I believe this was the last picture I took in Duke Gardens, of those glorious daffodils of early March, before the Gardens closed until the ominous "further notice."
But it's still spring, and I still get out and walk, a lot, to keep mind, body, and soul on an even keel. A lot of that walking is right in the neighborhood (especially necessary for those short breaks when working at home), but when I have more time, especially now that the days are longer, around the parts of Duke campus that are still open to the public. With most students gone and all teaching remote, it's pretty quiet and thus relatively easy to maintain the requisite social distance and then some.
After daffodils come tulips, and I'm very fond of these red and yellow striped ones at the base of the statue of old Washington Duke.
There will be no performances at the Ruby this spring, but that did not stop the tree in front of it from offering its annual show of white blossoms.
Dan and I have scoped out a couple of quiet places on campus where we can "go out" with our twin copies of Anna Karenina and our prayer books with daily readings and find some escape from the worries of the present. This is what we see, in one place a towering magnolia, in another, the sun descending behind the trees (actually much more beautiful than this modest effort via my Samsung S-7).
Sometimes I walk longingly past Duke Gardens themselves, imagining the profusion of flowers beyond my reach. This tree is technically in the Gardens, just behind the wall you can see in the bottom of the picture.
And here, irises, which follow the tulips, at the Garden's entrance.
I'll close with a new discovery, a wonderful sculpture, full of motion, awaiting the return of the bustling university community, when it will be time to turn on the fountain again. . .
