A Naturalist's Eye In the Garden: "REMEMBRANCE"
featured in The Hereford Inlet Lighthouse Newslettter, Spring/Summer 2010

“Remembrance is the sweetest flower that in a garden grows.” The author is unknown to me, but the words are so true I will never forget the first time I saw the gardens at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse. The colors, the shapes, and variety took my breath away. I did not realize that this was a two for one - beauty and history inside and out.

And even on that first visit, I began to understand that the garden was a gift to every visitor, people and wildlife alike-for the wildlife were as welcome as we were.

After going inside, browsing the unique gift shop, and taking the best lighthouse tour I have ever been on, Jim and I went to look more closely at the gardens.

I loved the stately pines that seemed to be sentinels for the rest of the garden almost the way the lighthouse is for the travelers of the sea. I tried to identify as many of the plants as I could, but a naturalist is not trained so much in cultivated plants as in plants growing in the wild.

I took pictures in my mind for my own remembrance, and Jim snapped his own favorite scenes. Hint if you’re with a naturalist, make sure he or she has a camera. Otherwise you’ll hear, “Did you get a picture of that?” all the time. Lucky for me that Jim is a patient photographer. I don’t have a camera.

If you take the path that goes under the arbor and keep going straight, you’ll come to a jetty and a lagoon. There are benches there where you can sit and appreciate a magnificent unobstructed view of the ocean and often see wildlife in the lagoon and on the other side.

don’t know about you, but one of the things I really enjoy is taking some time to sit and watch and listen to the ocean. It’s like the heartbeat and lungs of nature. A wave takes a breath, rises and falls, ready for another breath. The sounds of the waves breaking on the shore pulse like heartbeats. If you tire of sitting, there is a walkway that allows you to stretch your legs.

You’ll meet some really interesting people sitting there and have some interesting conversations for these are people with whom you have something in common—a love of the ocean and nature. And, if you are cursed with a troublesome back, there is no better therapy than the sun warming your back as you sit on the bench in the afternoon.

Time always goes too fast when I’m at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse. I wish there were a dial to slow down time the way we turn down a thermostat. But as we reluctantly leave for the day, we know we can come back tomorrow or the next, day, or both.

We turn and slowly retrace our steps looking for something we may have missed. And, if you know where to look, you will find the words “Remembrance is the sweetest flower that in a garden grows.” When I see them, I always remember my aunt who liked to embroider. She did a sampler with those words on it. I still have it framed and hanging in our kitchen.

Hope to see you the next time you visit Hereford Inlet Lighthouse. If I’m not there in person, you can hear my heart beating in the sound of the ocean