Blog
Swaddled in Color: A Walk Through the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens
We descend through a tunnel to the lower level of the pyramid, where we no longer see but glimpses of the white beams that hold up the glass sky. Ripples of light bounce from water onto the underbelly of the bridge we were just on. We walk through drapes of hanging moss that tickles my head, and I admire the vibrant orchids that have been carefully placed among them. We are swaddled in color: purple plumes and magenta foliage, yellow fans and peach-colored palm stalks, scattered throughout every shade of green in every possible shape. Long whistles, raspy trills, and the stuttering cry of loons are joined by the sound of rushing water, and something like the croak of a frog—or perhaps a monkey. Was that an elephant I just heard? The jungle plays tricks on my ears, and holds its secrets from me.
A Walk in the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
We follow the sticky-sweet powdered-sugar smell of beignets through overhanging Spanish moss, draping like abandoned sage curtains over the limbs of knobby, bayou trees: out of place among the urban landscape. French and Spanish architecture transports me to another time as our path opens up and we are on a courtyard of stone, overlooking Jackson Square.