Hi Wednesday walkers, I hope you are enjoying the beauty around you as you walk. I believe its important to enjoy your walk as it makes your mind and body fit. This week I have been going out regularly for walks. I leave home before 7 a.m. that way I can avoid getting sun burned. It is blazing hot here and I have to slather a good amount of sun screen lotion before I venture out. Once I am out, I forget the heat and enjoy the beauty that is around me. Today's walk actually has pictures from my walk on the campus of my son's collage and some from my neighborhood which I took yesterday.
From February to May nature puts on a great show for those of us who live here in Bangalore, India. The roads of Bangalore have beautiful trees planted on either sides make travel around the city during these months really pleasurable. February is the time when Jacranda trees bloom here. Those small lavender bells hanging in bunches against a pale blue sky has to be seen and enjoyed. These blooms often don't make for spectacular photographs as the colors do not show up well against the bright summer skies.
Nonetheless, the jacaranda is one of my favorite trees. I didn't expect to see blooms on these trees this late in the season. Today I had to go to my son's med school to pick him up for the Easter Holidays and I was overjoyed to see a couple of trees still in bloom.
We used to have a cafe near our apartment block where we lived a decade ago. This place had small lavender colored tables placed under a huge jacaranda tree. This tree looks very pretty even when its not in bloom but there was a tiny problem with this arrangement. The tree would drop its tiny leaves when the wind blew and this would often come spiraling down like a helicopter blade into your coffee. These trees have woody seed pods which are quite heavy and could deliver a great blow if you weren't cautious enough. All the same we still enjoyed our caffeinated drinks and pastries here until we left the neighborhood.
This morning when I saw the tree in bloom I decided to walk around the campus as I shared this story with my son. The route we took from the hostel to the sports arena was carpeted with these lavender blooms. Did you notice this dog's shadow in the morning sun? He seemed to be enjoying his walk too.
In some places on the campus there were both the Tabebuia Rosea and the Jacaranda blooming together. Pink and lavender splashed against the blue sky, three of my favorite colors in the world. It never fails to make me smile to see these beauties around.
As we walked a little further in the dried lawn we met this guy taking a walk all by himself. The coucal belongs to the pheasant family and is a very shy bird, but this one here wasn't really shy.
We have a very short spring season here, there is a huge overlap between spring and summer. In March the semi deciduous trees put out tender leaves which look stunning. These green leaves offer a great back drop for other flowering trees. When you can get a jacaranda or a tabebuia rosea tree against a rain tree it does make for some spectacular images.
India is full of strays, stray dogs, cats and cows. Earlier we used to see horses roaming around but I guess they don't venture into the city anymore. Here is one stray dog who followed us all around the campus. My son had some treats for him in his pocket and the little guy followed him faithfully. He was a friendly guy and enjoyed all the petting he got from us.
Back home in our small neighborhood this is a scene I enjoy the most. Here is a frangipani / plumeria in full bloom, you can see a tabebuia rosea in the background which is losing it blooms. The frangipani blooms will be around for a while and I can enjoy them for a bit longer.
This is a picture I took on our way back home of another jacaranda tree.
This Heliconia rostrata is blooming in a neighbors garden. This is often confused with the bird of paradise or Strelitzia reginae here.
I enjoyed my walk this Wednesday I hope you enjoy/ed yours as well. Thanks for stopping by, have a great Wednesday!
