When the construction dust got to be too much, I sought escape in gardens and plant shops. Perhaps I was subconsciously seeking fresh oxygen.
Here I stand on top of our apartment, enjoying the rooftop views of the coconut trees:
A few coconut trees shade our balconies below.
Bamboo lines the compound walls. Here bamboo seems to be reaching for me, pulling me into the back with leafy green fingers … (don’t be fooled, there’s only mosquitoes back there):
There are banana trees beyond the walls:
We have banana trees too. For special occasions the huge leaves are cut to use for serving meals.
The sun was just right to cast the coolest shadows:
This may be the only moment I appreciate the neighbor’s blue corrugated metal fence:
Beyond the gate are more trees in the street. But if you open the gate, beware … our construction debris is right there. Yes at this point I’m composing and cropping carefully:
A cool combo of pots that our neighbor’s little boy painted:
For weeks we kept passing a beautiful garden shop. Of course I had to go in, and cannot leave empty-handed. This is my orange plant, left behind in the care of others:
After this wild orange plant, something got into me. We got chartreuse and purple plants at another T Nagar plant shop, to pair together. Yep, those bright ones, right there:
And a bunch of those little purple ones there please, to go under the chartreuse leaves:
Our apartment is only a few blocks away so we crammed 10 pots of chartreuse and purple leaves and our 2 butts into an autorickshaw and off we went:
And now, for the grand garden finale. Our current patch of scratchy dirt in Chennai cannot possibly compare to the gardens at Amethyst. But I hope. Someday. Behold, the gardens at Amethyst:
There is a lovely cafe on a veranda overlooking the gardens, and a shop with clothing and jewelry and some home decor items upstairs. If you’re in Chennai, take a break here, it’s beautiful.