Bittersweet Spring

It is so beautiful around Fallbrook right now.

The wisteria is pumping, the Hong Kong orchid is blooming, the pride of madeira is unfurling its tall purple towers. 

If you don't find the spring particularly beautiful and enchanting, perhaps it is time for you to take the short final trip up to Temecula where you can dig the stucco and concrete.

This week, I had the flowers start to bloom on the small California red bud tree I planted last year. 

I am really looking forward to seeing it mature.

I went home a bit early yesterday and managed to snag my first picture of a hooded oriole I have been able to take this year, although, in my defense,  it has only been around for a couple of days.

Another great thing about this time, friends like Jim Ramsey and Jeff Barney are bringing me nice fuerte avocados, my favorite! Thanks, guys!

And the mother hawk is patiently sitting on eggs again so you know what is coming soon... 

The only sadness I am feeling right now, amidst all this gorgeous scenery and rainfall is the fact that my great friend Bruce Taylor is leaving Fallbrook tomorrow and moving to Alabama.

Things haven't been the same with Bruce since his wife Sherri died of cancer last year. 

He is raising three great grandchildren with the help of a granddaughter and they are all heading east tomorrow in the family car. 

Bruce has been battling some cognitive issues after all the stress he has been under. He has a brother back there and thinks that life will be easier for he and his family.

Some of us got to say goodbye today but I can tell you that there are very few people in Fallbrook that Bruce hasn't done favors for, usually for free and he is one of our most beloved citizens. I can say, unequivocally, that no merchant has ever provided more services to this community, for nothing.

I am going to miss the hell out of him. And I know that I am far from alone. Alabama is lucky to get him and they better treat him right.

I was looking through some of my old snapshots of Bruce and it made me cry. I have a bunch and I have to stop.

Bruce was gifted with the most inquisitive and mechanical of minds and he could literally fix anything.

You couldn't ask for a better friend. I'll probably never see him again.

Fallbrook will not be the same town without Bruce Taylor. Wish him well.