A couple of days ago, I decided to take a walk around the pond at Mount Holyoke College in nearby South Hadley, MA. It's usually one of my favorite walks, but sadly -- due to recent heavy snow, then warming, followed by freezing -- the path around the pond had turned into a rough-edged nightmare of uneven and very slippery ice where previous walkers had left their multitudinous boot prints in slushy snow which had then frozen solid and slick. I realized after struggling on this surface for a hundred feet or so that (a) it was not going to get any more pleasant and (b) I was very likely going to fall on my ass, so I decided to walk elsewhere.
And that was fine, as it gave me a chance to take some photographs of ice formations I found interesting at various spots on the river which runs from the aforementioned pond through the middle of the campus.
As I walked past the college's greenhouse, my eye was drawn through a slightly frosted window to a group of curious flowers, with bulbous, almost pumpkin-shaped blooms. I walked on, but a few minutes later, curiosity won me over. I returned and went into the greenhouse. I'd never been inside before, but the sign on the door said "Public Welcome", so I spent about twenty minutes exploring the various rooms and the beautiful plant life contained therein.
I took a number of photographs, though I neglected to get any shots of the labels for each of the plants. Still, I think the shapes and colors speak for themselves… and they say "What a nice, warm place to be on such a cold and icy day!" -- PL
3 comments:
Thanks for the pictures of MoHome. I always enjoyed studying in the greenhouse during the winter, except for the day when the roof started collapsing from the weight of ice. I do feel compelled to point out, however, that the campus does not have PONDS - it has LAKES. :)
"MoHome" -- is that Mount Holyoke student vernacular for the school? I've never heard that particular term before.
On Google Maps, the two bodies of water are referred to as "Upper Pond" and "Lower Pond". Were they called something different when you wee there? -- PL
Indeed. "MoHome" is a relatively recent invention, but to my knowledge the two bodies of water have always been called "Upper Lake" and "Lower Lake". There is a rather fascinating old campus map in the library that might help answer this, if you care to go look for it.
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