Day: January 8, 2019

Update: The parcel on which -Paradiso-/Cor meum sits is not longer open to the public. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

I’m not sure quite how -Paradiso-/Cor meum came to be on my list; I have a feeling that I received a poke about it late in 2018, but beyond the region and sim being noted in my list of places to visit, I don’t have an original note card to reference as an aide-memoire to give me a name; so my apologies to whoever it might have been, particularly if the tip came via IM.

Located in the south-east quarter of a Homestead, this is something of an idyllic setting of the kind I tend to like: shallow waters to wade through, little “islands” of trees and flowers scattered across it, and a little dry land to stand upon or wander over for those who prefer to keep their feet as dry as possible. Designed by 髙橋ヒロム (CainAbel), it is the kind of place that can be explored in minutes – and appreciated and enjoyed for hours.

The landing point sits close to the eastern edge of the region, where a lone tree rises from the water, branches devoid of leaves but attracting butterflies. A rowing boat sits beneath the bare boughs, resting among a gathering of translucent roses.

Not far away, sitting between the eastern and southern region boundaries, lies a circle of whitened trees protectively standing around an ancient ruin. The broken walls and arches speaking to a presence long past, a single aged fountain at their centre. Like the rowing boat, the ruins sit within a sea of translucent roses under which waves gently shimmer.

A tongue of land twists a path over the water from this mystical copse, passing under arched trees offering their raised branches as if trying to keep the sky from collapsing on whoever passes beneath them. This path leads to a raised area of grass sitting no more than a metre above the waters, but high enough to trap a large pool fed by a waterfall within it.

Here the trees are lush and green, more of the mist-like roses around the feet of those near the inner pool, which has attracted its own ghost-like butterflies. Rising from this pool is the stump of what must have once been a mangrove tree of huge proportions, and which still throws out sturdy roots, even though it is now little more than the foundation for a ramshackle hut sitting upon its hewn neck. Reached via a rickety little board walk and  crooked ladder, the shack hides a romantic little vignette within.

Follow the land west and south from the shack, and a cosy bed-like swing awaits discovery, another place for visitors to relax, still more roses lapping around its wooden frame. Behind it, willow-like trees twinkle with lights, while a line of telegraph poles march their way to and from nowhere in particular.

There are no ambient sounds within the setting (or at least, none were playing during my visit), but the audio stream provides a gentle flow of music, so those who wish to can use the umbrella-like dance system close to the landing point to twirl their way over the water to the gentle beat and romantic lyrics.

With a Flickr group available for sharing photos, -Paradiso-/Cor meum is a perfect place to escape stress and worry, and one ideally suited to playing with windlight options and settings when taking photos. As the parcel is part of a residential region, do please keep all explorations to within the parcel boundaries.