Good Morning! I have discovered that I must have some Spanish blood flowing in my veins. It seems that in this summer heat in the afternoon all I want to do is ‘close the shop’ and sleep under the fan in the bedroom. Yep it’s 98 and 2:30 pm and this old body says, “Ok siesta time”!!! The old brain says, “Ole” and I spread over those sheets like butter on warm toast for at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then I arise from the dead, pick up the reins of duty, and become El Conquistador Of the Hacienda again.
So what has that got to do with the picture of the tree blossoms—-absolutely nothing but I saved alot of money—-oops derailed my train of thought—-sorry!
On Monday Jay took part of his birthday gift money and bought me Trees of Michigan by Stan Tekiela. My hubby was a Boy Scout many long years ago but some facts fade as the mind gets full. I guess he got tired of me making a thoughtful remark like—what kind of tree is that Honey—.
To get to the point of the picture I decided to identify this small tree in the front yard and grabbed my trusty new field guide. By golly-Miss Molly there she was on page 43. The Northern Catalpa—-Trumpet-Creeper family should grow to 50-75’ in height. This poor thing has lived beside a batch of older trees that had been cut down last year to prevent them from falling on the dome. So the growth on it’s North side is stunted and it have a long way to go to get to it’s full height.
Now isn’t that just a paragraph more than you care to know about my picture? But wait I got more to look up and tell you about—-What you are walking away?
In eastern Ohio, my Grandma called it a catawba tree. Same flower though.
Nice that Hubby used his own birthday money to keep on giving…or like you say, he was saving his own peace and quiet
Yes my guide notes say that “Catalpa” is an American Indian name for this tree, but it is also called Catawba, Cigar Tree, or Indian Bean, which all refer to the large seedpods(fruit). So Grandma is right! But then Grandmas are always right—that is why we love them!!!
There is a good reason for the siesta besides our age. Today was close to 105 in the shade. No breeze just hot, hot, hot. Of course our humidity is nil, but even so the weather just calls for an afternoon nap. My Yorkie thinks a little snooze, the best idea I have come up with in a long time. She follows me around from the time I finish lunch until she fills me with enough “Yorkie guilt” and I give in and take her to bed for a few minutes of shut-eye. Really, I only do it for her. =)