It was wild and cold out here on the west coast this weekend. The rain was lashing my face, and the lens of my camera as I sneaked it out for some photos.
The rain squall intensified as I attempted to photograph the hill across the stream.
But when I returned to the bach, my eye caught a patch of yellow. On this monochromatic day, that little splash of colour stood out.
The little kowhai tree has burst into flower. Usually kowhai trees flower in spring, but over the last few years, when this one first began to flower, it chose the coldest month of winter in which to put on a show.
Each time it happens, I remember my first grandchild, a little girl who died at six weeks. The kowhai tree was planted on her whenua (placenta). The anniversary of her death is on July 21. She would have been 18 this year, in the flowering of her youth.
This little flower reminds me of a golden tear drop.
