''Make of it the most beautiful spot on earth where the bird and human can rest and find themselves.''
Edward W Bok
Even though we have been traveling and enjoying so many RVentures together for the last five years, let it be known ... there are certain tourist activities that one of us prefers more than the other. And that would be visiting botanical gardens. While I secretly thought that I may just try to become a Master Gardener in my retirement, Doug really had no interest in yard work beyond the mandatory mowing of the lawn. Selling our house put an end to his mowing duties as well as my Master Gardener dream, but didn't quench my delight in walking through the gardens of other ''masters''.
So when my ''master gardener'' friend let me know that we were very near one of her favorite botanical gardens, I had to check out the highly acclaimed Bok Tower Gardens located in Lake Wales, Florida. Our visit fell on Valentine's Day, so my love gave me the perfect gift ... the chance to leisurely explore this beautiful garden. I, in turn, gave Doug his perfect gift by sparing him ''flower overload'' and allowing him to hung out and relax in our home on wheels.
With all the crazy cold weather around the country this past week, I am sure that there are at least a few of my readers in the frozen tundra who are longing for a glimpse of spring, so come along as I enjoy a stroll around Bok Tower Gardens.
Successful Ladies Home Journal magazine editor and Pulitzer-prize winning author Edward W Bok and his wife began wintering in this area of central Florida in 1921. With shared interests in music, cultural activities, and philanthropy, they soon set out with the help of famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr to transform the arid sand hill into ''a spot of beauty second to none in the country''. With the completion of the 60-bell carillon Singing Tower in 1929, they successfully melded the beauty of flowers with the beauty of music.
While still considered early spring in central Florida, I was surrounded by colorful blooming azaleas, camellias, and various spring annuals as I walked through the 250 acre garden.
Every half hour the carillon bells gave all the park visitors a short musical treat. Thursdays through Sundays, the resident carillonneur, Geert D'Hollander fills the park with music during an hour long concert at 1 and 3 pm.
Although Edward Bok died just a year after his gardens and singing tower were dedicated, his life philosophy lives on in his many famous quotes and through the beauty of his garden and musical tower. Come with me as I share some of his philosophy that was transformed into this unique beauty to be enjoyed by future generations.
''Make the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.''
''Find your place and hold it; find your work and do it. And put everything you've got into it.''
''The making of money, the accumulation of material wealth, is not all there is to living ... and the man who misses this truth misses the greatest joy and satisfaction that can come into his life -- service for others.''
A visit to Bok Tower Gardens gave us both the perfect Valentine's Day gift. Whether that gift be spending time in a spacious garden or a compact van ... we each enjoyed the chance to recharge in our ''happy place'' so that we can continue to give our best to each other and to our world.
''Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.''
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