The Catalpa Tree is in Bloom Again!

I know I should be writing something with more substance (yeah, like I’m known for that), but at this time of year the garden is our main focus. Well, the garden, the birds, and the house since we usually have very little time to work outside.

We’re having the exterior of the house painted in two weeks and need to power wash and stain the deck beforehand but, as I’ve recently mentioned, it’s berry season and tonight we made another 4 batches of raspberry jam, leaving little time for anything else, except ‘The Daily Show’ (always time for that!).

Therefore, I thought I’d post a picture of my favorite tree. I know, bad segue, but I could have just posted the tree shit and then everyone would have thought I was psychotic or just blowing them off. But I digress.

We have many trees in our yard…apple, plum, fir, cedar, maple, spruce, flowering cherry, filbert, ornamental cherry, flowering plum, curly willow, pine, vine maple…the list goes on. But this is one of my two favorites; the Catalpa…

The Catalpa blooms in early summer (at least it does here) with a panicle of beautiful, fragrant, Orchid-like flowers.

In our slightly humid early summer air, the scent hangs low to the ground and seems to envelope the house, deck and cutting garden. Better yet, being located just outside the office window makes time spent at the computer a real treat. I can watch the hummingbirds move from flower to flower, pulled in by the bright purple and yellow flowers…

…while the sweet scent wafts in through the open window. These are precious moments! So friends…I’ll work on my political rants and social commentary later for now it’s time to celebrate

It has rained all today, a little yesterday and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. Even in summer the rain is close at hand and we must take it day by day; which makes it hard to dwell on all the shit that I’ll be ranting about come fall. Not that I’m ignoring those issues now, I’m just not going to let them overshadow the simple joys in life. Sometimes you just have to stop.

Stop and smell…the Catalpa blossoms!