You want to scream. I know.
I want to scream, too.
This unending winter is maddening, but don’t scream. Don’t contemplate fileting your loved ones.
Wouldn’t you rather stroll through a warm garden soothed by the sounds of running water and tropical birds, relaxing by a pool replete with Koi, goldfish and turtles as you gaze at surrounding banana and papaya trees?
Who wouldn’t? But who has the time or funds to fly to the tropics?
You don’t have to my winter-weary comrade. What I just described is right here in Oak Park. It’s the Tropical Room at the Oak Park Conservatory.
And if the tropics are a trifle too humid for you, there’s always the Desert Room with its dry air, wide temperature shifts, collection of cactuses and desert plants, an oasis pond and even a venus fly trap.
There’s all that and much more at the Conservatory, 615 Garfield St.
It is the perfect antidote to this horrible winter, but it’s more than that, it’s a year-around Oak Park treasure.
Owned and operated by the Park District of Oak Park, the conservatory’s staff and volunteers grow more than 20,000 plants each year which are then planted at the village’s parks and other sites.
More Top Picks Best Sensory Tents For Autism
The Conservatory hosts special programs, a plant clinic on Monday afternoons, conducts tours, is available to rent for neetings and parties, has educational programs — to list just some of what the Conservatory contributes to the quality of life in Oak Park.
And while there are so many things to do at the Conservatory, there also are so many not to do, opportunities to just be, to let the plants, the quiet enfold you and restore you, even from a winter that just won’t relax its grip.
The Conservatory’s Edwardian style glass structure was built in 1929 and saved from the wrecker’s ball in the 1970s.
The Oak Park Conservatory is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.
Admission is free, but a donation of $2 is requested. Guided tours are available for $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for children.
To learn more about the Oak Park Conservatory, or perhaps to become a volunteer, call 708-725-2400, or go to http://www.oakparkconservatory.org.
Defy winter. Visit the Conservatory.
You’ll feel a lot better.