Reminiscing as I walk through the garden between rainstorms

Morro blood orange blossom

Our little Bay Area micro-climate just got soaked with 2.65 inches of rain yesterday. For those not living here that may not seem like a lot, but for us in the Bay Area it's a big deal since it always seems like we're on the verge of a drought. Hubby's rain gauge was quite full this morning and I was pleased.

Strawberries in bloom

The rain started early yesterday morning and continued into the evening as Hubby and I huddled under a large golf umbrella to get to the car on our way out to dinner. As he deposited me in the passenger seat and ran around to his side of the car, I remembered that on the same date 14 years ago it was pouring rain. I wore white and the same golf umbrella was used to shield me from the rain as I walked next to my groom to have our first photos taken as a married couple among the spring blooms in the gardens of the Oakland California Temple where we had just been married. The rain stopped for a brief 40 minutes or so, giving us enough time to take photos and then it started pouring rain again.

Narcissus

I guess depending on the culture, rain on one's wedding day can be a good thing or a bad thing. We've found our marriage to be a very rewarding and happy union so in our case the rain wasn't a bad thing. As it says in an Irish wedding blessing "Happy is the bride that rain falls upon." That was definitely true in our case.

Lilacs

As I walked in our gardens today, I found little vignettes that reminded me of the gardens we found when we honeymooned in Victoria, British Columbia. Our lilacs along the southern fence have blooms that are like little cups filled with rain water. Very few things can rival the smell of rainwater-filled lilacs except maybe hyacinths after a rain shower (which we discovered at Butchart Gardens on our honeymoon).

Bay laurel blossoms

(this is where bay leaves come from)

Interestingly, while it continued to rain here in the Bay Area for the 10 days we were gone on our honeymoon, it was beautifully sunny in Victoria. I think it's usually the opposite with Victoria getting the rain while we stay dry. Funny, isn't it?

Native Pacific coast iris

When the weather forecasters here in the Bay Area begin to marvel at why we're getting so much rain in March, I remember that it really isn't that odd after all. As the late March rainstorms wash over us I remember that it seems to happen every other year or so (like the year we were married). But somehow people forget.

Ornamental kale in bloom

I can see how people forget though. The older I get the more one year seems to meld into another. Was it really 14 years ago that we started our lives together? It often seems like it was just yesterday.