Japanese Stroll Garden

Tucked away in the Greene/Close Memorial Park in Springfield, MO, there is a Japanese Stroll Garden. It's a little bizarre, really, because Springfield, Missouri could hardly be farther from Japan, but it's a lovely idea, anyway.

You have to pay a nominal entry fee to get into the garden, which is annoying, but understandable I suppose. There were very few people inside, and those who walked around were mild-mannered and interested in their surroundings, so if the point is to keep out the hoi polloi, I guess it worked.

We paid a tiny bit extra from some goldfish food, and spent most of our walk looking for koi.

What we mostly found was Canadian Geese.

This one had made a nest out on one of the koi pond islands.

This one was raising her little goslings in imperial Japanese splendor, despite their Western Hemisphere heritage.

My little goslings walked up any stairs and across any paths that they could find. They were just as out of place as the Canadian Geese, but they didn't seem to mind.

This fellow, while still being American as far as I know, looked much more natural in his (her?) surroundings.

When we came across a stage, it had to be performed upon, because we are a quiet, shy folk, and hesitate to put ourselves forward.

As we were leaving, Mim saw this in the parking lot, and told me it was a shelter for small frightened snakes. Why not?