Once a Reston resident

Not of the Reston world

When I think of Reston, I think of new buildings and a modern world.

April 19 I was in a place that certainly took me to another time and world.  We visited Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC.

Being a native North Carolinian, I was certainly aware of the palace,but I had never taken the time to enjoy the gardens and buildings.

We had a very nice day and only missed the absolute peak of the flowers by a few days so things were still beautiful.

As I listened to the guides talk about how the occupants lived in the palace, I was drawn back to that time in American history which I studied in college.  Those days before the American revolution are long gone.

It no longer takes days for news to get from NC to Washington.  We no longer have young children competing to be servants in palaces.

Certainly the world of Reston and its information technology based economy are a long way from the tobacco and pine tree based world of North Carolina the 1700s.

For a moment it is refreshing to think of the world as it was.  The quiet town of New Bern, birth place of Pepsi, is still a long way from the busy world of Reston. 

As we turned down their main street, and I could see plenty of parking along the way, I had to laugh to myself at how hard it would be to find a parking spot on the street in Reston Town Center on a Saturday afternoon.

I guess there are still some benefits to living a long way from DC.

I did put up three slide shows of our visit to Tryon Palace, one of the buildings, another of the flowers, and a final one of the vegetable gardens.

I highly recommend a visit, but I would not try it in the heat of summer.

Looking for signs of spring in Reston

It is that time of year when our faith in the earth is renewed. 

Getting infusion of faith from seeds and plants is harder to do when you are surrounded by unending lanes of traffic.

Yet spring comes even to Reston. Even the smallest yard can have room for a few daffodils.

I have had some memorable springs in Reston.  In spite of the traffic, vegetation grows very fast in Virginia. 

Just a few years ago, I helped my daughter cut down some bushes in her front yard.  We got to visit Fairfax's Mount Brushmore.  Obviously there is no shortage of vegetation in Northern Virginia.

With approximately 3,300 people per square mile, Reston is a little more densely populated than our rural Carteret County which has around 276 people per square mile.

One of the things that I have learned over the years is that people produce flowers.  So depending on the area, lots of people, as long as there is yard space, can produce lots of flowers.

There are plenty of blooming trees and yards of flowers in Reston, and as spring really starts to show itself, try not to move as fast for a while.  Take time to enjoy a little of the scenery.

Instead of making one of those classic Northern Virginia left turns after the light has turned red, just wait your turn and see if you can spot some signs of spring.

When you get home at night, instead of going directly inside, take a few minutes to look at the spring plants, or even better, go for a walk after dinner and enjoy the spring plants as they show off their blooms.  You will not regret the few minutes that it takes, and it might just give you a better outlook for tomorrow.

Certainly you need to enjoy spring because as we all know, the cool of spring sometimes last only a few days before the area descends into summer heat and humidity.

Some of that heat might be welcome to those of us who have been stuck in mountain weather down in the Roanoke Valley.