hallelujah!

I don’t believe in angels, even though I’ve seen their trumpets. Angels’ trumpets is the name given to an ornamental shrub that I see from time to time in Hong Kong. They are not common, but there is an impressive specimen in the village where I live. There used to be one in the next village, but for some unaccountable reason it was cut down a few years ago, but here is a photo that I took of Paula posing alongside it as we returned home from a bike ride:

The flowers might seem particularly striking, but there is one feature that is even more remarkable about this plant. At the time, I couldn’t help but notice that it produced a display of flowers four or five times during the seven months I spent in Hong Kong. I was disappointed when it disappeared.

However, about three years ago, someone decided to plant an angels’ trumpet bush in our village. Even now, it isn’t as big as the one pictured above, but this winter, it has burst into flower every two or three weeks. We pass it every time we walk into Fanling, and its most recent outburst, which I photographed this morning, is by far the most impressive to date:

The path to Fanling can be seen behind the flowers in the first photo, and the village shrine is on the left. Sadly, all these flowers will be gone within a couple of days.

However, I have one (obvious) comment to make about encountering such an uplifting display.

Hallelujah!