Day 82—Bowers Of Flowers

“Where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring. . . .” Well, it finally is spring in California although you can’t tell it by the weather. Today, when this “sun-kissed” miss, sun-kissed in quotes because there isn’t any sun today, drove by a gorgeous display of California poppies, our state flower, I couldn’t resist pulling over and taking photos. The result? An awful lot of orange, but I wanted the effect of a mass of flowers which is what I always think of when I hear that song, not flowers in a bower.

N.B. While I started this blog with the intention of improving my camera skills, it has served to educate me on other matters as I often decide to double-check my facts on things before I post random information. Today, I learned that “California Here I Come,” by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer, who wrote it for a musical starring Al Jolson in 1921, is NOT California’s official state song; rather a song called “I Love You, California,” is the official state song, confirmed by our legislature in 1988. Say what??? It is a song which I, a native Californian, have never heard and perhaps more embarrassing, I worked for the State of California in the year that the Legislature adopted it. I don’t believe that enactment made front page news. I’ll cast my vote with the majority who, like myself, consider “Califoria Here I Come,” as California’s state song.

Here are my bowers of flowers.