A Walk to the Park & Glorious Dahlias

Holly - Ilex sp.

Since I haven't been working in the library anymore, I haven't been doing my usual "walk to work".

Now I've started walking around "our neighborhood".

I decided to head to the small forested park about a mile south of our house. You can see my route on Google Pedometer.

Cosmos - Cosmos bipinnatus

It was a nice day for a walk, but at first I didn't see too many things that inspired me to take pictures.

... Then when I got near the park, I found a beautiful garden (right by the road) It was full of Dahlias.

Same flower from another angle

An old man came out of the house to check his mail and I said hi and told him I'd bring some photos by when I get them developed.

He told me his wife would love that, but that I should make sure that I have a whole hour or more because his wife would talk my ear off about Dahlias :)

There were so many different styles and colors that I couldn't decide which ones to post. So I put them all up.

I've discovered that taking pictures of flowers from the back side or under side can be very interesting.

... of course the view from the front is very nice too.

This kind reminds me of fireworks.

Another picture of the same flower from a different angle

Nice natural bench in the forest.

I looped around the trail in the park. (the route on my map is approximate because the trails are not mapped) and sat for a minute on the bench to enjoy the freshness.

A cute squirrel was watching me as much as I was watching him.

On my walk back home I saw another dahlia (in a different garden).

This one is nice too, but I preferred the first garden that had tons of flowers in different styles and colors.

I've definitely decided that I should plant some dahlias in our garden next spring.