Color
Cold, snow, sleet, gray, cloudy and bitter. This is how I remember winter in the North Country. From now until April when flowers start to bud, it will be a black and white world.
But not here in Malawi. The hot African sun is beating down relentlessly. The rain comes daily. The flowers are so bright and colorful they almost make me forget that in other places it is gray.
Things here bloom in a big way. The poinsettia is 12 feet high. Geraniums are waist high. The calla lilies come in yellow as well as white. Jacaranda trees bloom a vivid purple for a month, and the Bougainvillea are orange as well as fuchsia. Everything is lush and green.
The birds look like something from an illustrated guide. They’re fabulous. Yesterday one collided with our window, stunning himself. He was unable to move for about 20 minutes, which gave us a good look at him. He was a Malachite Kingfisher, a spectacularly bright blue bird with a red crest. After a rest and he was able to stagger around a bit, and then he eventually flew off.
The earth is red, the women’s wraps are brightly patterned, and the banana trees have enormous green leaves. There is color everywhere, a feast for the eyes. In a land where it’s never winter, I remind myself that it is winter in other places, so I can appreciate the color that is here for the looking.
But not here in Malawi. The hot African sun is beating down relentlessly. The rain comes daily. The flowers are so bright and colorful they almost make me forget that in other places it is gray.
Things here bloom in a big way. The poinsettia is 12 feet high. Geraniums are waist high. The calla lilies come in yellow as well as white. Jacaranda trees bloom a vivid purple for a month, and the Bougainvillea are orange as well as fuchsia. Everything is lush and green.
The birds look like something from an illustrated guide. They’re fabulous. Yesterday one collided with our window, stunning himself. He was unable to move for about 20 minutes, which gave us a good look at him. He was a Malachite Kingfisher, a spectacularly bright blue bird with a red crest. After a rest and he was able to stagger around a bit, and then he eventually flew off.
The earth is red, the women’s wraps are brightly patterned, and the banana trees have enormous green leaves. There is color everywhere, a feast for the eyes. In a land where it’s never winter, I remind myself that it is winter in other places, so I can appreciate the color that is here for the looking.
posted by Paul and Darlene Heller at 5:23 PM
1 Comments:
Last night here, the temp was -20°,
the night before -26. But the sun is shining on the snow!
Carl & Fran
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