아침고요수목원의 겨울 풍경(Winter scenery at The Garden of Morning Calm)

아침고요수목원(The Garden of Morning Calm)은 경기도 가평군에 위치하여 약 330,000㎡의 넓이에 총 4,500여종의 식물을 보유하고 있는 원예수목원이다.

https://www.morningcalm.co.kr/_ENG/html/main.php

평상시의 수목원의 모습은 대충 이렇다.

The Garden of MorningCalm

The Garden of Morning Calm, located in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, is a horticultural arboretum with a total of 4,500 kinds of plants in an area of about 330,000㎡.

This is what the usual arboretum looks like.

 

매우 당연하게도 수목원의 겨울은 황량하기 그지없다. 한마디로 볼 것이 없다.
그렇다면 수목원은 경제적으로 살아남기 위해 어떤 선택을 할 것인가?
일반적인 수목원들은 겨울에 최소한의 운영만하지만 이곳은 조금 다르다. 사람의 이목을 끌어야했고 그렇게 운영하는 것이 바로 밤의 수목원였다. 그리고 사람들의 이목을 더욱 집중시키기 위해 각양각색의 전등을 설치하여 사람들을 오게 만들었다.

물론 이 넓은 수목원의 전체를 전등으로 뒤덮을 수는 없기에 일부 구역만 이렇게 꾸며놓았고, 빛을 좋아하는 한국사람들에게는 충분히 효과가 있었을지도 모른다. (물론 밤에 그것도 한겨울에 수목원을 찾는 사람이 얼마나 있겠는가?)

내가 방문했던 날은 정말 입에서 욕이 나올 정도로 매우 추웠다. 내 기억이 맞다면 대략 -20도 정도의 기온이였다.
내 카메라 베터리는 이러한 맹추위를 견디지 못하고 약 5분마다 기능을 상실했다. 매번 바지의 호주머니에 넣어서 온도를 올려주고 사용해야했다.

몇일간 눈이 내렸던 탓에 땅은 새하얀 눈으로 뒤덮혀있어 한층 운치를 자아냈다.

 

Naturally, the winter in the arboretum is bleak. In short, there is nothing to see.
So, what choices will the arboretum make to survive economically?
Normal arboretums operate minimally in winter, but this one is a little different. It had to attract people's attention, and it was the Arboretum of the Night that operated that way. And in order to draw people's attention, even more, various lights were installed to make people come.

Of course, it is impossible to cover the entire arboretum with electric lights, so only some areas were decorated like this, and it may have been effective enough for Korean people who like light. (Of course, how many people visit the arboretum at night and in the middle of winter?)

The day I visited was really cold to the point of swearing out of my mouth. If I remember correctly, it was around -20 degrees Celsius.
My camera battery couldn't stand this scorching cold and lost its function about every 5 minutes. I had to put it in my pants pocket each time to warm it up and use it.

It had been snowing for several days, and the ground was covered with pure white snow, which made it even more charming.

 

 

 

- Canon EOS-20D

- Sigma 18-50/f2.8