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| Cannas in "downtown" Arusha, Tanzania 1998 |
It's been fourteen years. Our time in Africa was short--three weeks--and the details of the trip fade a bit each year since that January in 1998. But every summer toward the end of August, a bit of that continent comes to me, right here in my own front yard (and side yard and back yard, as well).
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| Tropicana Canna in Oregon 2012 |
Tanzania is forever away from Oregon. The climate is hot, exotic, and wet half the year. The plants are nothing like those we are familiar with in the Pacific Northwest. I was totally captivated by their lushness, the intensity of the colors, the varieties and shapes and sizes.We were giddy with excitement when back home we found cannas available at our local garden store. Elegant, gaudy, exotic like they just stepped off the African Continent, these cannas would grow in our own garden! And so they have. They've multiplied and been shared so that nearly everyone on our street has a bit of Arusha. In the late afternoon, you can see them ignite with the blaze of the sun. For nearly a month Things I get to do today are powered by the fire of this African dream.
