Winterthur was home to several generations of the du Pont family, but now the 1,000 acres of rolling lands and house are open to public - the house is a museum, and the gardens are a horticultural paradise.
I've visited it before and always wanted to go back, so after months of stalling and deliberation (mostly due to lack of time) on where to volunteer, Winterthur seemed like the perfect place. No, it's not the food bank or the soup kitchen, and I did/do feel guilty about not spending time on serving the poor or saving the planet, but I had to go with my heart. My heart soars in nature - I feel like I'm touching God when I'm among trees and touching plants, and leaves, and twigs and flowers and birds and bugs and beasts.
So when the opportunity to volunteer at Winterthur came up, it seemed like the perfectly packaged present - a 1000 acres to explore! And if that's somehow helping their scant staff of 16 garden employees, then I'm happy to help!
On this first day of volunteering, it was mostly an orientation session with 9 or 10 other excited people like me. After the orientation, we were let loose to wander around the gardens, peek into the house, window-shop at their store. It was a lovely spring day full of sunshine and blue skies. The March Bank was carpeted in blue scilla flowers and bordered by a string of daffodils.
The next flowers that are almost about to burst open are azaleas, and I'm hoping I'll get my volunteer badge by then!
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