The first warm and sunny Saturday of April found me trekking southwards to check out the Antiques and Garden Fair at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. As a lover of the outdoors, I was excited at the prospect of spending some time among the colors and fragrances of the gardens, and the antique fair sounded like an interesting opportunity to take in some different art. Approaching the gardens, I encountered two enormous white swans who rooted through the grass with their black beaks and waddled about non-chalantly while visitors took their photograph. I passed them through the entryway and crossed a stream via an arched wooden bridge with purple pansies hanging overhead.
Following voices down a central pathway put me face to face with what appeared to be a giant stork made of pink chrysanthemums. The sculpture was exquisitely constructed, and served as a beautiful centerpiece for the room. Beyond the stork, visitors passed in and out of a gallery filled with artwork of every shape and size. Huge ceramic vases filled with vibrantly-colored floral arrangements caught my eye, and I admired their craftsmanship before moving on to a strange metal sculpture. Flanked by natural wooden wheels and lamps made from industrial coils, the sculpture looked like a standing elipse composed of geometrically arranged iron pins. Towards the center of the room, a large fountain full of pink flowers and still water was inhabited by some regally-sculpted white geese.
Not far away, the sound of trickling water led me a wonderfully bizarre sculpture protruding from a wall. Three white ceramic lion's heads, eaching holding a green apple in their mouth, framed a smaller, dark lion's head on a fish's body that spat water over some pink bouquets into a fountain below. Looking around at the displays, I realized that they had come from all over the world and from varying time periods, many ranging back hundreds of years. I admired a cement table-and-chairs set that had been molded to look like as though they were carved from an enormous tree. Other lions surfaced nearby, these ones full-body sculptures a couple feet long that dated back to the 19th century. Up above, sculpted horse's heads from the same era cast a watchful eye over the proceedings.
I made my way back outside, and followed a path between rows of neatly-cropped trees to the English Walled Garden, where columns and vines showcased a magnificent fountain neighbored by sky-blue pansies and an oddly-shaped "Weeping Beech" tree. I continued on the path along the lake to the Japanese Garden, curious as to what I might find there this time of year. I crossed the wooden bridge leading to the inner garden, where Yukimi snow-collecting lanterns stood near small pines and decorative rocks. The garden was alive with chirping and singing, as birds from crows to robins to red-winged blackbirds swooped and hopped about the foliage.

I continued up the path towards the sound of rushing water and saw a towering, multi-layered waterfall. I climbed the stone steps to the pond that served as its source and took in the tranquil, panoramic view. Following the path further, I came upon a meadow of white birch trees carpeted at their base by purple and yellow irises. Royal Ferns were growing nearby, and I was amazed to learn that they dated back to 230 million years ago. I saw what I thought at first was a grasshopper in the brush, but turned out to be a tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet. His bright-red head lived up to his namesake, and he flitted about before flying off with another. I completed my circle and crossed back through the art fair, admiring some beautiful animal paintings created by an artist from England. Over the course of a couple hours, I took in enough refreshing sounds, sights, and fragrances to feel fully revitalized, and I vowed to return to the gardens in later months to see the seasons reflected in the plants.

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