--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After twenty annual visits, I am still…" description: "\"After twenty annual visits, I am still surprised each time I return to see this giant asparagus bed of alabaster and rose and green skyscrapers.\" — Cec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg" --- # After twenty annual visits, I am still surprised each time… ![“After twenty annual visits, I am still surprised each time I return to see this giant asparagus bed of alabaster and rose and green skyscrapers.” quote by Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg) > “After twenty annual visits, I am still surprised each time I return to see this giant asparagus bed of alabaster and rose and green skyscrapers.” [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker marvels at the striking contrast of natural and urban forms, noting how each visit reveals new details in the towering, colorful asparagus-like structures. **In simple terms:** Awe at the blend of nature and cityscape. Key Takeaway Notice and appreciate evolving surroundings. Themes awe observation urban nature nature contrast beauty Mood wonderful reflective Type descriptive observational When to use this quote - City planning tours - architectural photography - garden visits - urban exploration Key Concepts Aesthetic appreciation visual perception Questions to Reflect On - How does this visual contrast affect your sense of place? - What does it reveal about human interaction with nature? A Different Perspective The description may romanticize without addressing environmental impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Skyscraper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skyscraper/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) ## Related quotes > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [The love of reading can be contagious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-mull/the-love-of-reading-can-be-contagious/) [Brandon Mull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-mull/) > [Marriage? It's like asparagus eaten with vinaigrette or hollandaise, a matter of taste but of no importance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-sagan/marriage-it-s-like-asparagus-eaten-with-vinaigrette-or-hollandaise-a/) [Francoise Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francoise-sagan/) > [“Asparagus is the serpent of the vegetable world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/asparagus-is-the-serpent-of-the-vegetable-world/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“What most enraptured me were the asparagus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/what-most-enraptured-me-were-the-asparagus/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-batali/you-know-when-you-get-your-first-asparagus-or-your-first-acorn-squash/) [Mario Batali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-batali/) > [Romesco with asparagus is simple and brilliant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/romesco-with-asparagus-is-simple-and-brilliant/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“keep bees and grow asparagus. listen to the wind instead of the politicians, make up your own stories and believe them if you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-waddington/keep-bees-and-grow-asparagus-listen-to-the-wind-instead-of-the/) Miriam Waddington > [The attorney general will not cast aspersions on my asparagus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-gohmert/the-attorney-general-will-not-cast-aspersions-on-my-asparagus/) [Louie Gohmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-gohmert/) > [(on asparagus) Europeans of the Renaissance swore by it as an aphrodisiac, and the church banned it from nunneries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/on-asparagus-europeans-of-the-renaissance-swore-by-it-as-an/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I was doing stand-up at a restaurant and there was a chalkboard on the street out front. It said, Soup of the Day: Cream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-degeneres/i-was-doing-stand-up-at-a-restaurant-and-there-was-a-chalkboard-on/) [Ellen DeGeneres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-degeneres/) > [“As quick as boiled asparagus!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-quick-as-boiled-asparagus/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I revere the memory of Mr. F. as an estimable man and most indulgent husband, only necessary to mention Asparagus and it appeared or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-revere-the-memory-of-mr-f-as-an-estimable-man-and-most-indulgent/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Until-as often happened during those first months travel, whenever I would feel such happiness-my guilt alarm went off. I heard my ex-husband's voice speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/until-as-often-happened-during-those-first-months-travel-whenever-i/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## More by Cecil Beaton > [A technical failure that shows some attempt at aesthetic expression is of infinitely more value than uninspired success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/a-technical-failure-that-shows-some-attempt-at-aesthetic-expression/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [“Be daring, be different, be impractical; be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/be-daring-be-different-be-impractical-be-anything-that-will-assert/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [ \[He stared into the camera\] like some sort of an animal gazing from across the back of its sty. (On Winston Churchill) ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/he-stared-into-the-camera-like-some-sort-of-an-animal-gazing-from/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [More varied than any landscape was the landscape in the sky, with islands of gold and silver, peninsulas of apricot and rose against a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/more-varied-than-any-landscape-was-the-landscape-in-the-sky-with/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [I have the worst ear for criticism, even when I have created a stage set I like, I always hear the woman in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/i-have-the-worst-ear-for-criticism-even-when-i-have-created-a-stage/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [Americans have an abiding belief in their ability to control reality by purely material means... airline insurance replaces the fear of death with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/americans-have-an-abiding-belief-in-their-ability-to-control-reality/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [Never in the history of fashion has so little material been raised so high to reveal so much that needs to be covered so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/never-in-the-history-of-fashion-has-so-little-material-been-raised-so/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [On close inspection, this device turned out to be a funereal juke box - the result of mixing Lloyd's of London with the principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/on-close-inspection-this-device-turned-out-to-be-a-funereal-juke-box/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [All I want is the best of everything and there's very little of that left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/all-i-want-is-the-best-of-everything-and-there-s-very-little-of-that/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [Love is someone you can be silly with](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/love-is-someone-you-can-be-silly-with/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [Intelligent and alert, wistful but enthusiastic, frank yet tactful, assured without conceit and tender without sentimentality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/intelligent-and-alert-wistful-but-enthusiastic-frank-yet-tactful/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [I can't afford a whole new set of enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/i-can-t-afford-a-whole-new-set-of-enemies/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/be-daring-be-different-be-impractical-be-anything-that-will-assert-2/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [San Francisco is perhaps the most European of all American cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/san-francisco-is-perhaps-the-most-european-of-all-american-cities/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) > [Miss Marilyn Monroe calls to mind the bouquet of a fireworks display, eliciting from her awed spectators an open-mouthed chorus of ohs and ahs ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/miss-marilyn-monroe-calls-to-mind-the-bouquet-of-a-fireworks-display/) [Cecil Beaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) [Explore all 21 Cecil Beaton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/) ## More Annuals quotes > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [Currently, the United States provides 22 percent of the U.N. annual budgets, over $900 million in fiscal year 2007, and some of that funding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mccaul/currently-the-united-states-provides-22-percent-of-the-u-n-annual/) [Michael McCaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mccaul/) > [A ten per cent reduction in military expenditures per year would be reasonable, coupled with a programme of retraining the workforce and redirecting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-maurice-de-zayas/a-ten-per-cent-reduction-in-military-expenditures-per-year-would-be/) [Alfred-Maurice de Zayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-maurice-de-zayas/) > [Gerry Fialka's annual PXL THIS is a reliably surprising and seductive round-up of recent work achieved with the PXL 2000 camera. This humble outdated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-almereyda/gerry-fialka-s-annual-pxl-this-is-a-reliably-surprising-and-seductive/) Michael Almereyda > [There are three processes every company has to have: Somehow you've got to set strategies; you've got to have a budget, so you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-tichy/there-are-three-processes-every-company-has-to-have-somehow-you-ve/) [Noel Tichy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-tichy/) > [There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who don't cook out of and have NEVER cooked out of THE I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-this-world-the-ones-who-don-t-cook/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Once we realized that there were these 25 invariable types - the class politician, the frigid popular girl, the kid who tags along behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/once-we-realized-that-there-were-these-25-invariable-types-the-class/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Hence I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/hence-i-feel-no-shame-in-asserting-that-this-whole-region-engirdled/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [Annual earnings in the fast-food industry are well below the income needed for self-sufficiency, and fast-food industry jobs are also much less likely than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rolf/annual-earnings-in-the-fast-food-industry-are-well-below-the-income/) [David Rolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rolf/) > [The two revolutions, I mean the annual revolutions of the declination and of the centre of the Earth, are not completely equal; that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/the-two-revolutions-i-mean-the-annual-revolutions-of-the-declination/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [When you only have a million dollar annual budget and a Super Bowl ad costs $4 million, you have to do something very creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-st-pierre/when-you-only-have-a-million-dollar-annual-budget-and-a-super-bowl-ad/) Allen St. Pierre > [Discrimination and multiple deprivations of human rights are also frequently part of the problem, sentencing entire populations to poverty... It is surely a matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/navi-pillay/discrimination-and-multiple-deprivations-of-human-rights-are-also/) Navi Pillay > [Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/annual-income-twenty-pounds-annual-expenditure-nineteen-six-result/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A convention is a social pattern we have chosen to prefer over whatever the raw world simply proffers. It is a sign of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/a-convention-is-a-social-pattern-we-have-chosen-to-prefer-over/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [One of my most memorable Thanksgiving memories was probably the first year that me and my two brothers decided to start our annual eating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kelley/one-of-my-most-memorable-thanksgiving-memories-was-probably-the-first/) [Charles Kelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kelley/) Browse all 233 Annuals quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "After twenty annual visits, I am still surprised each time I return to see this giant asparagus bed of alabaster and rose and green skyscrapers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cecil Beaton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-surprised-each-time-i-return-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Annuals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-surprised-each-time-i-return-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/27c/cecil-beaton-26730_annuals_after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-su_2514518.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After twenty annual visits, I am still surprised each time I return to see this giant asparagus bed of…” — Cecil Beaton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cecil Beaton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-beaton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "After twenty annual visits, I am...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-surprised-each-time-i-return-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-beaton/after-twenty-annual-visits-i-am-still-surprised-each-time-i-return-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```