“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
I had the recent opportunity to spend a day at Epcott with my oldest son
One of the many landscaped scenes at Epcott in Orlando, Florida ... Photo by Pat Bean
and his two grown children. Simply being with them was the most pleasurable part of the day. It would be the last time I would see my son until he returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan with his Army unit; and my grandchildren are the rewards I get after overspending on my credit card – always a treat.
It was a crowded spring break day at the theme park. Lines were long and the pavement was hard on the feet. But I don’t think a smile ever left our four faces. We took the Mission to Mars and traveled to the future in Spaceship Earth. After that, we mostly walked through the beauty around us.
Epcott has done a fantastic job of landscaping, and its varied architect lets you briefly believe you could be in the better parts of Morocco, Africa, France, Mexico, Norway or Japan. The bratwurst, sauerkraut, schnitzel and beer at the Biergarten Restaurant, along with an Octoberfest in full swing, truly transported us to Germany for a late, feet-resting lunch.
As we continued on, all the carefully coiffed flowers, fresh paint and enchanting structural details strangely got me thinking about the time I pulled into a crowded, non-landscaped El Paso, Texas, campground where RVs were parked on cement a mere six feet apart row on row. The setting shrank my nature-loving soul. But when I looked out the window early the next morning, I saw a line of Gambel’s quail trotting in a line across the pavement mere inches away from my motor home. It was an awesome sight to this avid birdwatcher.
Thank you Disney for my beautiful, expensive, landscaped day at Epcott – and thank you Mother Nature for your fantastic wonders that I can enjoy daily for only the cost of awareness.
Japan at Epcott ... Photo by Pat Bean
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