♪ ♫ Summertime, summertime, sum- sum- summertime! ♪ ♫

A while ago, I was (admittedly unrealistically) hopeful that spring was on our doorstep … and then I was certain that spring had arrived. Now, all of a sudden, it’s summer!

Is it really true that time has sped up? Is it aging or is it this crazy weather that makes it seem like seasons are now about a week long? Or will this lovely summer weather disappear while spring (or winter?) takes an encore bow?

Whatever, for today, it’s summer! There are signs everywhere.

The cottonwood trees are doing their cottonwood thing.

 I wrote an ode to a cottonwood a few months ago, and I mentioned this infernal fluffy stuff. That was mid-winter, and the trees weren't doing anything fuzzy. But they’re starting to do just that now. Allergy alert!

The yucca are starting to bloom. 

Pretty soon, thee yucca stalks will sprout beautiful, waxy flowers—but right now, they look like huge asparagus spears. Actually, it turns out they are kin to asparagus. They’re also cousins to the agave (aka “century plant,” so called because it blooms one in a lifetime, which can be very long, and then dies). And to aloe, of medicinal purposes fame. What’s really surprising, though, is that they’re also related to lilies. Who knew? I guess the long pointy leaves and single stalk are similar …

(BTW, lest there be any doubt, I know virtually nothing about plants. Just a few fun tidbits tucked away in the recesses of my brain just waiting for an opportunity to be forced into a blog. Oh, yeah … and I have Google to fill in the missing bits.)

At least some of the trees that had buds in my earlier pictures are now beyond the flower stage and have tiny fruit. These particular fruits are looking pretty withered. Not nearly enough precipitation this spring. 

The cottonwood are faring much better, but then, they’re natives, adapted to this dry climate. Someone had better water this little fruit tree, I think.

The evergreen trees are showing their early-summer “candles,” growing heartily even with the dry spring we've had. 

For no good reason, seeing these candles reminded me of bristlecone pines, a rare-ish species that I've had the good fortune to see a few times. (See what I mean about facts looking for a chance to get some air time?) They grow in a few sort of remote places in Colorado and elsewhere in the west.  They get to be really old (I mean really old, older than any other known living organism – up to nearly 5000 years of age!) They grow very slowly, so they’re not known for big candles. But they do have unusual small, purple cones. Maybe that’s the connection. Candles … cones …

So, now that I've settled into the arrival of summer—it was 92° today, for Pete’s sake!—we have cold, rainy weather in the forecast.

I love Colorado weather.

Saturday morning addendum:


I just saw the greatest sight. This redheaded kid, her hair pulled back in dual ponytails, climbing out of the (currently empty) irrigation ditch near the bike path. She had been called from a nearby house to say goodbye to a visitor, and here she came. Her hands covered in mud, carrying a bucket, clambering up through the willows. It made my heart smile … I was that kid. I suppose she’ll have to clean up for school on Monday, but soon, summer will stretch out ahead, full of adventures. Who knows, maybe she’ll be in ballet camp and fashion camp, but for now, the mud beckons.