Wistful Wisteria

The wisteria is in bloom. Draping itself over trees and fences like a beautiful woman casually draping herself over her man's shoulder, this climbing flowering vine helps usher in Spring with its heady scent and cascading wall of lavender flowers. Drive east on Milhopper Road from North CR 241 with your windows open, and you might just catch its scent. Find your way to NW 170th Street to catch the white variety. Look among the trees anywhere around Alachua county, and there it is languidly gracing us with its presence.

My first contact with wisteria was back during my college days when I rented my first single apartment on top of a garage in the Duck Pond area. Next to the staircase was a thick-trunked, leafless plant. I didn't pay much attention to it when I moved in. As Spring approached, that plant sent out shoots in every direction and most took hold of the stair's handrail. Next thing I knew, the handrail burst into purple flowers with a scent so thick you could smell it as you walked up the block. That was it. I was hooked. Wisteria forever had a place in my heart.

And, when I long for the freedom of those days, I think wistfully of wisteria.