Botanic Gardens Lights

Today's post is just a little celebration of nice things we come across. Several weeks ago, I worked very late, trying to catch up on some backlogged work. I don't often do this, as I try to keep work during work hours, but several things had come up that made my to-do list uncomfortably long, and I decided that I'd feel better once I was caught up, and I was right. I left work feeling relaxed and accomplished, and strolled through the gardens to the bus stop. Seeing that the next bus was not for about 20 minutes (as they're less frequent in the evenings), I decided to wander a bit more through the gardens.

I always enjoy time in the Botanic Gardens, and one reason is that there is usually something new to notice and enjoy. That particular evening, I think they must have been preparing for an after-dark event, because many areas were beautifully lit by artfully placed coloured lights in among the plants. It was still fairly light outside, but growing dimmer, and I think the soft natural light made the added lights seem to glow in a soft, more organic way, as compared to the brilliance they would attain in full darkness.

These ones made the trees look amazing. They slowly changed colour through the spectrum, and each hue was fascinating.

This particular view seemed so magical and adventurous! It made me think of Where the Wild Things Are.

This is looking towards the sound-shell, where they often have concerts. I'm thinking that they were probably going to have one that night, lit up in beautiful colours. I thought about staying for it, but was tired from my long day of work and I'm not a huge fan of live music, so I was happy to go home.

These luminescent balls were perfectly placed by the hanging flowers above and the still water below. They reminded my of the jellyfish at the Festival of Lights at Pukekura Park, which I wrote about back in 2015. If you'd like to read that post and see the pictures, you can click here. Of course, that is a much larger scale light event, but this one was lovely as well, both for the memories it brought back of enjoying Pukekura, and for it's own sake. It had an ethereal charm, especially in the twilight.

In other news, my bionic eyes are still doing well. I had another follow-up, and tested at better than 20:20 vision, which is thrilling! The dryness has definitely kicked in, but the eye drops mediate that well. I also discovered, when I drove home after dark on Wednesday, that I'm seeing starbursts around light sources, which is very strange. I told the doctor and he said that that's normal, probably related to the dryness, and should go away naturally. I didn't feel like it made it less safe for me to drive, but it is definitely disconcerting, so I'll be happy as it fades. Otherwise, my eyes are feeling good, the red spots are almost gone, and the doctor says my eyes are continuing to heal very well.