I am actually going to blog about stuff that happened and not just about thoughts that I am having, or analysis of myself and my emotions.  I think the blogs about events are MUCH more fun to read and to write.

Saturday was just a nice, stormy, calm, and relaxing day.  And I needed it!!!  Literally, all I did was lay on the couch, watch movies, and do laundry.  That pretty much concludes my entry for Saturday…  ^_^

Sunday was quite eventful and busy.  In a good way.    It started with Breakfast at Lindsay’s.  We (Lindsay and I) usually do a meal of some sort on Sunday’s.  As anyone that has been reading my blogs for the last 6 months knows, Sunday’s are my “cheat days” and that is when I eat foods that are not that great for me…  So I go out!   Anywho, Lindsay had a hankering for a home-cooked breakfast, and being somewhat spoiled as a kid (I always had home-cooked breakfasts on the weekends – Thanks, Mom!) I was more than happy to oblige.  She invited me, Chris, and Brian over for breakfast.  Chris, sadly, could not make it, but Brian and I went and it was a delightful breakfast filled with meaningful conversation, politics, laughter, and delicious food.  Kudos to Lindsay!!  The pancakes were AMAZING.    Brian had to head out rather early to get Medardo and head to work in Mt. Juliet, then Lindsay and I headed out to a nature photo shoot in Nashville at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.

Cheekwood is absolutely beautiful!!!  An aside:  It is absolutely unacceptable that I have lived in Nashville my entire life (I consider Murfreesboro an extension of Nashville) and not seen a good portion of the amazing things Nashville has to see!!!  This will be stopping very, very soon.  End Aside.  We pulled into Cheekwood at around 11:00 am.  The day could not have been better.  It was warm and breezy with white fluffy clouds and a bright sun above.  It was as though someone knew what kind of weather would be perfect for the task at hand:  Picture Taking.  The entire purpose of the visit was for Lindsay to take pictures for her photography class.  She went the week before, but her battery died before she could get any good shots.  I am kinda glad that happened, though, because that led to our trip.  A little about Cheekwood:  Cheekwood, at first glance, is just a glorified section of woods with a mansion/museum set in the middle…  but I have to say that it is really much more than that.  Of course, you have to really know how to appreciate the simple things in life before you can really appreciate a place like Cheekwood.  The gardens are split up, and while I did not really catch a theme for each garden, I did notice the differences between them, and they really did create different “worlds” of sorts as you travel through the trails and paths.

The first section was filled with vines and blooming flowers, vibrant colors, and some shady areas.  There weren’t many buildings, but benches and large art-architecture were abundant.  We were able to get some really good shots of high light and dappled light scenes.  The second area was a bit more shady, dirty, and wet.  It was still very pretty, but less bloomy and more rustic with old buildings, gates, and other structures.  After that was a trip to the Mansion.  Now, I don’t know when that house was built, and maybe if I had read the materials that were given to us by the lady at the desk, I would… but the house was clearly built many, many years ago.  The rooms were beautiful and the art within them was as well, but there really was not much to see.  It prides itself on being a museum, and maybe those with some imagination can see that…  I, however, was not that impressed with the mansion.  It was neat to see, but it was, in my humble opinion, not a museum…  Think of it like Traveler’s Rest or The Hermitage.  Good time-stamps of history… nothing more.  Nothing Artful.  The next destination was a trail through the other half of the gardens.  This, to me, was much more of a museum than the house.  The trails were lined with sculptures, statues, and other interesting pieces of art that have been given to the garden over the years.  Some pieces worth note are a set of Lion statues that appear rather randomly at the base of a hill at the mansion.  They reminded me of Aslan from the Narnia movies/books…  and I rode one and got a picture.    The next scene, so to speak, was of four animal statues made from what appeared to be copper.  They were a really pretty mint-green, which is what copper does when oxidized.  The animals were a turtle, two hares, and a frog.  The plaque at the scene mentioned a Hawk as well, but I did not see the hawk.  I made sure that Lindsay got a picture of the frog to send to my mother.  The scene got my attention, though, because the animals looked so sad…  or worried.  The turtle was in the center with all of the other animals looking at it.  The two hares looked alarmed while the frogs looked kind of “out of it”.  The turtle was sad with its body situated low to the ground as though there were a weight on it causing him to buckle.  Moving on, we went through a glass bridge.  This thing was really pretty, but kind of odd.  I am not sure if it was supposed to signify something or not, and I did not get any meaning out of it like I did with the four animals mentioned before, but it was fun to walk through.   At the end of the trail, there was the most interesting and disturbing statue, made from a straw/wire like material.  I cannot remember its name, but it was a personified female rabbit on all fours crawling away from something.  It, too, was somber in nature, and I picked up the sad undertones of it like I did with the four animals above.  The last section of the garden was the Japanese (Zen) Garden.  This was the prettiest and cleanest gardens I have ever seen.  I could have just lived the rest of my life on the bench watching the kids play around the bamboo, maples, and sculptures of that garden.  I know that if/when I have a home worthy of a garden, I will be basing it on the themes present in gardens of this nature.  I don’t know what it is about the plants, rocks, and arrangement of a Japanese Garden, but it truly is relaxing!  On the way out of the garden, we walked up a hill near the Japanese Garden that was lined with ponds and waterfalls.  Lindsay got some great shots of the water and at the top we had a little surprise.  Frogs!  Like a hundred frogs!!!  They were so cute!  She got several pics of them playing, jumping, croaking, and swimming.  I almost want to pick one up…  but no.  Gross!  Warts!  No ma’am!  :p

After the garden, we were hungry again and we left around 2:00.  We hit up a Mexican restaurant and she took me to rehearsal.  NiH rehearsal was good, as always, but I had a really bad headache.  Thank goodness for Aleve!   Rehearsal concluded and I headed over to my dad’s to fix my car.  There was nothing major wrong with my car, but the back passenger-side door would no longer lock automatically which unnerved me because of the recent break-ins in Murfreesboro in our area as well as the fact that I am very frequently downtown.  I like knowing that ALL my doors lock when I press the button, not just 75% of them.  Anywho, after a couple of hours fighting with the door, we got the new lock actuator assembly installed and working.  After that, I headed to mom’s for a minute to give her some cards for NiH’s concerts, then I went home.

It was a very busy day, but it was a good day!!! 

Please, sir, may I have another?

-=brett=-