tra la! The jacarandas are in bloom, so when I walked to work this morning I trod through a carpet of purple flowers. Not everyone shares my love for these trees, though. Apparently quite a few students in Brisbane hate the blooming of the jacarandas, since it invariably signals that final exams are only a few weeks away. The first time I encountered these flowers was at Caltech, where every spring the grass turns purple for a few weeks. Lucky for me, I arrived in Brisbane just as they were opening up last year. That's right, I've been here for an entire year now! Amazing how the time goes by.
Every place seems to have their signature spring flowers - in Milwaukee and the Netherlands my dad can enjoy the tulips; Japan has its cherry blossoms; crepe myrtles in Louisiana. For me, though, the start of spring is always when the daffodils come out. No daffodils in my garden, unfortunately, but the pink flowers around my gate have also bloomed recently, so at least I have some colour to welcome me home. The last picture is from last year in New Zealand - doesn't it just make you want to pick some daffodils?Without the flowers it might be hard to point to the start of spring. March 20/21 (up north) is all very well as
the vernal equinox, but this year in Milwaukee it snowed for ~12 hours straight on the 21! I don't think the tulips came out till May, so take note, all prospective visitors to the Huangy household. Here the weather's already in the 80s (24C at 8pm), so the upcoming summer may be hotter than the last one. The weather and the flowers are definitely perks of the season, but the start of spring also means water polo season is just around the corner. First practice is tomorrow, and first game next Tuesday, so wish me luck!
