Autumn is a season of change. Green trees become red, yellow and orange. Days sooner become nights. T-shirts and shorts turn into sweaters and pants. Change never comes easy and with the sun too shy to come out, an individual’s mind can be clouded with doubts and worries. However, there are plenty of ongoing events and activities in the Montgomery County area to brighten an individual’s mood.
November in the Galleries with Teresa Oaxaca – Artists & Makers Studio in Rockville, MD
Artists and Makers Studios is designed to be an escape from reality. Individuals can venture into their imagination and make it come to life with something as simple as a pencil and a piece of paper. In addition to being a welcoming space for people to take art lessons and professional artists to work, it invites one solo artist per month to exhibit their works in a gallery.
Artists & Makers Studio is displaying Teresa Oaxaca’s “Beauty Ethernal” exhibit in the month of November, where her gallery can be viewed from November 1st through November 21st from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Oaxaca is an oil painter located in the D.C. metro area and specializes in creating baroque-style paintings with bright colors. Her “Beauty Ethernal” exhibit seeks to illustrate a celebration of nature, where each painting becomes a portal to a new enchanted realm with the figures and ethereal scenery coming to life.
Garden of Lights – Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD
Most individuals are familiar with gardens filled with fruits, vegetables and flowers, but this one also includes lights. Brookside Gardens is known for its beautifully arranged and well-cared-for gardens that can make individuals feel like a Disney princess entering their secret enchanted garden. From November 17th through December 31st, excluding November 20-23 and December 24-25, visitors can purchase tickets to visit the Garden of Lights exhibition from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
A misconception is that the Garden of Lights exhibition is just multi-colored strips of lights hung around the trees, bushes and plants. This claim is only partially true, as there is a purpose behind the color and style of the lights that used to coincide with the selected theme of the garden. For example, one of the gardens is ocean-themed, so Brookside Gardens’ workers wrapped the plants in lights of different shades of blue to act as water and placed a life-sized dragon made solely by lights to be the centerpiece.
When an individual drives past a house adorned with garlands and strings of lights surrounding trees and bushes, lining up the rims of the house, a smile will instantly appear on their face. Therefore, when an individual decides to take an evening stroll to witness a wonderland of glowing lights, a smile only larger and longer lasting will appear.
Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade – Silver Spring, MD
A Thanksgiving parade serves as an annual tradition to unite everyone together and rekindle the seasonal holiday spirit. This year’s 2023 Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade will take place on November 18th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and is the only Thanksgiving parade held in the D.C. metro area. With the incorporation of enormous-sized inflatable turkeys, penguins and popular cartoons, the parade creates a family-friendly atmosphere. There are also many exquisitely made floats accompanied by talented marching bands and dancers, spreading the holiday joy with everyone.
Pumpkin Floral Bouquet Workshop – The Family Room in Olney, MD
When an individual is preparing for a Thanksgiving meal, they make sure to make mashed potatoes with gravy and cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and most importantly, the turkey. As they place all the cooked dishes on that table, they may find that an element is still missing: the centerpiece to add the finishing touch to a delectable and aesthetically pleasing dinner table.
The Family Room is hosting a floral arrangement workshop on November 19th from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., where individuals can learn about the fundamentals of floral design and how to utilize their creativity to explore their unique style. The class offers a wide variety of different types of flowers, such as chrysanthemums, roses, ornamental cabbages, tropicals and much more that are fitting to the season. At the end of the class, participants would have gained permanent flower-arranging skills and be able to create a great centerpiece to elevate their Thanksgiving dining table.
Whether it is admiring artwork, walking in a garden of lights, participating in a parade or making floral arrangements, an individual will immediately feel a sense of joy within them through Montgomery County’s various opportunities to celebrate fall.
