much as he could. The colors this fall seemed to be the most resplendent that any of us could remembers.
The most touching part of the day was when I would linger behind Ethan and Ellie, watching him hold her hand, amble down the walk and ask intense questions, seeking knowledge that would allow him to stay connected to her even after she will have left us.
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