Look at us, all Zen and stuff

A few weeks ago we took an early morning trip into DC to find a little piece of tranquility. Every year in mid-July, the waterlilies and lotuses are at their peak bloom at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Northeast DC. It's actually quite amazing that such a peaceful and beautiful place can be tucked away in a not-so-beautiful-or-peaceful neighborhood.

We were in the middle of a heat wave-- we're talking temps in the high 90s with loads of humidity. This prompted me to dawn my over-sized hat and sunglass combo, which Mattias says makes me look like some kind of displaced celebrity in the pic below.

Leaving the house at 8AM on a Sunday was no joke, but it was worth it because the lighting made for some great photos. In some ways, I love the leaves more than the flowers themselves.

Hello water lillies.

Another advantage of being up so early is that there are lots of bugs and wild birds to see.

We took the boardwalk trail out to see the marsh along the Anacostia River. Not many wild bird sightings, but no dead bodies floating down the river either. Linus loved ripping up and down the boardwalk and spotting all the butterflies.

By 10:00 it was already 90 degrees, so we retreated back to the cool of our apartment. Until next year, lotus friends.