Joe has a soft spot for Japanese gardens, and I have a particular fondness for Japanese maple. And what better place to go than to the largest Japanese garden in the US – the Portland Japanese Garden.

Unlike most gardens, one thing we noticed about this one is the absence of any irrigation system. What we saw was moss covered ground, and we surmised that the moss provides the much needed moisture for the plants and trees.

If you’ve ever been in a Peter Lik gallery, you’ll invariably see a stunning photo of a Japanese maple tree.

This tree is located in the Portland Japanese Garden, and if you didn’t know what to look for and where to look, you’d completely miss it because in your mind you are looking for a massive tree where you can set up a picnic underneath. In reality, the tree is much smaller.

After lunch we drove an hour and twenty minutes to check out a big rock on the beach.

What I had thought were rocks dotted with seagull poop were actually rocks teeming with life.

Today’s outing reinforced the notion that beauty is everywhere. If we pause to look, we may just be able to see it.

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