Like a Faded Memory

Like a Faded Memory, a photo by Mark VanDyke Photography on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Netherlands Carillon Tulip Library
Arlington County, Northern Virginia
Accessed via N. Marshall Drive (from VA-110)
Date Taken: April 13, 2012

Spring is coming to a close here in Northern Virginia. The trees have lost their color and are filling in with more mature, darker greens. The ephemerals have come and gone, crowded out by the burgeoning, sun-hungry leaf canopies above. The tulips around Washington D.C. have hung on just about as long as they can and are finally losing their petals to the wind and rain, leaving behind only empty stalks and faded memories of what will have to wait another twelve months to show again. The District was surprisingly beautiful during the Spring months this year--the Azalea bloom was absolutely amazing and the tulips around the monuments were an added bonus and jolt of color for photography and viewing. The past few months have been an exercise in running near and far to capture as much of Spring as possible before Summer takes over and my schedule can slow a bit. The good news is a relatively large archive of pictures to work through and share on Flickr!

The Netherlands Carillon is a 50-bell structure given by the people of the Netherlands in 1954 for aid received during World War II. The Carillon is the heaviest of all musical instruments, with the Netherlands Carillon in Arlington, Virginia weighing in at roughly twenty-eight metric tons. The greatest concentration of Carillons can be found in the Netherlands where these musical bell-towers are considered a symbol of civic pride and status. In America, in my personal experience, you are most likely to find Carillons on college campuses. In addition to the Carillon, a relatively large tulip library is planted each year on the lawn--the other tulip library is located between the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Monument on the banks of the Potomac River Tidal Basin. Tulips comprise the largest part of the total Spring planting in the National Capital Parks, with imported tulips from the Netherlands hand-planted each November.