Last week I forgot the thing that made me happiest recently, and was actually the original inspiration for last weeks “happy things” post.
I hadn’t been into the city for a week or two or three, except for going on the bus (which takes a different route) to meet a friend for lunch. On Sunday (a week ago) we drove along the waterfront – almost all the quays (there are a lot of “quays” in Wellington) – and pretty much all the pohutukawa were in flower. The trees along the waterfront by the stadium and the route where cruise passengers would walk (and would have been walking this summer but for COVID) are getting bigger, and so there are even more beautiful red blooms. A few days later when I was in the city I started counting some of the trees along the sides and middle of the streets, and there are hundreds. I stopped to take a photo … or two. They really doesn’t convey the continuous delights of these red blooms as we drive along the quays and around the bays, where the newer council planted trees turned into the older, huge trees in Oriental Parade that were also in flower. Further around the bays were the trees where I took the photo some years ago that form my current and very seasonal header image.
I know I wax on (ad nauseum?) about the pohutukawa and their red blooms every year at this time. This is not even my first post about them this year! But they do delight me. They herald the season, promise a joyful, relaxed summer and summer holiday, and provide a nice introduction to a new year full of hope. This year, perhaps more than any other year, hope and joy is both necessary, and appreciated.
Another in the Thursday Tree Love series – find all the other bloggers doing it here.
