He is happiest who hath power
To gather wisdom from a flower.
- Mary Howitt
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a wonder of which I too rarely take advantage. Here are some gleanings from a walk with my friends L & S. We called the wild garden above the Pandora Garden as its weird and brightly colored plants seemed like something from the film "Avatar." Dinosaur Kale (in the Herb Garden) is its 
own strange planet, too. The Japanese Garden is always lovely, though I confess I did not before today realize that the Torii is connected to an actual Shinto shrine, up the hill on the left. The turtle lives in the lake, so never gets to see the lovely lotuses in the Visitors Center pond. These giant crocuses were a surprise. 
I saw little evidence of storm damage - the BBG is too far east to have got the brunt of it - except this shell of a once towering willow tree.
