Did you ever meet someone who was such an attention-sucker that they did all the screaming and shouting and carrying on every time you saw them, making it impossible for any meaningful contact or communication to be made? (Stop looking at me.) That’s kind of how I feel towards these azaleas, which have been screeching in their day-glo magenta glory and demanding to be noticed from the farthest distance. I like strong color, more than most people in fact, and I’ll never begrudge anyone their need to put on a show. But I don’t necessarily want it in my own backyard. Or front-yard for that matter. That’s why these had to be caught on the street where I work, far from where I’d see them while peacefully contemplating my own home.
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them, particularly on a rather dour and gray lunch break from the office, when the extra-long stretch of bad weather we’ve had has us all a little on edge. When these popped open on the first really warm day we’ve had it was like a pop of champagne and an instant celebration of the late-to-arrive season. A colorful party until itself.
