The first day of fall was 4 days ago. After having gone to bed with the ac running and awaking to a diferent season was a change we were unprepared for! Suddenly it's windy and cool with occasional showers, right on schedule.

With signs of winter already aproaching, karen thought it would be a good idea to show me around the new york botanical gardens, where she works. After seeing a small portion of it, I can tell you that it is expansive and gorgious, especially with the work of Dale Chihuly 'growing' amidst the plants.

I arrived in the afternoon just before the farmer's market closed up for the day. Karen and I went immediately to the conservatory to see the glass! The conservatory itself is a historic landmark and is over 100 years old.



Then we took the trolly through the magnolias and pines to the family farm, a great feature of the gardens. Here, families can plant private plots for a season like at a community garden and visiting group of children can experience small scale agriculture in the plots maintained by the gardens.



We walked back through the native forest on our way to where karen works, passing over the only natural river in new york city.

By this time, nearly 4 hours later we barely had enough energy to check out the gift shop and get to the train. We had dinner at grand central station before karen had to go to school.