What I see out the bedroom window.

When my aunt first came to visit here in Chapel Hill she was so enchanted with the redbud trees - we didn't have them up north. This time of year I think of her, and miss her to pieces, when the sides of the road are lit up by wild redbuds.

There are fewer than there used to be: deer eat redbud saplings down to the ground.

I've posted pictures of this, my own personal redbud, in earlier years. (Click for larger view.) I remember bringing it back from Home Depot in the back of my van, it was in a three-gallon pot.

Deducing redbuds must like moisture -- since the biggest, oldest redbud in the neighborhood was thriving halfway down the bank of a creek -- I planted it where two of my drainage ditches come together.

That turned out to be a perfect spot. See how it towers, now, over my second story balcony?

It's about as tall as the house - guess I've been living here a long time.