When we were having our new roof put on, one of my beloved mimosas was in the way – growing right next to the corner of the house with its branches draping over the roof. I was informed that it had to be cut down, apparently trimming it back would not be enough. I pushed my sadness deeper and felt thankful I would not be there to have to witness the cutting which my husband took care of. At least it was in the winter when I imagine deciduous trees sleeping.
This spring, the mimosa grew back with vigor. I’ve seen this happen before. After being cut all the way down, mimosas grow back thicker. Some people call this invasive. I call it prolific. I admire their strength and beauty.
You can see why they are also called the umbrella tree.
Hurricane Dorian pushed her around a lot, and she’s looking a little ragged. But it’s late summer, so the leaves had already started to drop before the hurricane. She is still beautiful and strong enough to support this lady bug.
When fall gets underway and more leaves drop, I’ll be keeping this mimosa trimmed neatly so there will be no competition with future home improvement projects. If we get flowers, it will be like icing on the cake. The photo below is from another mimosa in the backyard in springtime.
Mimosa flowers smell wonderful!
My husband made cross sections of the old mimosa trunk to turn into art. Here’s an angel I painted on one piece. You can see more of my angel art at Angels, Mermaids, and Woodwork.
I use only leftover wood on my projects rather than buying new wood. I still feel bad that this mimosa had to be cut, but so glad she grew back! Her old trunk won’t go to waste.
Thursday Tree Love is a photo feature hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. For more information visit:
Right before I read today’s Stream of Consciousness Prompt, I was outside picking up mimosa flowers in my backyard. Some people seem to find mimosas a nuisance. The flowers are everywhere, littering, NO, not littering, gracing my back steps, patio and yard. I think mimosas are delightful. They are not “invasive” to me. They are prolific. And their flowers are intoxicating – mildly intoxicating. When I pick up a mimosa flower and breathe in it’s gentle fragrance, my eyes close and roll back a bit in my head.
Mimosa fragrance is milder than honeysuckle, my other favorite flower smell. Gardenia is nice, but it can be a bit much. Another smell I love is a wood fire. I don’t much like sleeping on the ground any more, but I remember going camping in years passed and not wanting to wash my clothes because of the smell of wood smoke bringing back memories of sitting around the fire and looking at the stars.
And I can’t leave out the intoxicating smell of my first love when he found me again after 39 years. I hope you don’t get tired of me writing about that, but I might have some new followers who don’t know about it. It’s just fascinating to me how intoxicating I found his smell when we first reconnected in 2011. My nose would linger over his neck and drink in the mild, almost imperceptible scent of his skin. That scent must have imprinted hard on my 16 year old brain. That’s just one of the many things you can read about when my book comes out sometimes this summer. Maybe even next month…. I wonder if it will smell good. Don’t you just love the smell of old books, or new books? Kinda weird for a lover of trees to love the smell of books and burning wood. Sorry about that trees. What can I say? Smell is complicated.
Today’s SocS prompt, “smell,” is brought to you by, Linda G. Hill at:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Anything is Possible! 