is your garden green

The United States airline system is currently built on a 'hub and spoke system' which for the bulk of us, we fly from our city to one of the majour hubs of the airline we are flying with and then get off of the plane (and usually after a hour or two of waiting) get on another plane which will hopefully take us to our final destination. I say hopefully because once to take advantage of a super low rate to fly from California to Illinois I made something on the order of 4 take off's and landings all in the same day, only once having to get off the plane.

As a result of this system the flying public has 'been' in several cities without ever really having a sense they have visited. So I can honestly say I have been to Texas but never been outside. I can not even say if I was in Dallas, Fort Worth, or someplace in between the two. (As an aside I have heard the new airport under construction in San José will try to give those passing through a sense of the Valley, and Las Vegas – well there are the omnipresent slot machines to remind you where you are.)

All of which is a shame as I have just heard about the Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas. And since it is Earth Day I would be remiss in failing to point out the "green" nature of the gardens. Not just the chlorophyll that makes this garden green, the U.S. Green Building Council has awarded Shangri La their Platinum LEED®-NC certification.

Check out their website and the town – go see what's green in Orange, Texas.