"P" is for Pause, Peaceful and Pink

This is my TGIT "Thank God It's Tuesday" day. I work Friday through Monday so Tuesday begins my weekend. This is also "P" day for the A to Z challenge and the words I've chosen are pause, peace and pink.

I was so in need of a vacation today but because of gas prices and the economy is still an issue for me, a long drive or an island get-away was not in the budget. I decided to take a mini vacation here at home. Today was the day I was going to take the time to pause at the places I drive by and never take the time to stop.

I started the morning by treating myself to breakfast at a place I've never been before. It's always great to eat out when you're on vacation. I went to a place called Boulevard Coffee in Carmichael California. It had great Arts and Craft, Frank Lloyd Wright style details in the decor, a perfect cup of coffee and zucchini bread with lots of zucchini, carrots, raisins, cranberries, walnuts and sunflower seeds. It was heaven!

After breakfast I pointed my car down the road and decided to let my instincts guide me. A few minutes later I saw a sign that I had driven by so many times and wondered what it was. It was the Charles C. Jensen Botanical Garden. I knew that this would have to be the first stop on my mini vacation.

I drove through the gate and immediately felt like I was in another world. It was soft and meditative like a Japanese garden, spiritual like the forest in the movie Avatar, mysterious and magical like Alice's garden in wonderland. I couldn't wait to park my car and get out. How could I live in Sacramento for almost 3 years and never heard of this beautiful place. Taking the time to pause and 'take a road less travelled' was so worth it.

An immediate sense of peace came over me. The trees and the flowers and the birds reached all of my senses at once. I had forgotten how much I really love being outdoors.


There were so many paths and walkways to choose from I

was so glad I had my camera so that I could take these beautiful images with me.

There were tulips and azaleas everywhere.




A small creek ran through the gardens. I almost felt like Alice's rabbit was going to hurry past me.

I remember visiting Tinkerbell's Fairy Hollow at Disneyland with my granddaughter a couple of years ago. It looked like a little fairy land existed among the flowers and rocks.

There were so many shades of pink from soft pink to hot pink.

I just wanted to share my mini vacation here with you. I took the time to pause and stop and found a peaceful, beautiful place in a pink fairytale garden.