Slowing Down to See

Traffic leaving the freeway at my exit was unusually heavy and slow on a recent Sunday as I drove home from the airport. I’d just returned from sunny southern California and was comforted by a perfect spring day in Seattle. Creeping slowly down the exit ramp, I noticed something I would otherwise have missed. A wisteria had climbed into the upper branches of a tall mountain ash and thoroughly mingled itself to create a mélange of lavender and white blooms.

Wisteria twining through Mountain Ash

I returned two days later with my camera, parking a couple of blocks away in the adjacent neighborhood and walked up the informal asphalt path beside the exit ramp. It was too windy to get really sharp photos, but you can get the sense of it. As I returned to my car, I saw a stunning pairing of contrasting colors, which I had missed on arrival because I was so focused on getting to my destination.

Golden Chain Tree and Smoke Tree

 

Across the street from where I parked, a Golden Chain Tree (Laburnum) danced its bright yellow hanging racemes in the sunshine beside a deep purple-leaved Smoke Tree (Cotinus). 

Close up of Golden Chain and Smoke Trees

I'm going to sit quietly in my own garden on the next non-rainy day and see what I've been missing right here.