I’ve been going to Koko Crater Botanical Garden a lot more often than I used to, to get some fresh air, stretch my legs and take a break from, you know, everything. In the past I would do the 2-mile loop maybe once or twice a year to recharge at my neighborhood’s natural getaway, but it seems the life gets sucked out of me pretty quick these days and I need those serotonin boosts more than ever.
Before last year, I’d never gone so many times within a short period to notice the small ways in which the garden is always slowly evolving. The bougainvillea near the plumeria grove at the entrance turns from pink to orange as the months pass, and the plump baobab that looks as if it could be the star of a Studio Ghibli film bursts with white tufts in the summer. Farther along the path, the tree covered in what look like small gray pumpkins gets yellow flowers in November, the perfect representation of autumn.