Tuesday Adventures: Inniswood Metro Gardens. After A Monsoon.

Sooo once again, broken record, this past Tuesday called for rain. I checked the weather a bit before I planned on leaving for Inniswood Metro Gardens  right outside of Columbus, and saw a giant line of thunderstorms headed for central Ohio. Naturally. At first I was annoyed. This thing was going to hit for sure. Then I got an idea.

After a 20 minute drive under ominous skies, I was there. Knowing my time was limited, I jumped out of the car and began snapping away, never venturing too far from the parking lot.

I watched in a little bit of awe, as the sky started to darken, as families arrived at the park and ventured in with their kids. Do these people not check the weather? Or look at the sky? Because it looked like this:

Aaaaaand anyone with a smart phone with a weather app would have seen a radar that looked similar to this:

Yet in they went, with their children in tow. And fairly quickly, out they came. Running, like they were in Pamplona. Children screaming. Because it had started to do this:

Come on, people. Check the weather before embarking on any outdoor adventure. As I sat cozily in my car blasting music while the wind shook us around a bit, my idea was happening. Everyone was leaving. The storm was moving through quick. It was torrential, but I knew it wouldn't last. There was a man in a red car in the spot two down from me, patiently waiting as well. He knew too. When it was over, the we would have the place to ourselves. It would be quiet and glistening with raindrops, with that after-a-huge-storm calm and magic in the air.

After 30 minutes or so, the rain started to let up.

We got out of our cars, looked around, and gave each other huge smiles, exchanged a few words, and went on our ways.

And it was worth the wait. It was like stepping into another world, where everything was energetic yet peaceful. And every surface glittered with leftover raindrops.

Like little fairy worlds. It was so quiet.

My feet were soaked within minutes, so splashing through the puddles was the next natural decision. Totally never gets old. Have you tried it lately? If not, you're not living. Go do it. You  have to.

This little hole in the bushes reminded me of Alice In Wonderland a bit. Everywhere you turned, it was just gorgeous. And quiet. Have I mentioned the quiet? I love that so many people bring their kids to these places, to show them an appreciation for the outside world. But sometimes it's hard to get all Zen when all you hear are little people shrieking and screaming. It was so refreshing to only hear the sounds of nature, soaking it all in.

Of course I had to walk through the woods. Thankfully the majority of the trail was on a boardwalk because there was like a biblical amount of water rushing around.

This beautiful guy flew RIGHT in front of me. I was so startled, because he (she??) was HUGE. I've never seen an owl in the wild. He just sat up there and watched me as I stood frozen in awe, watching him.

The creek may be a bit high for this time of the year....

A pretty rock garden full of succulents and water features. Very peaceful.

It was very hard to leave this Secret Garden. Feeling like I was the only one there, feeling the sun start to come out again as I wandered along, making the raindrops covering everything glitter even more. 'Twas a great Tuesday Adventure.