Trees

I'm amazed by the trees and other foliage here in Southern California. Every morning I sit out on my balcony and marvel at the trees here on the grounds. This picture is representative of what I get to see. There's such variety—pine and fir and other conifers, eucalyptus, trees with broad leaves, compound leaves, spear-head leaves, lobed leaves, trees with flowers and ones without, and of course the ubiquitous palm trees—but not just one kind of palm, palms of all sizes and varieties. Oh, and cacti. And then all sorts of shrubs and flowers. For instance, in the median of Barton Road, between my apartment and the Medical Center, there's a huge bird-of-paradise plant with dozens of orange-beaked blooms on it.

This area has its climate to thank for this abundance—semi tropical, semi arid, with very rare freezes and summer temperatures that rarely exceed 100 degrees.

Looking at this wealth this morning while I sipped my coffee and visited with Amy on the phone, I thought that maybe I should make an illustrated guidebook to the trees, shrubs, and flowers here at Loma Linda Springs. Then I realized that most residents probably wouldn't be interested in such a book. I don't think most Southern Californiños really see these flora. They're surrounded by them all the time, they take them for granted, and for most of them, the wealth of vegetation has ceased to exist. It takes someone fresh from the West Texas desert to really see and appreciate this part of the surroundings.

Maybe that's one good reason to do new things, travel to new places, meet new people. These changes can sharpen our perceptions, pique our awareness.

I wonder what parts of my life I'm just not seeing anymore because, wonderful as they may potentially be, they've become commonplace. I gotta pay more attention. I gotta stop and smell the roses. Or at least see the roses. I wonder how long it will be before I stop seeing the trees.