It's Been Raining All Week...

This time of year in Florida, the rains start and fears of wildfire start to subside. The retaining ponds which are usually full of water have been empty for months with beds of ugly, cracked clay. Any little spark might start a fire that can engulf acres in a matter of minutes, so residents live in fear until the rains return to rehydrate the landscape.

We've been fortunate to have rain every day this week, and those ponds have filled with water again. The plants and trees are green and blossoming. Even the birds and animals seem to be grateful for the moisture. On Monday, I saw a bobcat crossing our street...muddy paws and all.

In our little corner of the world, our magnolia tree is in full bloom. Large - I mean, really large - blossoms fill it's branches.. I wish my blog had a "scratch and sniff" feature, just so you could experience the heavenly fragrance that I get when I walk past the tree.

This is one of the trees that symbolizes the South for me. The magnificent magnolia. Magnolias and cypress trees...my two Southern favorites. And we have both on our property. They just make me smile whenever I'm around them.

I'll share photos of my beautiful cypress trees in a future post. Today, you can see my magnolia blossoms, close your eyes and just imagine the heady fragrance after a week of rain. Really, it's wonderful.