Springtime in Florida

This is Florida's sign of spring. Each year in the early part of April, the Jacaranda trees sprout these beautiful purple flowers that just explode with color. This year they are late in blooming.
The trees are everywhere in our little county. This tree to the left is on my street. There are several other trees up and down the road that runs north and south outside of my neighborhood.

The girls and I play a game to see how many Jacaranda trees we can spot on a drive. The trick is to shout out, "Jacaranda!" when you see one and then you get a point. The person with the most points at the end of our travels wins the game.

It is a great game to play when we are going from one city to the next. The best part is trying to play it coy as we get closer to the road outside our neighborhood since we know where each tree is located. We all act nonchalant about it, try to distract the others, and then shout quickly when we see them.

The trees only last in purple bloom for about two weeks and then the flowers fall off leaving a colorful carpet on the ground. The rest of the year the trees have green leaves and look like any other tree.

But when the purple explodes....spring is here!