Falling Blossoms

Crape Myrtle

When a good wind blows, the air around the house is full of crape myrtle blossoms, little bits, blown from the big trees. There’s probably a kaiku in there somewhere. They drift through the air like snowflakes. After a good rain they cluster on the ground beneath the trees. Shades of pink, altogether lovely.

I hold the crape myrtles in the same esteem as I once held our azaleas. A lovely shrub that gives you two weeks of glory. All of our previous homes had them. I tried to keep a pair of miniatures alive when we moved to the hill country, but it was a losing battle. I may try again. I’m home more and the landscape has changed a bit with more shade, which azaleas love.

The other flower love of my life was a coral vine. We had a nice one when we lived in Pasadena. It would die back in the winter and return each spring and somewhere in my photo collection I have pictures of my wife and children ensconced in the green and pink. Flowers are a nice place to store memories and I have lots of flowers and lots of memories.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale