the long view

Rudbeckia

We spent Sunday afternoon at Kew Gardens
visiting the former Museum of Economic Botany,
reopened as part of the Open London weekend.

A PhD student from the Department,
is jointly sponsored by Kew Gardens
and she had co-organised the exhibition.
It was fascinating to see a small sample
of the thousands of artefacts in storage:
a brick of tea and a cassava grater,
a 'lace' bonnet made with delicate bark,
an intricate bamboo pannier to carry a baby
and an exquisite fan of boxwood.

The most enjoyable aspect of the exhibition
was the knowledge that Caroline
had achieved a major milestone in her studies
and that the exhibition, which was enjoyed
by hundreds of people over the weekend,
would not have happened without her enthusiasm.

*****

I took a number of photographs at Kew
but this one delights me
because it captures the changeable light.

Sometimes one photograph is enough.