Tag Archives: trees

Places

The Manor at Malancrav

Funny name, beautiful place. Even in Romanian, the name makes no sense, but we sure enjoyed our visit to the manor at Mălâncrav. It’s located in Sibiu County and it was one of the houses of the Apafi Family, which was one of the most important aristocratic families during the reign of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The domain was restored in the early 2000s by the Mihai Eminescu Trust with funding from The Packard Humanities Institute in California and inaugurated on October 1st, 2007.

We decided to drive there one weekend, on a whim. I used my iPhone to take the photos you see here. We were free to roam the domain as we wished, which we did, taking care not to disturb anything.

We loved the manor, the atmosphere of the place, the look of the fortified church next door, and the peaceful chestnut grove across the garden from the house. It’s an idyllic setting and if we’d have known about it years ago, we might have bought it.

Standard
Places

A walk in the forest

I took these photos about 5½ years ago on a walk at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase, MD. They have such lovely fall foliage in their forest. As I edited the photos for the website, it brought back some fond memories of some of my first years together with my lovely wife. This year is our 10-year anniversary and we’re going to have a baby. The good times go by so fast, don’t they? 🙂

Standard
Thoughts

Spring rain

Have you felt the drops of a spring rainfall on your face? They fall softly, blessing each leaf and bud and flower. They remind us of winter and of melted snow but they’re tinged with hope, looking forward to summer. They chill and yet they warm.

 

Standard
Places

National Arboretum – Part 2

A little over four years after publishing the first series of photographs from the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, here’s part two, containing a mix of photos from the outside gardens and various enclosed ones, including the Bonsai Exhibit.

Selected photos from the set are highlighted below and you can find all of them by going through the gallery posted at the bottom. Enjoy!

Standard
Places

Fall colors in Rock Creek Park

These are photos from a wonderful walk we took in Rock Creek Park (on the Maryland side) in the fall of 2006. It was a beautiful autumn day, the light was wonderful, and the fall foliage was a delightful sight.

This is the oldest tree in Maryland. It’s an oak that dates back to even before the time of the American Revolution. Even though there’s a plaque next to it explaining this, it seems to be a well-kept secret, because in all the years we lived in the DC area, we lived near this tree and we seldom saw people stopping by it.

Standard