Blossom Battles!

Another glorious weekend leaving my home in the city and heading to the country and back again.

As April debuts, the magnetic draw to Pauma Valley, an hour north of my life in the city, is the aphrodisiacal fragrance of the delicate white orange blossoms. The little white flowers on the Valencia orange trees fill the air with a heavenly scent like no other.

Many people are surprised that both the mature Valencia fruit and the spring blossom of the next year's harvest are on the tree at the very same time!

Visually, however, my walk to my volunteer work at The San Diego Museum of Art ends in a path which overlooks the Japanese Friendship Garden there.

Coincidentally—thank you Mother Nature—the cherry trees there are also in full bloom at this moment.

Mounds of ice-cream-pink cherry blossoms shimmer in the sunlight in the middle of Balboa Park, the lushly planted acreage in my neighborhood in San Diego. I lingered a little too long this morning…almost late to the art museum!

Is it any wonder my current city life and my nostalgia for my former country life are constantly in conflict? And the conflict is in full gear as springtime moves into full bloom!