I’d never heard of it and neither had Nyel – and he had lived in Seattle for twenty years before we met!  It required a spontaneous suggestion on the part of our friend Linda to introduce us to Swanson’s Nursery which has been in business since 1924.  Hardly a well kept secret judging from the numbers of visitors there last Sunday morning.
     We went for brunch in their Garden Café, but what turned out to be the best part of all was visiting the Christmas animals.  We stopped first at the large chain-linked enclosure where a camel and his miniature donkey friend were happily munching at a mound of fresh grass clippings.  They were an unlikely couple; the donkey was only a little taller than the camel’s knees, but it was obvious that they were best friends.
     Later, their keeper said that they only express unhappiness when they are separated which happens when they need to be loaded onto a truck for the return to their usual home in Eastern Washington.  “For the few minutes they are apart,” she said, “they call and talk to each other constantly.  You can tell they are distressed.”
     As we watched, the camel lay down (and was still the taller of the two!) and the donkey immediately picked up a rubber tub (“for oats” said the keeper) and bumped the camel’s nose with it.  The little donkey was persistent.  Was he complaining that the oats were gone?  Asking for a refill?  Or just suggesting a game of tug-of-war which is what eventually occurred?
     Families with little children were everywhere.  “Look!” exclaimed a three-year-old boy, “that camel didn’t brush his teeth!”
     In the next-door enclosure were two of Santa’s reindeer, halters on and looking ready to go.  Santa was purported to be nearby, but we didn’t catch sight of him.  We did linger at the Koi pond in the Garden Café – another kid-friendly area where watchful parents cautioned about leaning over too far.  The temptation to grab one of those big fat Koi was, indeed, great.
     We hardly looked at the plants which seemed to go on and on and on, though I did catch sight of several that I must go back to consider in the spring.  With its wonderful park-like atmosphere and its setting atop the Blue Ridge neighborhood, Swanson’s seems the perfect destination for breakfast or lunch and a bit of plant shopping when our gardening urge resurfaces.  I can’t imagine why we’ve only just discovered it!