The Katy Azalea Trail

Golden Week in Japan is the first weekend of May. Most people have the week off, the weather is usually warm for the first time, and everyone spends time outside—it signals the approach of summer kind of like Memorial Day for Americans. Last year, Chris and I joined the throngs at Tokyo’s Nezu Jinja Shrine to admire and photograph the blossoming azaleas that make it famous. This year I went a bit further. Houston’s famous Azalea Trail blooms a bit earlier in the year—right around the time I arrived back in Texas! Magenta, ballerina pink, soft white, vivid purples, all shades of red and hot pink: up and down every street in my parents’ neighborhood, color sings out of every azalea. I came a bit late for the well-known River Oaks Garden Club’s Azalea Trail and Home Tour and I was a little too jet lagged to bother going downtown to enjoy the azalea party in the Museum District. Instead, my mom and I circled our neighborhood azalea trail with the nieces and nephews here in Katy, Texas. I came from late winter right into early summer; I just can’t get over how bright, how sunny, how open and how fresh everything looks and smells. It’s so green! So light! And with most people I’m related to within a few hours’ drive, I’m always surrounded by family. That’s what I call a safe haven!