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Wisteria is in bloom everywhere I go.\u00a0 The blossoms hang suspended, moving slightly in the breeze, \u00a0lighter-than-air. Wisteria decorates the arbor in front of the drugstore.\u00a0 It bends over cottage fences.\u00a0 It nestles alongside gateposts and climbs on old redwood frames built long ago, out of respect for this lavender phenomenon.<\/p>\n
In this mild Northern California climate, Wisteria prospers, and\u00a0every spring, when we’re rich in blossoms, I remember\u00a0a coming-of-age visit decades ago\u00a0\u00a0to\u00a0one of the world’s most\u00a0spectacular Wisteria displays in Southern California.<\/p>\n
In my teens I sang many\u00a0Saturday nights at a giant auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, under the auspices of\u00a0Youth For Christ.\u00a0\u00a0The onstage bands were composed of\u00a0famous musicians\u00a0mixed with young performers\u00a0from all over Southern California. \u00a0A\u00a0competition sponsored by the organization was announced, to\u00a0decide the members of an all-star band to tour the state.\u00a0 Our\u00a0local group sponsor, Curtis Correll,\u00a0encouraged me to enter and he worked with me on the songs I’d sing along the way.<\/p>\n
Our group won and\u00a0the first stop on our\u00a0tour was announced.\u00a0 We’d be performing for teens at an outdoor stage\u00a0in Sierra Madre, California.\u00a0\u00a0 The\u00a0date\u00a0of our first show arrived and as we climbed out of our caravan of cars\u00a0carrying singers and musicians and instruments,\u00a0 we were greeted\u00a0by a wondrous sight.\u00a0 It was a Wisteria vine that went on and on and on.\u00a0\u00a0It was\u00a0the\u00a0largest plant I’d ever seen.\u00a0 Later I learned the vine\u00a0is\u00a0world-famous.\u00a0 It’s\u00a0referred to as “One Of The Seven Horticultural Wonders Of\u00a0 The World.”\u00a0*<\/strong><\/p>\n Here and now in another\u00a0spring,\u00a0Wisteria still holds a fascination.\u00a0 Breezes carry petals from the flowers into the air and on our daily errands we walk through clouds of lavender.\u00a0I’m not the only one stepping\u00a0over the fallen petals on the sidewalk in front of the bank, reluctant to disturb their formation.\u00a0\u00a0I’m not the only one who stops to study\u00a0the ways they arrange themselves on the ground.\u00a0 The individual petals have massed into\u00a0waves of color that look as if they’re\u00a0painted there.<\/p>\n Breezes will rearrange the waves many times before all the Wisteria blossoms are gone.\u00a0\u00a0It’s the work of spring to create\u00a0these flower pictures.\u00a0 It’s\u00a0also\u00a0the work of spring to\u00a0stir\u00a0memories of a\u00a0lavender-colored youth.<\/p>\n