Joy of the Day, Day 10: This fruit and these flowers

This time of year on Bainbridge, I have fresh flowers in the house all the time. Usually they’re cut from our garden, which begins it’s staggered bloom-time right around now: daffodils, tulips, peonies then dahlias into the Fall.

Because we’re in CA right now, I don’t have access to my PNW garden, but am so lucky to be surrounded by an abundance of cheerful, heat-loving show-offs like red hibiscus and bright pink bougainvillea. Still, when I spotted these pale pink tulips and mini daffodils in the store today, I couldn’t resist buying them—they make me think of home.

Also, one of the special things about our place in CA is the single, small grapefruit tree right outside our kitchen window. I’m not usually down here enough to know the tree’s seasons or cycles—sometimes when I’m here there’s fruit and sometimes not. When we first arrived about three weeks ago, I took a quick look at the tree and could smell its fragrant flowers but noticed it was bare. Then this morning, the sky turned from grey to blue despite the forecast, and Stephen came inside with a sweet and unexpected offering—three perfect grapefruits, warm and ripe from the morning sun.

Today, this fruit and these flowers are my joy. #joyinplace