It was raining this morning, and I didn’t think I’d be able to walk, but, as luck would have it, the skies cleared just as I finished my chores, and I was able to squeeze in a walk before I had to dress for my Rotary meeting. It was a great day to be outside! Thanks to the recent spring rains and warming temperatures, everything is very green. Shrubs and yards and beginning to green up, and, on the bluff overlooking the bay, the year-round grasses are beginning to shoulder aside the winter rye sown by the City in the fall to maintain a green lawn.
We don’t have many deciduous trees around here—mostly pines and cedars and magnolias and a variety of evergreen oaks. Our live oaks stay green throughout the winter, but, although they don’t lose their leaves in the fall, they do drop them in the spring. Right now they are donning their new summer raiment, tender young green leaves whose incongruity with the gnarled old trunks always reminds me of little old ladies in frilly organdy party dresses.
Adding to the party ambiance are the azaleas, which are just now coming into glorious flower, even while the winter camellias are still blooming. The Taiwan cherries and Japanese magnolias responded to the first breaths of spring several weeks ago, closely followed by a few courageous dogwoods. Brilliant purple wisteria dramatically blankets an oak across the street. It would probably be an exaggeration to claim a “riot of color,” but there are certainly plenty of colorful accents, not least of which are the corner beds and hanging baskets planted by the City. Surely this must be the most beautiful time of year in Fairhope.
WalkThoughts 