Los Angeles is not always paradise. Where we live the street are often too crowded, the summers are furnace hot. Fall,commonly referred to as fire season, brings a few days – sometimes weeks – of dry, hot Santa Ana winds which blow with hurricane force.
But one thing, a huge thing, LA has going for it is what I think of as its second spring. In nearly every other part of the country fall means leaves are turning, the grass is dying and winter is clearly on its way. It is now December and our grass is still green and our garden is a cloud of soft cream, pink and blue. Bougainvillea is in glorious deep magenta bloom. Hummingbirds feed on the flower nectar and Monarch butterflies stop to visit as they migrate from Mexico to northern California.
Two weeks ago I brought these roses in from the garden. Washed with early morning sunlight, the lure to paint them was too strong to ignore. I offer them to you as a gift of the season – our second spring.