Tu-lovely

Try as I may, I do not seem able to keep plants alive. When Alex and I moved into our current rental, the landlord/owner offered to leave behind some potted plants on the balcony, if we were interested in keeping them. I gladly accepted. A year+ later, our balcony is a plant cemetery. In addition to the 3 potted plants that have turned a golden-brown, I've added a rosemary tree, another herb garden, and a cactus. All dead. I should not be allowed to take on the responsibility of plant care. It's a losing proposition for all parties. The thing is, I really like plants. I love flowers and flowering trees and shrubbery. I am not afflicted by seasonal allergies, so to me, spring is a perfect season of growth and color. Rarely a day goes by when I am not wowed by some house-dweller's perfect gardens and blooms. And since my birthday happens in the spring (in fact, it happens to be happening on this very day), and since I grew up in a house with a beautiful cherry tree which would burst into cotton-candy color each year in celebration of my birthday, I cannot help but connect a love of spring blooms with the day of my birth. And since I happen to live in a part of the world that has the perfect climate for certain kinds of blooms, that is how I chose to celebrate myself this year. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival occurs each April, about an hour's drive north of Seattle. Each year, people flock from all over the country, all over the world, to come check out the fields. Alex and I went up last week, and this is what we saw:

Seriously, endless fields of color!

Acres and acres of color!

There are dozens of fields scattered about, but two bulb producers are the main attractions. You can walk through the fields or take a tractor ride alongside them. We were there on a weekday, and the crowds were pretty manageable, though weekend traffic is said to be a nightmare. I can imagine! Even mid-week, there was still a need for traffic control in the parking lots, and they had us squeezed in tight to make room for all the cars and tour busses. (In fact, they had us squeezed in a little too tightly--we returned from one tulip tour to find our Sexy Beast Camaro had been scratched up by the vehicle exiting along our passenger side. Grumble grumble.) In addition to the fields, there were incredible gardens, combining hundreds of varieties of tulips, daffodils, irises, and more:

It was a lovely day of tulip-ing. A lovely way to celebrate spring and to honor the parents who brought me into this world. Thanks Mom, thanks Dad! Happy birthday to all of us!