Life
This is the time of year when the Amaryllis blooms. The local variety are a startling pink, gay and profuse. They seem to bloom overnight; you look up one day at the beginning of August and notice them everywhere. It's interesting that they choose to bloom at the least likely time - when the morning fog no longer rolls in and the sun beats down all day and it's bone dry. And they seem to grow best in empty lots, quiet corners, and other forgotten or ignored places. They only last for a few weeks and then they're gone. That, combined with the time of year, when summer peaks and then declines into the autumn, makes them very poignant to me; I feel summer's glory and passing all at once.

I also notice that the leaves on the Japanese Maples in front of Gault Elementary school are starting to turn red, getting ready to blaze with color and fall at the feet of the children when they return to school in just a few weeks.

I know neither the Amaryllis nor the Japanese Maple are native varieties, but I can't help but love them anyway.