Spring in Allentown/Bethlehem PA

I was at Bethlehem PA last weekend.I was not prepared for what spring would behold there.

I had to pull the window shutters down at night, as it seemed a little chill, and as I did so, I saw a large flowering pear tree in front of the house, in a mixture of white and green.

I was woken up at about 5AM by the loud chirping of birds. It was a deep spiritual experience, just lying down and listening to the birds. What was their conversation about?

The morning dawned gray and slightly wet. A perfect spring morning. Just the right chill.

I had a breakfast of tea and dosas with hot chilli powder.

(I was reminded of my friend’s mother’s comment once. “Be generous in roasting chillies when you make chilly powder for dosas. Keep in mind that this is not a sambar mix”).

I then stepped out into the porch to enjoy the spring morning.

What I saw was out of the world.

It was really raining flowers! Like in a Bharatiraja tamil film dream sequence. White petals everywhere, against a green background of grass and the distant pink background of cherry blossoms and dogwoods, with the skeletal structure of the trees still visible, reminding us of the dark winter that had preceded this celebration.

Where did this flower rain come from?

The wind was knocking the white petals off of the large pear tree and the petals were just being blown by the wind.

My god, it was beautiful.

There was a layer of white flower petals on the road, like a dusting of snow flurries.

When a car drove past, the wind caused these to blow around, just like a snow dusting.

I had never seen anything like this before.

Street after street, tree after tree, the same scene everywhere.

Clearly this is the best time of the year, wherever you go!